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From Reckless Driving to Cyber Bullying: Wuhan Mother Jumps to Death after Son Gets Run over by Teacher’s Car

The Wuhan mother received online harassment for dressing nicely and for allegedly hyping the case for compensation.

Manya Koetse

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A week after her son was tragically crushed to death by a car driven by a teacher on the primary school campus, a devastated Wuhan mother took her own life. Her tragic demise has sparked conversations about the issue of cyberbullying and the inadequate emotional support available for victims and grieving family members thrust into the spotlight of public scrutiny.

A tragic incident that unfolded in Wuhan has garnered significant attention on Chinese social media this week. It involves a mother who took her own life a week after her son was tragically crushed to death by a car driven by his teacher within the primary school campus.

The little boy named Xiaotan, a grade one student, was run over by a car near the school gates of the Wuhan Hanyang District Hongqiao School (弘桥小学) on May 23. He was just about to pick up a paper plane from the ground when he was hit by the car.

As reported by Thatsmag on May 26, the boy’s parents could not accept the teacher’s explanation of how the incident could have happened.

The teacher claimed he tried to wave the boy away with his hand when he appeared in front of his car and then waited before proceeding. But CCTV footage from the school showed that the car initially stopped for 2-3 seconds after the front wheels ran over Xiaotan, and then started driving again, causing the back wheels to run over the boy.

The teacher reportedly was not supposed to drive his car there at all according to school rules. According to school staff members, the teacher deviated from the designated path for vehicle entry and exit within the school premises.

On May 25th, the Education Bureau of Hanyang District made an announcement stating that the teacher in question had been criminally detained by the public security authorities and that legal actions will be taken based on the findings of the ongoing investigation into the incident. The school’s principal and deputy principal of the school were also removed from their positions.

Following the incident, the boy’s mother, Yang, spoke out about the incident at multiple occasions, as she was looking for justice. The way the school and authorities responded to the incident seemed to further exacerbate her despair, as more questions lingered.

Mother Yang with her young son.

Why was her child not sent to the nearest hospital after the incident? Why was the teacher driving so recklessly? Why was a car allowed to enter the primary school campus at all?

On the evening of June 2, Yang jumped from the 24th floor of a building in her residential community.

Cyberbullying

In the wake of this tragedy, the discussions on Chinese social media primarily revolve around the issue of cyberbullying. Many people believe that it was the online harassment Xiaotan’s mother endured that ultimately led her to take her own life.

After the death of her son, Yang voiced her grievances in multiple ways. The woman, a successful local real estate agent, received online slander for dressing nicely or even because she wore makeup. Other people accused her of hyping her son’s death to get more compensation, as she waited around the school for answers and an apology while mourning her son and talking to reporters.

The boy’s mother spoke out in various ways and tried to get justice. In doing so, she received online backlash.

Before her tragic death, Yang had published a post online in which she said she wanted to go and be together with her son (#坠楼离世母亲曾发文称想陪孩子一起去#).

Many people compared the story to that of Liu Xuezhou (刘学洲). The teenage boy became well-known in 2022 after an online search for his biological parents turned into a nightmare. Not only did Liu Xuezhou discover he was a victim of human trafficking, he also suffered online harassment. The situation eventually drove him to commit suicide.

One Weibo blogger (@开花富贵老娘发飙) highlighted that the Wuhan mother’s death should not solely be attributed to online harassment but rather to the lack of psychological support for individuals who go through such immense tragedies and suddenly find themselves in the spotlight of online attention. The blogger emphasized the need for psychological intervention for victims like the mother in Wuhan and Liu Xuezhou, as they often resort to expressing their grievances online, only to become a target of cyberbullies.

Commentator Hu Xijin (胡锡进) also responded to the issue in a post on June 4, in which he highlighted that the case is tragic and complex, and that cyberbullying is one factor that worsened the mother’s mental state. Online harassment must be avoided at all costs, Hu argued: “Internet users need to think about how to express their opinions without being harsh towards those who are grieving.”

On Douyin, where Yang frequently posted, many people mourn the tragic death of both mother and son.

Meanwhile, multiple commenters note how the cars inside Wuhan’s school campuses have disappeared, and that even outside of Wuhan in other cities in Hubei, there are no longer cars parked inside the primary school campus. Various sources report that, following the incident, it was announced that vehicles are no longer allowed to park inside school campuses.

On June 3, various bloggers also noted how accounts that were involved in the online harassment of Yang have now been restricted or blocked by the Weibo platform.

By Manya Koetse, with contributions by Miranda Barnes

For information and support on mental health and suicide, international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

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©2023 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 Insight

Red Cross Society of China in Bad Light Due to Online Rumors after Gansu Earthquake

Even though the rumors surrounding the Red Cross might be false, the public concerns surrounding charity efforts are real.

Manya Koetse

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A handwarmer for 500 yuan ($70), a tent for 2200 yuan ($308), a blanket for 100 yuan ($14)? An online list detailing items supposedly procured by the Gansu Red Cross for earthquake relief efforts has ignited controversy on Chinese social media in recent days. Although the Red Cross has denied all rumors, the incident underscores public skepticism towards the organization.

After the devastating 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Jishishan (积石山), a county in China’s Gansu Province’s Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, on December 18, Chinese social media platforms were flooded with news related to the disaster. The overnight earthquake killed at least 148 people and left hundreds injured.

News of the earthquake resonated deeply throughout the country, and the ongoing search and rescue operations and relief efforts, hindered by landslides, ruined infrastructure, and freezing temperatures, have attracted major attention online.

While much of the discourse revolves around the goodness of the people contributing to charities and doing all they can to help victims in the affected areas, there is also public distrust surrounding the motives of some charities or helping organizations that might use the disaster as an opportunity to make a profit.

One hotly debated topic revolves around the Red Cross Society of China, after a list surfaced online of items allegedly purchased by the Gansu Red Cross for relief efforts in the aftermath of the Gansu Earthquake.

Image published on Weibo via Red Cross Society of China (@中国红十字会总会).

The procurement list raised controversy due to the high prices of the common items listed, and because of a supposed “management fee” (管理费) of 1.6 million yuan ($224k).

In response, the Red Cross refuted these claims, asserting that they had not issued any such list (#甘肃红十字称没发布任何物资清单#). On December 24, the Gansu Red Cross took to Weibo (@甘肃省红十字会) to clarify that the circulating information was “grossly inaccurate.” They assured the public that all donations would directly aid earthquake relief efforts, without incurring management fees.

The Red Cross statement on Weibo.

Even though the procurement list might be false, the public concerns surrounding charity efforts are real.

“Why does the Red Cross end up in the top trending lists every time?” one commenter wondered: “Their information should be more transparent and timely.”

Others also suggested that merely denying the rumors was not enough, and that they hoped that the Red Cross would provide more details and information to show netizens, of whom many donated money, how their charity money is being spent to help relief efforts in the affected areas in Gansu and Qinghai.

The fact that the Red Cross Weibo post did not allow any commenting did not help: “Why are you afraid to let us openly discuss this?”

 
Red Cross Society of China: Tainted by Suspicion
 

The Red Cross of China, the nation’s largest charitable organization, continues to grapple with a tarnished reputation that partly stems from the 2011 “Guo Meimei Incident.”

Guo Meimei (郭美美), whose real name is Guo Meiling, became an infamous internet celebrity in the summer of 2011 after flaunting her excessive wealth online whilst claiming to work as a “commercial general manager” for the Red Cross Society of China.

The issue severely eroded the society’s credibility, which has been designated by the government as the central public donation organization during times of disasters (Cheng 2016). From luxury handbags to sports cars, the 19-year-old Guo showed off her money on Weibo, and quickly went viral on various message boards as people were angered over corruption and potential misuse of charity money.

Guo Meimei

Despite efforts by the Red Cross Society to debunk these rumors and distance itself from Guo, speculations persisted. Many speculated about Guo’s potential ties to the organization, even if she did not officially work there. As highlighted by Cheng (2016), the public’s negative sentiment toward the Red Cross triggered “a chain of credibility crises” and even spread to other charitable groups in China.

During the 2020 Wuhan Covid outbreak, the Red Cross faced scrutiny for allegedly stockpiling public donations of medical supplies in warehouses rather than promptly distributing them to frontline medical personnel facing shortages.

The current allegations against the Red Cross of China in the aftermath of the Gansu Earthquake also echo other past controversies, such as the one they dealt with after the 2008 Sichuan quake. Red Cross officials were then also accused of misusing donations by purchasing needlessly expensive tents and vehicles.

 
Donations for the ‘Underdog’: The Han Hong Foundation
 

The growing public distrust towards the Red Cross has arguably paved the way for other Chinese charities to gain prominence. A prime example is the Han Hong Love Charity Foundation (韩红爱心慈善基金会), established in 2012 by renowned Chinese folk singer Han Hong (韩红, 1971).

Although Han Hong has been engaged in charity for many years, during which she invested a lot of her own money, the charity she established became more known after the Han Hong Love Charity Foundation was committed to aid efforts during the Wuhan Covid outbreak in 2020 and the Henan floods in 2021.

Han Hong (center), picture via Xiaohongshu fan of Han Hong.

After the earthquake in Gansu on December 18th, Han Hong’s organization immediately organized rescue teams and provided people in the affected areas with clothes and (medical) supplies. Hang Hong was able to rake in millions thanks to her reputation of being compassionate and altruistic, as well as through her strong network in China’s entertainment industry, leading numerous Chinese celebrities to support her relief efforts.

But Han Hong’s organization is also affected by the public distrust surrounding charity in China. On December 23, it was rumored that her Charity Foundation was officially asked to leave the disaster area as well as to hand over a portion of their donations.

The foundation refuted these claims by issuing a statement on December 25 (#韩红基金会辟谣#).

Statement by Han Hong Love Charity Foundation refuting rumors that their charity work was hindered by officials.

In the public view, there seems to be a big difference between perceptions of large entities like the Red Cross and other ‘official’ charitable organizations versus smaller, more independent initiatives like the Han Hong foundation, which operates as a private charitable entity.

Reflecting on the rumors surrounding both the Red Cross and Han Hong’s foundation, one Weibo commenter noted: “These rumors come into existence because so many of these so-called charitable foundations actually treat charity as their business. And so, they become ‘competitors.’”

Meanwhile, Han Hong’s organization stresses that it operates under the guidance and oversight of the party and government, and only provide emergency support through their support.

In online discussions on the power of the Red Cross versus Han Hong’s organization, some commenters suggest that it is time for the government and authorities to reflect on why a private organization would be more trusted than the Red Cross, a government organized NGO.

One Weibo commenter wrote: “What Han Hong does is true charity instead of business.” Another person replied: “The biggest disaster here is actually the erosion of public trust.”

By Manya Koetse

References

Cheng, Yang. 2016. “Social Media Keep Buzzing! A Test of Contingency Theory in China’s Red Cross Credibility Crisis.” International Journal of Communication, June 2016: pp. 3241+.

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©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 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).

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