A roadside billboard in Hunan province references the recent rape case. It warns passersby: “Sexual assault of a minor is a criminal offense, and is punishable in extreme cases under the law by death. All cases of sexual relations with girls under the age of 14 constitutes rape.”
The disturbing case of a 13-year-old in China who was raped and forced into prostitution — which first came to light in May this year — was back in the news this month, grabbing headlines also in Taiwan and Hong Kong. According to recent news on the case, the girl, identified in reports by the pseudonym “Li Xiaoxia” (李晓霞), was abused by 14 individuals, including three public officials. One of the latter is the deputy chairman of the local people’s congress in Hunan’s Xinhua County (新化縣), where the abuse occurred between April and July 2023.
The news this month raised concerns about systemic flaws in sexual assault protections for children. Meanwhile, the involvement of public officials turned some attention to questions of government corruption and accountability in China, though online authorities have been keen to restrain open criticism. “How can the sentence for rape be so light,” one user asked on Weibo in a comment under a news post from Henan’s Dahe Daily (大河报). “Civil servants should be punished twice as much!” said another. “After all, they get twice the benefits from the state.”
Reports from official media in China, including Shanghai’s The Paper (澎湃), openly named the public officials implicated in the abuse, while others involved were identified only by their surnames — suggesting an interest in highlighting official malfeasance. Among the officials was Gong Haodong (龚昊东), who only a half year ago was selected as vice-chairman of the People’s Congress in Youxi Township (油溪乡). Back in May, the primary offender in the case — a 17-year-old who had previously forced Li into prostitution — was handed a sentence of more than nine years in prison. The penalties for the other adult defendants ranged from three to four and a half years.
The news made headlines all across Chinese-language media, with Taiwan and Hong Kong abundantly reporting on the case. In Hong Kong, the online newspaper HK01 (香港01) wrote an extensive report about the case.
As Chinese media seem keen to highlight odious official conduct at the lowest levels, it bears remembering on the issue of sexual harassment that international Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai (彭帅) was forcibly disappeared in November 2021 after she accused former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli (张高丽) of pressuring her into sex. The phenomenon of going after small-time officials while leaving high-level officials untouched is referred to in Chinese as “swatting at flies and letting the tigers run free.”
