China
Zhang Yu has faced a backlash for challenging official narratives over a chained Chinese woman
Chinese Christian artist Zhang Yu was interrogated by police for expressing concerns over a chained woman. (Photo: ChinaAid)
A Christian artist in southwestern China has come under pressure from authorities for social media posts challenging official narratives over an alleged victim of sex trafficking as a mentally ill person.
Zhang Yu, a Protestant Christian from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province and a member of Early Rain Covenant Church, was interrogated by police in Youyang on Feb. 27, China Aid reported on March 4.
Earlier that day, police contacted his elder brother and called him to the police station to ask for the whereabouts of Zhang.
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Zhang graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. He is passionately involved in photography, painting, performance art and multimedia. He also writes poetry and articles.
He said he expected trouble from the government as he recently expressed concerns on social media over a viral video that showed a chained woman in Feng County in Xuzhou city of Jiangsu province.
“I expected this to happen. The government’s retaliation has begun,” Zhang reportedly said.
I will not disappear voluntarily. I will not travel to other provinces soon. I will not confess unless I am forced by external forces
Zhang posted on WeChat that the authorities had presented fabricated information about the chained woman because they thought nobody would be able oppose the official version as the area is remote and people would not verify the claims.
The artist said he knew about the place and geography of region as he had drawn portraits of many local women.
He also cited another case of a victim of human trafficking in Yagu village in Fugong County of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture. Authorities attempted to portray her as a girl who went missing many years ago.
Zhang said that though the police didn’t mistreat him, they warned him about his comments on the chained woman and asked him not to do the same again.
His friends expressed concerns about his safety as news about his interrogation spread. Zhang posted on WeChat that he was safe and would not back down under pressure.
“I will not disappear voluntarily. I will not travel to other provinces soon. I will not confess unless I am forced by external forces. I will update my WeChat Moments at least twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If I do not post an update, it means something happened to me,” he wrote.
On Jan. 28, a video on Douyin, the Chinese version of social media platform TikTok, showed a mother of eight children locked up in a village with a chain around her neck.
The video was shot by a man who was visibly shocked at what he saw. The woman appeared dazed and was unable to answer questions from the vlogger, who also brought her warm clothes as she shivered in freezing cold winter with her light clothes.
The video went viral on Chinese social media and sparked a fierce backlash from netizens who demanded a proper investigation.
The statement triggered another backlash from netizens who accused authorities of failing to ensure the woman’s welfare
They also expressed anger over the abuse of women in China and their limited rights, particularly in rural parts of the country.
They also hit out at authorities for failing to notice the precarious condition of the woman and questioned under which circumstances the woman gave birth to her eight children given China’s strict family planning restrictions.
Some compared the condition of the woman to the 2007 Chinese film Blind Mountain, which tells the story of a young woman kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Authorities quickly brushed off human and sex trafficking allegations in the case with a statement that the woman’s last name was Yang, she was married in 1998 and had been diagnosed with a mental illness.
The statement triggered another backlash from netizens who accused authorities of failing to ensure the woman’s welfare.
Officials said they had initiated investigations against her husband Dong for violating the law and she had been taken to hospital while her children had been taken to state care.
Authorities have also strictly censored social media and online discussion as “Xuzhou Eight Children” became a trending topic.
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