A short video captured by a street photographer on China’s TikTok (Douyin) went completely viral this week, showcasing a Chinese official who held a high-ranking position at PetroChina enjoying a romantic stroll with his secret girlfriend. The video’s widespread circulation led to the downfall of Hu Jiyong and Ms. Dong, who also worked at PetroChina.

Hu Jiyong (胡继勇), the former Chinese executive director and general manager of Beijing Huanqiu Construction Co, a subsidiary of PetroChina, is the talk of the week on Chinese social media after a video of him holding hands with a supposed mistress went viral.

Hu Jiyong, who is a Party secretary, was removed from his post after the incident. PetroChina Beijing Project Management Company issued a statement on Wednesday at 17:30 in which they stated that Hu Jiyong had been dismissed from his positions as Executive Director, Party Committee Secretary, and General Manager of Huanqiu Project Management Company, and that he will be further investigated by the company’s disciplinary committee.

The statement by PetroChina.

State media outlet Shanghai Daily writes: “Being a Communist Party of China member, Hu has moral obligations, which he transgressed by having an alleged extramarital affair.”

On Weibo, the hashtag “PetroChina’s Hu Jiyong Fired” (#中石油胡继勇被免职#) received nearly 1,2 billion views on Wednesday, making it the absolute top trending topic of the day. On Chinese TikTok, the topic was also in the top 10 trending lists.

See and Be Seen in Chengdu

The video went viral after a street fashion photographer captured the two strolling the street and holding hands in downtown Chengdu in a popular area some even refer to as “Douyin Street” (TikTok Street / 抖音街).

Street photography has been common in China for many years, as photographers have since long been gathering around trendy spots from Beijing’s Sanlitun to Chengdu’s Taikoo Li with their big lens cameras to capture people walking by.

Many of these people are older, amateur photographers, who are simply snapping photos of attractive, fashionable, and unique-looking people as their hobby, posting these videos on Douyin, China’s Tiktok, and other platforms. There are also those who are working for street fashion accounts or style magazines, and are doing street snaps to capture China’s latest fashion trends.

The places where these street photographers gather are usually spots where people go to see and be seen. In one of the shots posted online, it seems that Ms. Dong is very much aware that she is being filmed. There are also photographers standing behind her.

The topic attracted 1.2 billion views on Weibo. With street photographers & Tiktok vloggers everywhere nowadays, careless cheaters are bound to be caught. But they seemed particularly nonchalant: they were being filmed from multiple angles while visiting a see-and-be-seen spot. pic.twitter.com/60m2b8avbt

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) June 8, 2023

In 2019, Chengdu’s Taikooli already placed signs around the area prohibiting commercial street photography and warning about the unauthorized commercial use of an individual’s image (#成都太古里明确禁止未经允许街拍#).

In an interview with Netease, the photographer in question stated that multiple people were taking photos and videos at the time, and that the couple did not refuse to being filmed. As usual, he later posted the video on his TikTok channel.

A sign at Chengdu’s Taikooli warns photographers to take people’s portrait rights into account.

The video soon started circulating online and blew up once people, including co-workers, recognized the man as the married PetroChina executive and identified the woman as another PetroChina employee. The photographer soon received private messages in which he was asked to take the video down, and he did. But it was already too late as the story has already snowballed out of control.

Netizens digging deeper soon found photos proving that the woman holding hands with Hu was his colleague. Some pointed out that the handbag the woman carried in the video appears to be a limited edition Lady Dior bag, that is allegedly priced anywhere from 39,000 to 44,000 yuan ($5470 – $6170).

On June 8, it was reported that the female PetroChina employee Ms. Dong was also dismissed. A related hashtag received over 110 million views on Weibo (#董某某也已停职并接受调查#)

Online Responses

The incident has garnered significant attention on Chinese social media. While stories about top officials being exposed for immoral behavior or corruption often generate considerable interest, this particular incident stands out due to the crucial role played by Chinese social media and netizens in uncovering the extramarital affair.

During the May holiday of this year, a woman from Hunan was at home tending to her baby and casually browsing through TikTok, when she stumbled upon a video showcasing her husband enjoying a theme park ride alongside another woman. After the story of how this affair was exposed through TikTok went trending (#女子刷短视频刷到老公和小三约会#), one other popular TikTok video included a woman shouting out to give everyone in the video frame a heads up: “If you are not here with you’re wife, go away, because I’m filming!”

While a few individuals advocate for addressing privacy issues and condemn the actions of street photographers who share people’s photos and videos, the majority of people are simply “eating watermelon” (吃瓜), meaning they are passively observing the online spectacle without directly involving themselves.

Others are actively delving into the private lives of Hu and Dong, exposing their previous social media posts, personal photos, and private information. Even though Ms. Dong has now deleted all her social media information (#牵手门女当事人疑似清空社交账号#), netizens had previously saved some content that many consider to be posts where she flaunts her wealth.

In the meantime, the incident has not only inspired a wave of memes but has also provided e-commerce platforms with an opportunity to capitalize on the situation by selling clothing items similar to those worn by the couple in the TikTok video.

The PetroChina logo is changed to fit the couple’s outfits.

The Lego version.

The manga AI version.

As the incident keeps fermenting online, Beijing Daily has published an opinion piece in which it is argued that too many of the discussions surrounding the story are driven by sensationalism and are crossing the line. Ms. Dong in specific has become a target of online bullying, harassment, and vulgar comments.

The author also suggests that the incident has become some source of entertainment, while actually involving serious issues related to the moral conduct of state-owned enterprise officials (#舆论反腐不能沦为网暴羞辱#).

Whether serious or not, it seems that one burning question on many people’s mind is where Ms. Dong got her dress from. With similar dresses popping up all over the Chinese internet, it has unexpectedly become the hottest summer dress trend of 2023.

Good news for anyone who loves the dress worn by Ms Dong in the controversial video: it's now sold all over the Chinese internet. pic.twitter.com/Osa745s9MW

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) June 8, 2023

By Manya Koetse 

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