China Local News

Police Notification: Fatal Stabbing in Kunshan Road-Rage Incident Ruled Self-Defense

The Kunshan road-rage incident is the biggest topic on Chinese social media this week. Police now state that the cyclist who killed his attacker is acquitted, ruling the controversial stabbing as ‘self-defense.’

Published

11 months ago

September 1, 2018

What's on Weibo Team

With more than ~~880 million~~ 1.8 billion views, it was the biggest topic of this week on Chinese social media: the Kunshan road-rage incident with a bizarre twist, in which the cyclist being attacked by a BMW driver with a knife, ended up killing the man with his own weapon. Police have now ruled the case self-defense.

According to a police statement released on Saturday afternoon, September 1st, the bike rider who fatally stabbed the BMW driver who attacked him has handled out of self-defense. (We reported about this case earlier this week here).

The statement was published on the official Weibo account of the Kunshan police (@昆山公安), and received over 77,000 shares within an hour.

On Weibo, netizens are happy about the news; the majority of people sided with the cyclist, a 41-year-old hotel worker by the name of Yu Haiming (于海明). Some people even organized crowd-funding campaigns to help pay for his legal costs, and the past week has seen a flood of memes about the incident in support of the cyclist.

Bizarre Road-Rage Incident

The incident occurred on the night of August 27, when a BMW vehicle in Kunshan, Jiangsu, turned into a bike line, colliding with the cyclist who refused to give way. Two men then stepped out of their BMW vehicle to confront the cyclist, with one man going back to his vehicle, suddenly pulling out a long knife.

Surveillance videos [YouTube link] capture the moment, which show how the muscular and tattooed BMW driver attacks Yu with the big knife – but then suddenly loses grip and drops the knife on the ground.

Bike driver (white shirt) is attacked by the BMW driver with a knife.

That is the pivotal moment when Yu quickly grabs the knife and starts attacking the BMW driver. Various videos show how the bike driver runs after the man, hitting and stabbing him with the knife at least five or six times – eventually killing him.

The bike driver hits the BMW driver with the knife for the fifth time.

The BMW driver turned out to be the somewhat notorious Liu Hailong (刘海龙) aka ‘Brother Long’ (龙哥) a 36-year-old ex-convict who previously spent years in prison for robbery, theft, and another knifing incident.

Liu Hailong aka ‘Brother Long’

He had been drinking the night of the incident.

“Brother Long Terminator”

The topic was a trending topic on Chinese social media all week, which a main question being: To what degree is self-defence legitimate?

One of the cartoons that has been published on this incident past week.

Some lawyers quoted in various news articles (read our report here) alleged that Yu might be held responsible for intentional injury and death, since the video footage showed that Liu tried to get away once Yu came after him with the knife – making the stabbing incident one of attack instead of defense.

The fact that Yu stabbed his attacker many times (the video shows at least six instances) was also considered to go beyond self-defense, making it possible for him to face up to ten years in prison.

But as more information about the case emerged, most netizens concluded that ex-con ‘Brother Long’ had deserved his own death.

The 41-year-old Yu, who is known as a hard-working man with no criminal records, was even called the “Brother Long Terminator” by some, who compared the incident to a video game in which the main character defeats his enemy with his own knives.

Detailed Report Rules Legitimate Self-Defense

According to the police statement that was issued today, in the first moments of the violent stabbing, cyclist Yu was stabbed in the neck, waist, and leg by Liu. Once Yu succeeded in grabbing the machete, he stabbed Liu Hailong in the abdomen, buttocks, right chest, left shoulder, and left elbow.

The moment Yu has grabbed the knife and attacks Liu, stabbing him five times in seven seconds.

The BMW driver then flees the scene and falls into a grass field some 30 meters away from the car. (This image on YouTube shows Liu in the grass with severe injuries- viewer discretion is advised). Meanwhile, Yu has stopped his pursuit and turns to the BMW vehicle to take out Liu’s mobile phone, out of fear that Liu or others might call other people for reinforcement in the attack.

When police arrived at the scene, Yu immediately handed them over the mobile phone and the weapon, which has since been identified as a sharp-edged double-sided blade with a total length of 59 cm.

Liu Hailong was soon taken to the hospital but died that same night. Yu did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.

Forensic researchers have now found that in the first seven seconds in which Yu stabbed Liu with the knife he grabbed from the ground, he stabbed him a total of five times, of which the first stab might have been the most lethal one; stabbing him in the left abdomen, causing the large abdominal vein to rupture. The fact that the first strike allegedly was the lethal one might have also helped in the self-defense ruling.

“The behavior of Yu Haiming is [ruled as] legitimate defense and he does not bear criminal responsibility,” the police notifiation states, in accordance with Article 20 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China that defines self-defense.

The statement also says that Yu’s personal safety was “seriously endangered” when Liu Hailong first attacked him with his bare hands, and then continued to hit him with a knife. It suggests that throughout the incident, Yu was constantly in danger – even when he had the knife – thereby denying any claims that Yu’s actions were excessive and illegal.

The police report further reveals that BMW driver Liu was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 87mg/100ml (0.087).

The night of the incident, there were three other passengers in the BMW car. One of them, the male passenger who can be seen first getting out of the car in the video, gets a ten-day prison sentence for his involvement in the incident. The two other passengers, both female, have been acquitted.

Besides being happy about the ruling, many netizens also praise the Kunshan police for their work. “I’ve never seen such a detailed police report, thumbs up for Kunshan police!”, some commenters write.

image via 野望文存-财经

“It’s a good thing we have surveillance cameras nowadays,” another person says: “Ten years ago, he might have been held responsible.”

Others write: “Wonderful news, justice has prevailed! This restores some faith among the common people.”

By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.

China Local News

Horrific Dalian Attack Dominates Discussions on Weibo: Suspect Arrested

People’s Daily writes the attacker suffered from “mood swings” after a fight with his girlfriend.

Published

3 weeks ago

June 25, 2019

Manya Koetse

First published June 26 2019, 1:20 CST

A gruesome attack on a woman walking the streets alone was caught on surveillance cameras this weekend. The violent assault has been a major topic of discussion on Chinese social media for the past two days. After a manhunt for the attacker, state media now report that he has been arrested.

A shocking surveillance video capturing a female pedestrian being attacked and severely beaten by a man is dominating discussions on Chinese social media these days.

The surveillance video started making its rounds on WeChat and Weibo on Monday. The extremely disturbing footage shows how a woman is walking by herself and is then approached by a man who beats her to the ground, severely kicks her head and body some twenty times, tears her clothing, and then drags the woman away by her hair (warning graphic).

Chinese authorities and social media companies could not seem to find the source of the video right away.

Since the footage was captured at night, it did not clearly show the surroundings, leading to police all across China launching an investigation to find out more about where this took place. On Tuesday morning, the Ministry of Public Security asked the public to provide leads on the incident.

It now turns out that the horrific attack occurred on June 22 at 0:44 AM in the Ganjingzu district in the city of Dalian, where police received a report that night that matches the incident on the video.

The victim has been identified as the 29-year-old Wu, who is reported to have suffered “soft tissue damage to her face” due to the attack, and who has since been discharged from the hospital following treatment.

Although some netizens questioned how it would be possible for the victim to only suffer “soft tissue damage,” further details were not disclosed.

The security company which the surveillance camera belonged to stated they did not know how the video had leaked online in the first place.

On Tuesday afternoon, some reports claimed the attacker had not been arrested nor identified yet. Other reports said that Dalian police were investigating a suspect by late afternoon.

“He suffered from mood swings after a fight with his girlfriend.”

On Tuesday night at 23:45, state media outlet People’s Daily reported on Weibo that the suspect had been detained.

The newspaper stated that the suspect is a 31-year-old man from Dalian named Wang. According to People’s Daily, he suffered from “mood swings” after a “fight with his girlfriend,” and randomly attacked and molested the victim “after a night of drinking.” He has now confessed to his crime.

Photos of the alleged suspect are making their rounds on social media, although official sources have not confirmed that these photos are indeed of the 31-year-old Wang.

By now, the Weibo hashtags “Man Beats up Girl in the Middle of the Street” (#男子当街暴打女孩#) and “Woman Viciously Beaten and Dragged Away by Man Late at Night” (#女子深夜遭男子暴打拖行#) received a staggering 1,35 billion and 120 million views, showing that this case is closely followed by Chinese netizens – comparable to the Didi murder cases that also received major attention in 2018.

Many comments on Tuesday night criticized Chinese state media for reporting on the suspect’s alleged “mood swings.”

“This brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘mood swings’,” one commenter noted. “Let’s hope his prison cell mates will beat him every day he has a ‘mood swing.'”

“I don’t want to know anything about his feelings before he used this kind of violence! I don’t want to know anything about his experience! It’s never a reason to do this to a stranger!”

“So mood swings lead to people randomly attacking and molesting an innocent passer-by?!” Others wrote: “He broke up with his girlfriend and wanted revenge on all women.”

In late May of this year, a young woman was stabbed to death in the city of Nanchang, in what appeared to have been a random attack; the attacker, a 32-year-old man, was unable to find a wife and suffered from a mental illness.

In 2015, a man with a sword stabbed a woman to death in front of the Uniqlo store in Beijing’s Sanlitun area. That same year, another Chinese man stabbed five random women who resembled his ex-girlfriend.

About the Dalian case, one commenter says: “This degree of violence just makes my blood run cold. For the police, it might just be another case, and they’re not making a big fuss about it, and that saddens me.”

Another Weibo user writes: “The evil for women in society is just too much. To be violently attacked like this on your way home – it’s just inexplicable. I hope the victim will get well soon.”

By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
Follow @whatsonweibo

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China Local News

Pregnant Woman Throws Scalding Soup over Baby Girl in Malatang Restaurant

Published

1 month ago

June 13, 2019

Manya Koetse

An incident that occurred in Zhoukou city in China’s Henan province on the night of June 11 has gone viral on Chinese social media today.

Security cameras in a malatang (hot spicy soup) restaurant captured the moment a pregnant woman throws a bowl of hot soup at an 11-month-old girl.

The woman was allegedly annoyed because the baby was making noise by banging on the table with a spoon.

Footage making its rounds on social media shows how other customers in the restaurant stand up after witnessing the incident, with some going after the woman.

The baby girl reportedly sustained burn injuries on her back and buttocks.

According to various Chinese media reports, the culprit is a 28-year-old woman by the name of Ren. She received a 15-day prison sentence and a fine of 500 yuan ($72), but will not be detained at this point because she is pregnant.

See the video of the incident here:

The local public security bureau issued a statement on Weibo today, writing that the incident had occurred when Ren was dining at the restaurant together with her husband. She got into an argument with the other diners when their 11-month-old baby would not stop banging on the table.

Shortly after leaving the restaurant with her husband, the pregnant Ren then suddenly returned and threw the hot soup at the family, hurting the baby girl.

On social media, outraged commenters write that they think the woman will not be a good mother: “How can a woman like this raise a child?”

“This makes my hair stand up in anger! It’s just a baby!” others write.

The story is somewhat similar to another incident that went viral on Chinese social media last year, when a pregnant woman intentionally tripped a 4-year-old boy in a malatang restaurant in Baoji (watch video below for the full story).