China Society
Two Court Sentences Trending on Weibo: The Xuzhou Chained Mother Case and the Dalian BMW Driver Death Penalty
From Xuzhou to Dalian, the conclusion of these criminal cases was eagerly awaited, with varying opinions on the verdicts and sentences.
The case of a mother of eight children who was found to be chained up in a shed next to the family home became one of the biggest social media topics in China in 2022.
The story first attracted nationwide attention in late January 2022 when a video of the mother, filmed by a local TikTok user, went viral and triggered massive outrage. People demanded answers about the woman’s circumstances and why her husband (Dong Zhimin 董志民) was seemingly exploiting their situation on social media.
The mother, who seemed confused, was kept in a dirty shed without a door in the freezing cold – she did not even wear a coat. Videos showed how her husband Dong Zhimin and their eight children were playing and talking in the family home right next to the hut.
Chinese internet users, from local reporters to internet sleuths and feminists, started investigating the case, wanting to find out who this woman was and if she might have been the victim of human trafficking (read ‘Twists and Turns in the Tragic Story of the Xuzhou Chained Mother‘).
Thanks to the ongoing social media attention surrounding the woman, and with the help of local authorities, it was eventually determined that the woman was indeed a victim of human trafficking and she was identified as Xiao Huamei (小花梅) from Yagu, Fugong County, who went missing – without anyone reporting her missing – in 1996.
On April 7th, 2023, the Xuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Jiangsu Province delivered its verdict in the case. Dong Zhimin, Xiao Huamei’s husband, was found guilty of abuse and illegal detainment and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Five other people were also sentenced for their involvement in the case. Shi Lizhong (时立忠), Sang Heniu (桑合妞), Tan Aiqing (谭爱庆), Huo Yongqu (霍永渠), and Huo Fude (霍福得) were found guilty of human trafficking.
Together with Shi Lizhong, Sang Heniu is the woman who lured Xiao Huamei away from her hometown under false pretenses in 1998 and sold her to a man in Donghai County for 5000 yuan ($725) before she ended up with Dong Zhimin. Shi and Sang were sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison respectively.
It is not entirely clear what happened to Xiao Huamei later in 1998, but she was separated from the first man and was reportedly resold by Tan Aiqing to Huo Yongqu and Huo Fude for 3000 yuan ($435), who then took her to Huankou where she was again resold for 5000 yuan ($725) to Dong Zhimin. Tan Aiqing, Huo Yongqu, and Huo Fude received sentences of 11 years, 10 years, and 13 years respectively.
On Weibo, where the verdict went trending (#丰县八孩案一审宣判#), there were those who said justice has been served, but louder voices expressed that they thought the sentences imposed were still not harsh enough.
One concern people have is that Dong Zhimin has not been sentenced for human trafficking, while many people think that “selling” and “buying” should be equally punished: “Actually, the judgment was too light, the law should be amended and people who buy should also be punished for it.”
Then there are those who just want to know how Xiao Huamei – who is suffering from mental illness – is doing together with her eight children and what will happen to them now that Dong is in prison. Those questions are still left unanswered.
Execution of Culprit in Dalian Shocking Hit-and-Run Case
The execution of Liu Dong, a man who was sentenced to death for plowing into a group of pedestrians, was the other major criminal case that went trending recently.
On May 22 of 2021, a Saturday morning, a black BMW drove into a crowd of pedestrians in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, leaving five people dead and five injured.
The driver, who was soon arrested, was a man by the name of Liu Dong (刘东), who reportedly purposely drove into the crowd to take “revenge on society” after an investment failure.
In October 2021, Liu Dong was sentenced to death at the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court. Although Liu appealed, the initial ruling was upheld. With approval by the Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC), Liu Dong was executed on April 7th, 2023.
On social media, the execution attracted a lot of attention. One related hashtag, “Dalian BMW Driver Who Drove Into People Executed by Death Penalty” (#大连宝马撞人案司机被执行死刑#), received over 230 million clicks.
“He got what he deserved,” a recurring comment said.
Because the Dalian case is very similar to another incident that happened in January of this year in Guangzhou, many people on Chinese social media asked for an update on that case.
Five people were killed and 13 others were injured in that incident, which also involved a BMW driving into pedestrians at Tianhe Road in Guangzhou on 11 January, 2023. The shocking incident was all over Weibo, where one hashtag related to the topic received over 1.2 billion views at the time. Many hashtags were removed shortly after and are still offline now, three months later.
The horrific incident that happened in Guangzhou earlier in 2023 had many similarities to the Dalian hit-and-run case.
“The Guangzhou driver should be next,” many commenters wrote.
Support for Harsher Sentences
On Chinese social media, it is often those supporting the harshest penalties who seem to be in the majority. In the case of the BMW driver, the majority of comments commend the Chinese legal system for enforcing capital punishment. Regarding the Xuzhou chained mother case, a common sentiment is that the sentences should have been harsher.
Under China’s criminal law, penalties for trafficking women and children range from five years imprisonment to life or even the death penalty. But the maximum prison term for people who buy abducted or trafficked women is only three years.
There have been many discussions about this on social media, where many argue that the punishment should actually be the same regardless if someone sells or buys. Others say that those buying trafficked women or children should also be able to receive the death penalty.
In China, where capital punishment has a centuries-old history, executions are carried out by lethal injection or by shooting and always have to be approved and confirmed by the Supreme People’s Court.
“I’m in favor of the death penalty,” (“支持死刑”) is a recurring comment in discussions about the Dalian hit-and-run case. Looking at social media alone, it seems that an overwhelming majority of commenters support the death penalty in cases such as these.
In 2020, The China Quarterly published a study by Liu (2021) about public support for the death penalty in China. Based on national survey data, the author argues that although there is indeed strong support for the death penalty in China, it is perhaps not as strong as is commonly assumed.
According to the study by Liu, a majority of 68% of China’s citizens are for the death penalty, while 31% are opposed to it. At the same time, the study also showed that most Chinese people would agree to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole (Liu 2021, 541).This sentiment is also reflected in some online discussions.
The level of support for the death penalty varies depending on which factor is given the most weight in the views of individuals. Some emphasize the ‘warning role’ of the death penalty, arguing that it has a deterrent effect. Others consider retribution an important reason to be in favor of the death penalty. Then there are those who think that the death penalty allows offenders to avoid facing the consequences of their crimes, and they suggest that spending life in prison would be a better way to make them pay for what they did.
The idea of capital punishment serving as a warning and deterrent is an important one in China. One study comparing death penalty views in China, Japan, and the US (Jiang et al 2010) found that while retribution is the most significant factor for Americans who support the death penalty, deterrence plays a more important role in Chinese and Japanese views in favor of capital punishment (868).
In the two trending cases, there is some disagreement online on whether or not justice was truly served. There is one thing that virtually everyone agrees on: they hope that the surviving victims and their families will find peace and happiness after everything they have been through.
By Manya Koetse
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References
Jiang, Shanhe, Eric G. Lambert, Jin Wang, Toyoji Saito, Rebecca Pilot. 2010. “Death Penalty Views in China, Japan and the U.S.: An Empirical Comparison.” Journal of Criminal Justice 38.5: 862–869.
Liu, John Zhuang. 2021. “Public Support for the Death Penalty in China: Less from the Populace but More from Elites.” The China Quarterly 246: 527-544.
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China Food & Drinks
China Trending Week 11: The Yang Braised Chicken Scandal, Haidilao Pee Incident, Taiwan Tensions
What’s been trending on Weibo and beyond? I doomscrolled Chinese social media so you don’t have to.
🍚🤢Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice Scandal
The popular Chinese franchise Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice (杨铭宇黄焖鸡米饭) is at the center of attention this week—for all the wrong reasons. The company, which opened its first restaurant in 2011 and has since franchised more than 2500 locations across China, was exposed by Beijing News for reusing expired ingredients and reselling leftover food in at least three of its restaurants in Zhengzhou and Shangqiu (Henan). Cooks were smoking in the kitchen and even going as far as dyeing spoiled, darkened beef with food coloring to make it appear fresh.
The issue has sparked widespread concern on Chinese social media—not only because Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice is a well-known restaurant chain, but also because food safety and kitchen hygiene remain ongoing concerns in China. The timing of this news is particularly significant, as it was published in the lead-up to March 15—China’s National Consumer Rights Day, an annual event that highlights consumer protection issues.
China’s State Council Food Safety Commission Office has now ordered authorities in Henan and Shandong, where Yang’s Braised Chicken is headquartered, to thoroughly investigate the case. The affected stores will reportedly be closed permanently, but the impact extends far beyond these locations—most netizens discussing the scandal have made it clear they won’t be ordering from Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice anytime soon.
Can the company win back consumer trust? Even though general management has been apologizing and pledged to personally oversee kitchen standards, this is not the first time the company is in hot water. In 2024, a customer in Chengdu allegedly ordered Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice via takeout and discovered a fully cooked dead rat in their meal (picture here not for the faint of heart).
🇹🇼⚔️Beijing Angrily Responds to Lai Ching-te’s Speech: “Pushing Taiwan Towards the Danger of War”
While tough language on Taiwan was already trending last week during China’s Two Sessions, another wave of discussions on Taiwan has emerged this week. This follows a high-level national security meeting held on Thursday by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (赖清德), after which he addressed the media and proposed more aggressive strategies to counter Beijing’s so-called ‘united front’ efforts within Taiwan.
On Friday, Beijing responded with stern remarks. Chen Binhua (陈斌华), spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, called Lai Ching-te a “destroyer of cross-strait peace” (“两岸和平破坏者”) and a “creator of crises in the Taiwan Strait” (“台海危机制造者”) who is “pushing Taiwan towards the dangerous situation of war” (“把台湾推向兵凶战危险境”).
Chen also reiterated Beijing’s stance that reunification with Taiwan is inevitable. This message was further amplified on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin through the hashtag “Inevitable Reunification with the Motherland” (#祖国必然统一#).
🔥🚽Haidilao’s “Pissgate”
Last week, on March 6, a peculiar news item went viral on Chinese social media, and I tweeted out the viral video here. The footage shows a young man standing on a table in a private dining room at a Haidilao restaurant, seemingly urinating into the hotpot. The incident was later confirmed to have taken place at the popular chain’s Bund location in Shanghai on the night of February 24.
Just when you thought the world couldn’t get any crazier… someone stands up and pisses in the Haidilao hotpot. Blasphemy! Hotpot treason!
Anyway, Haidilao reported the guy to the police, and I’m pretty sure he won’t be welcome back anytime soon. pic.twitter.com/3ytLhGdYjX
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) March 6, 2025
Honestly, the video seemed staged (the “pee” looked more like water), but understandably, Haidilao was very pissed about the negative impact on its reputation. In case you’re not familiar: Haidilao is one of China’s most popular hotpot chains, known for its excellent service and food quality (read here).
The company immediately launched an investigation into the video’s origins and reported the two men—the one urinating and the one filming—to the police.
This week, the incident gained even more traction (even the BBC covered it) after it was revealed that Haidilao had reimbursed 4,109 customers who dined at the restaurant between February 24, when the incident occurred, and March 8, when all tableware was discarded and the entire restaurant was disinfected.
Not only did Haidilao reimburse customers, but they also compensated them tenfold.
This compensation strategy sparked all kinds of discussions on Chinese social media. While many agreed with Haidilao’s solution to prevent a marketing crisis, some customers and netizens raised ethical questions, such as:
💰If you paid for your meal with coupons and only spent a couple of cents in cash, is it fair that some customers only received 9 RMB ($1.25) in compensation?
💰If you paid for an entire group of friends, meaning you originally spent around $140 on a meal but now received $1,400 in reimbursement, should you split the compensation with your friends?
💰How should cases be handled where a third party made the reservation and ends up claiming part of the compensation?
By now, the incident has become about much more than just pissing in soup.
By Manya Koetse
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