While the death of Mahsa Amini and the unrest in Iran is a major news story worldwide, the incident and its aftermath received relatively little attention in Chinese media, where the narrative is more focused on how Western responses to the issue are intensifying anti-American sentiments within Iran.

Her name in Chinese is written as 玛莎·阿米尼, Mǎshā Āmǐní. Mahsa Amini is the young Iranian woman whose death made international headlines this month and triggered social unrest and fierce protests across Iran for the past ten days, killing at least 41 people.

The 22-year-old Amini was arrested by morality police in Tehran on 16 September for allegedly not wearing her hijab according to the mandatory dress code for women while she was visiting the city together with her family. According to eyewitness accounts, Amini was severely beaten by officers before she collapsed and was taken to the hospital where she died three days later.

The protests following Amani’s death were visible in the streets, but also on social media where Iranian women posted videos of themselves cutting off their hair as a sign of mourning and protest, asking others to help raise awareness on Amini’s death and violence against women amid internet shutdowns in the country.

There were also protests outside of Iran in other places across the world. In London, protesters clashed with police officers during a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy on Monday.

On Chinese social media platform Weibo, Chinese news site The Observer (观察者网) reported Amini’s death and the ensuing protests on September 22, but the hashtag selected to highlight the post did not focus on Amini.

Instead, it emphasized the reaction of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which accused the United States and other Western countries of using the unrest as an opportunity to interfere in Iran’s internal affairs (hashtag: “Iran Denounces the US and other Western Countries #伊朗谴责美西方#).

The hashtag decision is noteworthy and also telling of how the developments in Iran have been reported by Chinese (online) media sources, which evade the topic of anti-government protests and instead focus on pro-regime marches and anti-American sentiments.

On China’s Tiktok, Douyin, as well as on Weibo, the Chinese media outlet iFeng News posted a video showing Iranian pro-government, anti-American protests on September 25, featuring interviews with veiled women speaking out in support of their country and showing “down with America” slogans and people burning the American flag.

In the comment sections, however, people were critical. One of the most popular comments said: “It must have been difficult organizing all these people.” Another person wrote: “Ah now I am starting to understand that it must have been Americans who beat the girl to death for not properly wearing her hijab.”

But there were also Chinese netizens who said that Iran was seeing a “color revolution” (颜色革命) initiated by the West, suggesting that foreign forces, mainly the U.S., are trying to get local people to cause unrest through riots or demonstrations to undermine the stability of the government.

China Daily also published a video on Douyin in which they featured Iranian political analyst Foad Izadi who said that the demonstrators in Iran could be divided into two groups: one group cared about “a young woman losing her life,” but a second group are people “linked to terrorist organisations based outside Iran.”

Chinese media commentator Zhao Lingmin (赵灵敏) posted a video in which she spoke about the situation in Iran and provided more background information on the history of the country, during which she noted how one Iranian official had supposedly said that “the only two civilizations in Asia worth mentioning are Iran and China.”

Zhao explained how Iran officially became the Islamic Republic in April of 1979 as 98.2% of the Iranian voters voted for the establishment of the republic system in a national referendum.

Videos using the Douyin hashtag “Iran’s Amini” (#伊朗阿米尼) were seemingly taken offline while various images included in Weibo posts about Mahsa Amini and the unrest in Iran were also censored.

“It’s good that we can follow the situation here [on this account], because it’s been removed at others,” one commenter said in response to one post about the many protests following the young woman’s death.

Searches for Amini’s name came up with zero results on the website of Chinese state media outlets CCTV and Xinhua, where the last article about Iran was about how Iranian people think “America can’t be trusted.”

The official Weibo account of the Iranian Embassy in China did post a statement about Amini on September 23, writing that Iranian authorities have ordered an investigation into her tragic death and that the protection of human rights is an intrinsic value to Iran, “unlike those who use ‘human rights’ as a tool to suppress others.” “America must end its economic terrorism instead of shedding crocodile tears,” the last line said. That post received over 11,000 likes.

“Why is that everytime the Mahsa incident is mentioned, it somehow gets linked to America?!” one popular comment said, with another person also responding: “Sure enough, the U.S. gets blamed for everything.”

“So it was the Americans who killed her?” some Chinese netizens sarcastically wrote in response to the post by The Observer, which also mentioned the U.S. in their report of Mahsa’s death.

“I don’t know the exact circumstances, but I support the right of women not to wear a veil,” others said. “Men and women are equal, women should have the freedom to wear what they want and have education and get a job and have some fun,” another Weibo commenter wrote.

One Zhejiang-based Weibo user wrote: “The courage of people marching in the streets for freedom is moving. I wish that women will no longer have their freedom restricted through a hijab. What will the 21st century look like? The answer is still blowing in the wind.”

By Manya Koetse 

Follow @whatsonweibo

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Over two months after a shockingly violent attack on female customers at a Tangshan restaurant dominated Chinese social media and raised concerns over violence against women and gang crimes, CCTV has published a final report about the incident. On Monday, 28 people have been prosecuted for their involvement in the incident.

Click here for an overview of our articles on the Tangshan restaurant incident.

In June of 2022, an outburst of violence against female customers at a restaurant in Tangshan sent shockwaves across Chinese social media. Surveillance videos from the restaurant showed how at least four women were brutally attacked by a group of men.

The incident, now known as the ‘6.10 Tangshan Beating Incident’ (6·10唐山打人案件) sparked national outrage and its aftermath lasted for many weeks, with people demanding more answers on what exactly happened, how authorities dealt with it, and if the female victims were now safe.

Two months later, another shocking incident became a trending topic on Chinese social media: gruesome videos surfacing online showed how a Tangshan man driving a white SUV drove over a woman twice in a local parking lot. The female victim died after resuscitation efforts at a local hospital.

The incident brought back memories of the other Tangshan outburst of violence, and the online demand for lingering questions to be answered grew stronger again. At one point, one hashtag demanding a follow-up into the matter was (temporarily) taken offline, triggering more criticism on how the issue was handled and possibly silenced by authorities.

But on August 29, some lingering questions were finally answered when state broadcaster CCTV published a news report giving the “whole story” of what happened that night (hashtag #央视梳理唐山打人案始末#).

 
The 6.10 Tangshan BBQ Restaurant Incident
 

In the early morning of June 10th of 2022, just passed 2.30 am, the Laohancheng barbecue restaurant (老汉城烧烤店) in Tangshan’s Lubei District had multiple tables occupied by late-night diners. At one of the corner tables, a group of three female customers were dining and chatting. A couple of men were standing at another table.

Security cameras inside the restaurant captured how at 2.40 am, the atmosphere changed when the three women were approached by a man in a green jacket, who then proceeded to touch the back of one of the women dressed in a white t-shirt.

When the woman pushed his arm away, the man tried to grab her, and she quickly slapped his hand. The scene then altercated within seconds. The man hit the woman in the face, after which one of her friends quickly tried to come to her rescue and hit the man with a beer bottle. Her friend was then attacked by at least three men, while the woman in white gets hit by the men in the green jacket.

It just took seconds for the woman in white to be dragged out of the restaurant by her hair while some other diners, still seated at their table, watch the scene unfold.

Outside, security cameras captured how a group of men seated at an outdoor table joined the attack, kicking the woman while she was lying helplessly on the pavement, violently pushing away another woman who tried to stop them from doing so. A fourth woman also got slapped.

While the two women lie motionless on the pavement, the men stand around.

In the minutes that followed, security cameras captured how the scene got more chaotic, with at least five men standing around the woman in white kicking her and smashing a bottle on her head.

After the outburst of violence, the men seemingly fled the scene, leaving the injured woman lying on the street.

But security footage that was recorded from another angle, released days after the incident, shows that after the woman was left on the street, the incident continued. One of the women could be seen running into a back alley next to the restaurant, with others following. The woman in white also stood up from the ground and ran away in the same direction.

Until the CCTV report, it remained unclear what had happened as there apparently were no security cameras in the back alley.

Image showing the back alley where the incident continued.

All that was known according to previous official media reports, was that two female victims had been sent to the hospital for treatment and were in stable condition. Two other women reportedly suffered minor injuries and were not hospitalized.

After news was released that nine suspects involved in the beating had been arrested, no further statements nor updates were given.

The silence surrounding the female victims attracted a lot of attention on Chinese social media. Many Weibo users suggested that news about the victims was purposely withheld and that people were being silenced about how the women were actually doing.

The Tangshan incident also led to more online discussions about gang-related crimes. The fact that at least five of the suspects had criminal records was a cause of anger among those who felt that they should not have been allowed to be out and about at all and that they were covered by authorities.

One former victim of a man involved in the attack also spoke out. He said he recognized one of the main suspects, Chen Jizhi (陈继志), from the security footage, claiming he was locked inside the trunk of a car for ten hours by Chen a few years prior. A hashtag related to the story received over 300 million views on June 17th (#男子称曾被陈继志等殴打险被活埋#).

 
“The Whole Story” by CCTV
 

In its news report of August 29, state broadcaster CCTV reflects on what happened during that terrible night in June and for the very first time since the incident, one of the victims (the ‘woman in white’) speaks out, using the pseudonym of ‘Wang X.’

Wang X. clarifies that the story indeed unfolded as security cameras captured it. She did not know the man who came up to their table, and when he touched her, she made clear she did not want him to, and then the attack began.

The report clarifies that after the violent beating that occurred in front of the restaurant, the attack further continued in the alley behind the restaurant for approximately 1,5 minutes.

Wang X. says that in the alley, she was beaten again by multiple men. Before the men ran away, they threatened to kill her if she would call the police. She then fled. Online rumors about the victims being sexually assaulted by the men were denied, along with other claims that they were run over by a car.

CCTV reports that an investigation by public security officers found that Chen Jizhi and seven others have been involved in gang-related crimes since at least 2012. For years, they were involved in gang fights, illegal gambling, extortion, robberies, assault, and other criminal activities.

In one incident that occurred in 2015, Chen was involved in a conflict about a car loan with an individual by the name of Shang. Chen sent some of his guys over to Shang’s residence, where they used chain locks to beat him and later locked him inside the trunk of their car.

A total of 28 people, including Chen Jizhi, were prosecuted on Monday for their involvement in the Tangshan beating.

As Hebei authorities investigated the issue, they found that some local officers protected the gangs and basically allowed them to commit more crimes by not strictly enforcing laws. At least fifteen local officials have been investigated, and eight of them were taken into custody on suspicion of abusing power, taking bribes, and forming a ‘shield’ for gang-related violence.

 
Online Responses
 

On Chinese social media, there have been different responses to the latest outcomes of the Tangshan incident. On one side, there are those applauding authorities for investigating the case and dealing with it in the appropriate way.

“It’s very good that this matter has finally come to a conclusion after two months,” some commenters write, with others saying it is a good thing that justice was served – both for the gang members as well as the officials who covered for them (serving as ‘protective umbrella’ ‘保护伞’​).

On the other side, there are also people who still think there is more to the story and that the entire system is corrupt. Some people still argue that the back alley where the incident continued must have also had security cameras, but that the footage has been intentionally hidden.

One Shandong-based Weibo user wrote:

“When I see this kind of news I sometimes see in the comment sections that there are those comments saying ‘the government is already rotten to the core’ and then those who refute that, saying that it’s ‘just a few officials who have a problem.’ First a few officials in Shanghai had a problem, then a few in Tangshan, now it’s a few officials in Henan, tomorrow it’ll be some local officials in Shanxi… I’m sorry, but the more ‘individuals’ are rotten, the more the entire organization is rotten.”

“I’m looking forward to the trial,” another Weibo user writes: “I hope they’ll be punished severely.”

As for the restaurant where it all happened: it is no longer there and has moved out since late June of this year during the aftermath of the incident.

Another commenter wrote: “I just hope the girls involved will make a full recovery, both physically as well as mentally.” One other person agreed, writing: “We now got some answers, and I hope people can calm down. Most of all, I hope that the women will slowly but surely heal from this experience.”

By Manya Koetse 

Follow @whatsonweibo

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