2008 Weng'an riot
The 2008 Weng'an riot (
Incident
Alleged rape and murder
A 16-year-old local girl by the name of Li Shufen (李树芬, born in July 1991
The subsequent media release denied the claims, and stated the two young men and one young woman involved were of local farmers' families.[5]
Defending the coffin
The parents were guarding the girl's coffin day and night in fear the local police might attempt to tamper with the evidence. "We won't accept an evil deal," say parents. The parents reported there had already been two attempts to steal the dead body. An additional 100 local residents helped them guard the coffin.
Claims
Police
The girl's dead body was pulled from the river on June 22, 2008. Initial police report said that the girl was drowned or jumped into the river and committed suicide.[6] A document submitted by the local government stated the girl was unhappy with life because her parents favored her elder brother.[7]
Girl's family and relatives
Relatives of the girl blamed the local police for shoddy investigation and possible corruption.[2] One of the parents said a police officer threatened them, telling them: "Don't even try to file a lawsuit; there [is] no justice in this world."[6]
Three murder suspects
Guizhou's official media published the first interview with three of the girl's friends (the murder suspects) on July 4, 2008. They were the last people to see the girl alive.[8][9]
- Chen Guangquan (陈光权), 21 years old, was the victim's boyfriend. He denied any raping.[10]
- Liu Yanchao (刘言超), 18 years old, said he did pushupson the bridge, then struggled after trying to save the girl.
- Wang Jiao (王娇), 16 years old, she was also at the scene.
Protests
About 500 middle school students had gone to protest at the
Role of Chinese bloggers
- Zhou Shuguang, a self-claimed citizen journalist also known as "Zola" in the Chinese blogosphere, went to Weng'an to conduct a personal interview with Li Shufen's family, using a range of Internet communication tools like MSN, QQ, and Twitter, plus his own cell phone, posting to his personal web page unofficial reports along with photos and pleas from the family of Li Shufen. It was believed that this was the first time Twitter had ever been used to report a mass Chinese protest.
Zhou, as well as many other like-minded Chinese netizens, provided on-the-scene information on events like this, as a means to give voice to ordinary Chinese whose stories get overlooked or censored in a country where all the media is under the control of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party.[12]
- Xinhua, the official central government news agency, played an unusual role in this incident, simply by keeping open a chat room for bloggers to voice their anger towards the local bunkering and incompetent officials. By June 29, there had been more than 200,000 hits on the 2,000 remarks left in the chatroom of the only uncensored official Xinhua website, mostly in strong condemnation of the way that police had allegedly mishandled the girl's death and used excessive force against protestors.[13]
- At several other popular forums or chat sites, including Kdnet (猫眼看人), Maopu (猫撲), Strong Nation (强國),
Arrests
Authorities rounded up 300 people accused of taking part in the riot. Other sources have said 200 rioters were arrested. Over 1,500
Government response
Photographs as well as comments on the Guizhou protest in chatrooms and
Investigation
The government
See also
References
- Xinhua. 2008-07-02. Archived from the originalon July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- ^ a b c Iht. "International Herald Tribute Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine." Chinese riot over handling of girl's killing. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Ritos over teenager's rape and murder by officials". Youtube. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-20.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Li Datong (2008-07-30). "The Weng'an model: China's fix-it governance". Opendemocracy.net. Archived from the original on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ (in Chinese) 瓮安6.28:官员回应元凶是当地干部亲属之 Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e Asianews.it. "Asianews.it Archived 2008-07-03 at the Wayback Machine." Unrest in Guizhou as public security tries to buy the silence of the victim's parents. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ a b c Sina.com. "Sina.com Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine." Guizhou official: Third finding on rape claim to be made known. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ "Girl's Death Sparks Rioting In China". China Digital Times. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
- ^ "Hundreds arrested in China for rioting over death of student". WELT online. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
- ^ Sina. "Sina Archived 2008-07-11 at the Wayback Machine." We didn't do it, male friends of dead girl say. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ Sina. "Sina Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine." Officials admit existence of grievances before violent protest in SW China. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
- ^ GEOFFREY A. FOWLER and JULIET Y.E. (5 July 2008). "Chinese Bloggers Score a Victory Against the Government Firings Indicate Growing Power; Exploits of 'Zola'". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ Wang Tai Peng (4 September 2008). "Lessons from the Weng'an riots - Fanning the flame online". Asia Inc. Retrieved 2009-06-20. [dead link]
- ^ Jonathan Ansfield (2 July 2008). "Guizhou Riots: How much steam can the machine filter?". Newsweek, Countdown to Beijing by Melinda Liu. Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
- ^ Wang Tai Peng (4 September 2008). "Lessons from the Weng'an riots". Asia Inc. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-20.