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25-Year-Old Woman from Chengdu Murdered in Australia [Updated]

The recent mysterious murder of the 25-year-old Chinese Michelle Leng, who studied in Sydney, has become a much-talked about case on social media, both in China and in Australia.

Manya Koetse

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The recent mysterious murder of the 25-year-old Chinese Michelle Leng, who studied in Sydney, has become a much-talked about case on social media, both in China and in Australia. Local police are still puzzled about what happened to her. [Updated: according to Sydney Morning Herald, a man who is believed to be Leng’s uncle was charged with her murder on Friday, April 29].

The 25-year-old international student Michelle Leng (Mengmei Leng, 冷梦梅) from Chengdu was reported missing by a Weibo user on Tuesday, April 26. According to the Weibo message, the woman was last seen by her friends on Thursday, April 21st around 3.00 pm in central Syndey, where she said goodbye to them at a bus stop.

Disappearance of Michelle Leng

Leng had been living in Australia as an international student for five years. Although her sudden disappearance was deemed “very unusual” by her friends and family, they did not formally report her missing until Monday, four days since she was last seen.

According to China’s WMG News, the message that Leng was missing attracted much attention from netizens who helped spread the news of Leng’s disappearance on Chinese social media.

At the same time, a New South Wales police station issued a public notice on Wednesday, April 27, that they were looking for people to help confirm the identity of a deceased woman whose naked body was found on Sunday near a tourist area on the New South Wales Central Coast near Snapper Point. On Friday, April 29, the body was confirmed to be that of Leng.

ABC News reports that Leng was found floating face-down in the water at a blowhole with several stab wounds in the neck, indicating a violent attack.

593793e5gw1f3dja355mij20hm0d8acgThe location where Leng’s body was found (Daily Mail).

Leng lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in Campsie, a suburb in southwestern Sydney. Her mother and brother are living in China. According to VOIS magazine, Michelle Leng studied at the University of Technology in Sydney.

vois

As police is still investigating what happened to Leng, they released CCTV footage of her shopping in central Sydney’s Pitt Street on April 21st. Australian police asked people who have any information about Leng’s whereabouts between April 21st and April 24th to come forward.

cctv

The place where Leng was found on Sunday is some 277 kilometers (172 miles) away from the central part of Sydney where she was last captured on CCTV camera.

Timeline of Michelle Leng Case [updated]

• Thursday, April 21 – Michelle Leng says goodbye to her friends at a bus stop in central Sydney and goes shopping at Pitt Street Mall, takes train ride home to Campsie.
• Sunday, April 24 – Woman’s naked body found at Snapper Point on the Central Coast, some 277 km from central Sydney.
• Monday, April 25 – Michelle Leng is reported missing by her relatives.
• Tuesday, April 26 – News of the disappearance of Michelle Leng gets attention on Chinese social media, as an acquaintance of the family posts about it.
• Wednesday, April 27 – Australian police issues public notice about the body found at the coast.
• Friday, April 29 – The body of the woman found at Snapper Point is confirmed to be that of Michelle Leng.
• Friday, April 29 – Police arrest the 27-year-old uncle of Leng and charge him with her murder.
• Saturday, April 30 – The suspect is scheduled to appear at Parramatta Bail Court.

 

Discussions on Facebook and Weibo

On Facebook, Michelle Leng became the focus of speculation on Friday, with some media saying she had arrangements to meet someone she knew from social media on Thursday night – although this has not been confirmed. Other Facebookers take Leng’s case as a warning for all international students to look out for each other and call the police when they think they are being followed.

 

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Many Weibo netizens are currently also discussing Leng’s case under the hashtag ’25-year-old Chengdu Woman Murdered in Syndey’ (#成都女孩悉尼遇害#). While most sympathize with Leng and her family, there are also those who say the girl only went to study abroad to get a “fake diploma”. One netizen comments: “What scares me more than this murder is how people comment on it. A Chinese girl has met great misfortune while studying abroad. And suddenly ignorant masses are compelled to say she was ‘buying fake credentials’ and other things that have nothing to do with it.”

Screen Shot 2016-04-29 at 17.41.18

“This is so tragic, I hope they solve the case soon,” another netizen said.

Although Australian SBS news initially reported that Michelle Leng’s killing was still a ‘puzzle’ to local police, the Sydney Morning Herald later reported that a man who is believed to be Leng’s uncle was arrested for her murder on Friday.

– By Manya Koetse

©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tsingtao Brewery ‘Pee-Gate’: Factory Worker Caught Urinating in Raw Material Warehouse

The pee incident, that occurred at a subsidiary Tsingtao Beer factory, has caused concerns among consumers.

Manya Koetse

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A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.

After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.

The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”

Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’

Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.

But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”

By Manya Koetse

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Featured photo by Jay Ang (link).

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Local News

Streamed Without Realizing: Chinese Village Cadres Suspended after Sex Scene Video Leaks Online

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do live-streaming!”

Manya Koetse

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Two cadres working in Weicheng District in Shandong Province were suspended this week after an “inappropriate video” that showed them engaging in sexual acts started circulating on Chinese social media.

The two got a bit too cozy together in a meeting room, and the moment allegedly was unknowingly caught on camera after a secretary did not turn the camera off after a video conference.

On October 6, Phoenix News (@凤凰网) reported that the subdistrict office in question denied that such an incident took place in their jurisdiction.

The local Discipline Inspection Commission, however, confirmed that the incident did take place and that the case was under investigation, although they would not confirm which positions the two cadres held. Online, it was claimed that they are a thirty-something male secretary in and a fifty-something female director.

Some Chinese media sources noted that the video in question seems to have been recorded from a security camera system screen, raising questions about whether the two had forgotten about the security cameras, or if they actually forgot to turn off a conference call camera, or if the incident was captured by both the security cameras and the webcam.

On Weibo and other Chinese social media, the incident has caused some banter among netizens.

“At least our Party comrades are now addressing their needs internally without causing harm to society – that could be considered a form of progress,” one popular comment said.

“It’s not bad, it’s just bad that they forgot to turn the webcam off,” others replied.

“Ah, so this is officially what officials do?” others wondered.

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do livestreaming!”

By now, it’s been confirmed by a staff member at the Wangliu St. Office in Weifang that the two individuals involved, both village cadres, have been suspended. They are currently under investigation by the Disciplinary Inspection Committee. By early Saturday, a related hashtag had garnered over 200 million views on Weibo (#两干部流出不雅视频被停职#).

By Manya Koetse

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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