The case of the waitress, the official and the power of the internet in China Posted By: Peter Foster at May 26, 2009 at 10:35:27 [General]
Posted in: Foreign Correspondents
Tags:View More china, Deng Guida, Deng Yujiao, internet, stabbed
There is much talk about the power of the internet as a force for change in China, but the story of the karaoke bar waitress who stabbed to death a Party official when he allegedly tried to force himself on her is a particularly strong example.
The case of 21-year-old Deng Yujiao - as regular readers of the newswrap will know - has been elevated to that of a cause celebre, with supporters posting poems, songs and even offers of marriage on the internet in support of her.
She is being portrayed - and I make no judgment about the facts of the case, which remain untested in court - as a helpless young woman who was a victim of the worst, most boorish kind of abuse of power.
The story has all the features that make the internet such a powerful tool.
It has spread quickly and "virally", drawing in individual citizens and national organizations into what began as a local tale and has forced a huge amount of information about the case into the public domain. It has also forced an unprecedented response from government.
A Chinese newspaper, Southern Metropolis Daily has published an interview with Miss Deng (English translation here) that was taken by her lawyer and gives a graphic account (be prepared for some bad language) of Miss Deng's side of the story.
She says that she was forcibly stripped and then groped by an official from Badong's local business promotion office. When she resisted his advances, he called in a colleague who pushed her roughly onto a sofa. It was then that she stabbed the official, named as Deng Guida 43, to death with a small knife she had concealed in her pocket book.
The story has touched such a popular nerve because it embodies, in almost fable-like fashion, the victimisation of the weak individual by the ciphers of corrupt, all-powerful officialdom.
It has come to stand for so much more than just an individual scandal. It resonates with a popular, negative perception of an entire system, which is why these stories, and other like them, have a kind of aggregating power to effect wider change.
Taken individually this could just be seen as case of 'every barrel has a few rotten apples', but when you have a polity where a single organisation sets itself up as sole controller (even it in reality its more complicated that that) then events like these will always reflect back on the wider system that spawned them.
Take this quote from Miss Deng's interview, who says she tried to explain that even though the hotel provided 'additional services' downstairs in a downstairs bathhouse where she says she was washing her clothes - she was only a waitress who wasn't in that line of work. At this point she says she was already naked from the waist down.
"Deng Guida then continued to curse: "What do you mean about working here or upstairs?? Aren't you all the same?? You are a prostitute but you still want to have a good reputation?" He also said: "Don't you want money?? You have never seen any money!? How much money do you want?? Just say so? Would you believe if I am going to beat you to death with money today? He took out a wad of money and used it to slap Deng Yujiao in the face and shoulder? At each slap, Deng Yujiao took one step backwards until she was at the edge of the sofa?" She said: "Yes, I have never seen money. If you have the guts, you can beat me to death." Deng Guida said: "Indeed I'll beat you to death with money. I am going to summon a truckload of money and squash you to death."
It's hard to imagine a more ugly or comprehensive statement of power. And note Miss Deng's gutsy response to Deng Guida, further underscoring her heroine status.
On a positive note, the case has shown once again how a concerted effort by 'netizens' (ugly word, I know, but can't find a better one) can make a difference in China.
In a highly unusual step the Badong government, apparently responding to the furore over the case, posted a response on its official website promising that Miss Deng would get a fair hearing.
"The work team handling the Deng Yujiao case has committed itself to being transparent, unbiased, objective and just. Authorities will strictly conform to the law in handling this case," a spokesman said.
That might sound like lip-service, except that with so many people now watching following events, including the China Women's Association and other pressure groups, there will be much greater pressure for transparency.
None of this adds up to a coherent system of scrutiny - in some senses it is mob justice, since as far as I can see the other official in the case has not been able to put his side of the story to the public - but nonetheless it is a form of democracy (people-power) in action.
I offer it only as an example of China is changing, and not always at the pace the Party would necessarily like.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/peter_foster/blog/2009/05/26/the_case_of_the_waitress_the_official_and_the_power_of_the_internet_in_china