By MEI DU
Gender Correspondent
BEIJING (China Daily Show) — It was “touch and go” for a while, jokes tech entrepreneur Wang Men, as he relaxes over shots of Japanese whisky at one of Beijing’s top waffle restaurants.
Several months ago, Wang was in the headlines, accused by multiple female staff at his tech incubator of sexual harassment, telling crap jokes, and generally being a dick.
But now Wang’s worries appear to be over.
“Initially, I thought the whole thing was a joke. Then, I realized it wasn’t a very funny one,” Wang explains, describing the moment #MeToo — an international movement against sexual harassment and abuse toward women — finally arrived in China.
Activists called out instances of sexist and abusive behavior in many industries and compmanies, including Wang’s. “The allegations against me were ridiculous!” Wang grumbled. “Look, some of my favorite secretaries are women.”
Over the past few months, though, a number of senior professors have been forced to temporarily resign fom their prestigious universities, in the wake of historic accusations, including bullying, harassment, rape, and lackluster lectures.
For many, the #MeToo movement was a long overdue day of reckoning, following decades of inequality and abusive behaviour toward young women. But others disagreed.
“This is clearly a Western conspiracy,” said one official, who declined to give his name, age or marital status. “Foreign forces don’t understand China: We’re perfectly capable of having our own witch hunts.”
Others suggested that the #MeToo movement posed a threat to traditional Chinese culture.
“There has long been an unspoken understanding between lecturers and students that pupils who win placements at certain schools are expected to ‘pay Daddy back’,” says ex-Tsinghua University gender expert Mo Li, who has self-published two books on the subject, When ‘No’ Means ‘Not Yet’ and It’s Complicated: How to Not Be Too Creepy. “Still, it would have been nice if someone had told me about that when I was teaching at Tsinghua.”
Wang, the tech entrepreneur, says that many men are still confused about the “rules” of dating, particularly since the controversial arrest of 56-year-old Bu Hu, a fun-loving philanthropist who stands accused of several counts of abuse, after his basement was found to contain the bodies of over a dozen women.
Bu was eventually charged with “improper disposal of a corpse,” and sentenced to three weeks’ holiday in Tibet, but the case still sent shockwaves through China’s elite. “If Bu can be accused, then no one is safe,” said Bu’s lawyer.
The verdict triggered a crackdown from authorities, who have since targeted students, reporters, feminists, and rape victims, and warned them to knock it off. Many have folded to the thuggish threats, while #MeToo hashtags and stories have been scoured from social media.
Important American writer Oliver P. Wendall Thurgoöd has unexpectedly thrown his support behind the crackdown.
“As a feminist and advocate of free speech, I absolutely support this important and long-overdue equality movement,” Thurgoöd, a former correspondent whose book China: Land of the Chinese won the Edgar G. Robinson Prize for Non-Fiction in Asia, told CDS through his lawyers.
“But there are limits. What if — just spit-balling here — a disgruntled ex-employee made baseless allegations about an improper relationship with her boss, that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy and abortion? One should certainly draw the line at discussing that kind of matter.”
“China must proceed cautiously and not take the Western path,” warned private equity shill Eric S Li, who has been battling what he describes as a “spurious” class-action lawsuit, filed by 11 ayis, for several months. “The #MeToo movement is not good for the country, and certainly not for me.”
In a bid to appease feminist anger, though, the Ministry of Public Security has pledged to “help build positive energy with Chinese characteristics,” by opening several new crisis-counselling centers for men who’ve been falsely accused
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