#MeToo in China?

It seems that every day we read new accusations of sexual harassment and assault by well-known men in the entertainment, journalism, political, sports, and even evangelical worlds. As a result of this #MeToo movement, alleged perpetrators are removed from their place of prominence, and discussions are stoked of setting a higher standard in each industry.

In China, social media platforms have mostly remained silent, although not by choice: Censors quickly scrub accusations of sexual misconduct in fear of causing instability. Only in the last two weeks has #MeToo seen any success at taking hold in China, as two professors are in the spotlight for allegedly sexually harassing students.

On Jan. 1, Luo Qianqian, a former doctoral student at Beijing’s Beihang University posted on Weibo, China’s Twitter, that Professor Chen Xiaowu had sexually harassed her and at least five other women. Luo recounts that 13 years ago, Chen tried to force himself on her and only stopped when she burst into tears and told him that she was still a virgin. He then asked her to keep quiet.

Luo, who now lives in the United States, said the #MeToo movement in the West inspired her to speak. She contacted other women who also claim Chen harassed them and gathered evidence, including audio recordings, before bringing it up to the university and posting on social media, according to the BBC. Last week Beihang University fired Chen and the Education Ministry stripped him of the prestigious “Yangtze River Scholar” title.

A day after Chen’s sacking, the University of International Business and Economics announced it would begin an investigation on Professor Xue Yuan after an anonymous college student accused him of sexual harassment in an online posting. Xue was overseas working on an academic project at the time, and the school asked him to return.

A recent study found 69 percent of Chinese university students said they experienced sexual harassment on campus, although only 4 percent reported it. Many fear retribution for speaking up and don’t trust the country’s legal system. In the past two weeks, students and alumni in nearly 60 universities have signed petitions asking the schools to respond to rampant sexual harassment on campus.

Yet it’s difficult to circulate the letters using social media, as censors are quick to remove any such content. Taoligeriler, alumna of Shanghai’s Fudan University, co-wrote a petition letter to her alma mater that had garnered 300 signatures from students and alumni. She posted the letter on Weibo three times, only to have censors take it down each time, according to the South China Morning Post.

Despite the two cases of school officials responding to sexual harassment claims, the Chinese Communist Party is fearful of a #MeToo movement that could give power to the people and potentially target their own members. In 2015, the Chinese government detained five feminists after they planned on passing out stickers to raise awareness of sexual harassment on public transportation.

“It’s OK for an individual woman here and there to come out and talk about her experience,” China feminism expert Leta Hong Fincher told The Guardian, “but if any of these women made it a really big deal or started to get a lot of sustained attention on social media I have no doubt that the police or somebody would come and visit her.”

Ice Kingdom

When life gives you bitterly cold subzero winters, you make giant ice sculptures of castles and landmarks. At least that’s the sentiment in Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in northern China. Every winter since 1963 (except for a break during the Cultural Revolution), the city has held the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Tourists from around the world come to gawk at an icy replication of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven bathed in lights, slide down ice slides, and watch artists compete in ice sculpture competitions. Check out photos from the event here.