China Local News

Woman Forced into Trunk of Car: “I Won’t Press Charges”

One day after a shocking video of a woman being slapped and forced into the trunk of a car became trending on Chinese social media, more details on the violent incident have come out. The woman says she won’t press charges against the aggressor, who is her husband.

Published

3 years ago

June 10, 2016

Manya Koetse

https://youtu.be/NgjdF3jGKQ4

On June 10, one day after the video of a woman being slapped and forced into the trunk of a car went viral on China’s social media, there is an update to the story. The incident, that took place in Cangzhou, Hebei province, was first shrouded in mystery – the video showed the man violently beating the woman and pushing her inside the trunk while bystanders did little to prevent him, after which he drove off.

Now, under the hashtag of “The Woman in the Trunk” (#后备箱里的女人#), more details have come to light.

[rp4wp]

News reports state that the police has investigated the case, and they confirm that the man and woman in the video are a husband and wife from Cangzhou, who were caught up in an angry argument at the time of the video.

According to the Weibo account of the local police, the woman is not injured and refuses to press charges against her husband – instead, the couple just wants to “live their life in peace together”.

According to the Weibo account of blogger Hu’erdao, the woman and her husband said their lives have been greatly affected by the video. Hu’erdao writes: “You thought this was still something between you? This has now become a public matter. Many people thought this was a kidnapping case. Did you think you could just leave it at this? You think it is normal to put someone in the car trunk?”

Other netizens agree with the blogger, saying: “If this was America, he would be arrested no matter if she pressed charges or not.” Weibo user She Huimin (@佘惠敏) also argues that the violent man should be arrested, no matter if the woman reported him to authorities or not: “They could suspend his driver’s license and take him into custody for ten days (..) Didn’t he break the law by putting someone in the trunk of his car?”

Another Weibo netizen writes: “My friends live in the same village as this couple. Everybody there knows she’s too afraid to get a divorce, as she fears he might do something to her family.” She also writes that the man is known to be violent and a heavy drinker: “It is possible for him not to eat, but it’s not possible for him not to drink.” In another post she says: “She is too afraid to press charges, and too afraid to get a divorce, out of fear for his revenge. After all, this man is capable of anything – he wasn’t afraid that he might’ve killed her by putting her in that trunk.”

Although there are many netizens who are angry that the case is left at this, there are also those who argue that the woman might not want to press charges out of fear, but that the man should be convicted no matter what – after all, “isn’t domestic violence a crime?”

China’s first law against domestic violence came into effect on March 1st of this year. According to estimations, one-in-four Chinese women have suffered violence in their marriage. But as what happens within the family home is traditionally considered a private matter, many women are afraid to talk about domestic abuse – which is still considered taboo.

But social media plays an important role in creating more awareness about domestic violence and the reaction of bystanders. Earlier this year, a video of a woman being nearly abducted in a Beijing hotel made headlines all over China. It showed a man violently dragging a woman through the hallway, while multiple people passed by without intervening. Some explained their passive response by saying they might have thought the man and woman were husband and wife – but many netizens pointed out that it should not make a difference if they were.

For now, it seems that the case of the woman in the trunk has reached a dead end. As the woman refuses to press charges, expressing they just want to “live their lives together in peace”, it is to be hoped that it will actually come to this.

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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Manya Koetse

Manya Koetse is the editor-in-chief of www.whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer and consultant (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends in China, with a focus on social media and digital developments, popular culture, and gender issues. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

2 Comments

Cinta Williams
June 11, 2016 at 2:48 am
I want to know who was the other person in the trunk?
Reply
Kim
August 19, 2016 at 3:45 pm
I saw that a guy translated what they said and it was that she had molested their 8 yr old son is that true
Reply

China Local News

Online Anger over Inappropriate Toast by Dutch Watch Brand Executive at Chinese Dinner Party

This is how NOT to do a toast in Dutch!

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2019

Manya Koetse

Instead of teaching guests at a Chinese dinner party how to say “cheers” in Dutch, this viral video shows how the Chinese are told to join in saying “dikke lul,” the Dutch expression for “big d*ck.”

The Amsterdam-based watch & jewelry brand Rosefield has recently come under fire within the Chinese community in the Netherlands after a video went viral showing Rosefield’s CEO and its Head of Sourcing proposing an unusual toast at a Chinese dinner party.

The video, that was viewed over 173,000 times on Dutch site Dumpert.nl, shows a woman in a white blouse bringing out a toast, saying:

“In Dutch, we say ‘ganbei’ or ‘cheers’ in this way, and it would be nice if you all can say the same, we say: ‘dikke lul.‘”

The people at the table then proceed to toast saying “Dikke lul” – which, in fact, is not the Dutch word for ‘cheers’ but for ‘big dick,’ something that the Chinese people at the table are seemingly not aware of.

On WeChat, Chinese-language newspaper Asian News (华侨新天地) reported about the video and identified the Dutch woman and man at the table as the CPO and CEO of Rosefield Watches, a fast-growing luxury brand that is active in various countries.

Asian News describes the incident as a way of “ridiculing Chinese friends,” and writes it has triggered anger online.

Asian News (华侨新天地) is a Chinese language newspaper founded in 1992. It is mainly distributed in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Its WeChat account has some 120,200 followers, and the post on the ‘cheers’ video was among its most-well read on WeChat this week.

The blog post noted that ever since the ‘dikke lul’ video has gone viral in the Netherlands, it has become one of the first results showing up when searching for the vulgar expression ‘dikke lul’ on Google.

Although it is not clear where the video was filmed and how it ended up on short video site Dumpert, it is rumored in WeChat groups that it was recorded during the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair earlier this month, and that the Chinese guests are business relations of the Dutch brand (unconfirmed).

The comment section on the Dumpert site shows that although some Dutch commenters think the video is funny, there are many who find it “vulgar,” “rude,” and “distasteful.”

Although many (overseas) Chinese expressed anger in various WeChat groups – some expressing regret over a Rosefield watch they recently purchased – the Asia News blog does remind readers that we do not know the context of the video, and whether or not there was a certain pretext or common understanding to the joke.

Nevertheless, the blog states, this kind of behavior is not professional and if a company such as Rosefield wants to earn money in China, “it should also respect Chinese culture and people.”

Although there have been ample discussions about the controversial video on Wechat, there are no online discussions about this issue on Weibo at the time of writing.

Over the past year, many foreign brands became a focus for controversy in China.

In November of 2018, Italian fashion house D&G faced consumer outrage and backlash on Chinese social media for a video that was deemed ‘racist’ to China and for insulting remarks about Chinese people allegedly made by designer Stefano Gabbana.

Swiss investment bank UBS sparked controversy in June for a column which mentioned “Chinese pigs.”

Over this summer, various foreign companies apologized to China for listing ‘Hong Kong’ as a separate country or region on its websites and/or t-shirts.

Still curious about how to actually say ‘cheers’ in Dutch? It’s ‘proost’ and this is how you pronounce it correctly.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. Please note that your comment below will need to be manually approved if you’re a first-time poster here.

China Food & Drinks

This Is the BBQ Restaurant Jack Ma Visited in Zhengzhou

Jack Ma’s late-night snack means overnight success for this Zhengzhou skewer place.

Published

3 weeks ago

August 29, 2019

Manya Koetse

Whatever Jack Ma does or says makes headlines in China. The superstar Alibaba founder has especially been a topic of discussion over the past week since his meeting with Tesla’s Elon Musk at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, where the two billionaires had a discussion about the risks and rewards of AI development.

But on social media platform Weibo, Chinese netizens have not just been discussing what Jack Ma has been saying over the past few days – what he has been eating has also become a topic that has attracted thousands of views and comments this week.

A BBQ skewer restaurant in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, gained overnight fame after a visit from the business magnate and his group. The Alibaba delegation visited Zhengzhou for a meeting concerning a strategic partnership between Alibaba and the local government.

Jack Ma visited the barbecue skewer restaurant around one o’clock in the morning, and was photographed and filmed by many people standing around.

Ma visited Dehua Pedestrian Street and Zhengdong New Area before arriving at the Zheng Xiwang restaurant. Ma was with a small group of people and spent a total of 700 yuan (around 100 US dollars).

Grilled skewers are popular all across China, but especially in the Zhengzhou region, which is also nicknamed the “holy land of skewers.”

Image via Dianping.com.

The Zheng Xiwang restaurant visited by Ma was founded in 1991 – although it was just a street stall at the time – and has been thriving ever since.

Besides skewers, Jack Ma allegedly ordered stir-fried Hunan prawns and spicy clams.

As Ma’s visit to Zhengzhou and the restaurant has gone viral, some social media users write that they have also visited the restaurant immediately after, sharing photos and their receipts as proof.

Weibo user Jia Chengjun (@贾成军) from Henan shared photos of people lining up to get a table at the popular restaurant.

According to various reports on Weibo, the restaurant’s owner initially offered Jack Ma the dinner for free, but the billionaire refused and paid anyway. His payment method will not come as a surprise; he paid with Alibaba’s online payment platform Alipay.

“Why would you offer him a free meal anyway?” some netizens wondered: “He surely has more money than you!”

Curious to try the same food as Ma? Zheng Xi Wang is located at the intersection of Fuyuan Street and Yingxie Street in Zhengzhou (福元路与英协路交叉口向西160米路北(银基王朝南门)).

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo