Li Tianyi Gang Rape: Tsinghua Professor Causes Outcry with Weibo Post

Li Tianyi Gang Rape: Tsinghua Professor Causes Outcry with Weibo Post
Jul 23, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s note: the following article, translated and edited from Ifeng.com, looks at the recent developments regarding the Li Tianyi scandal. Li, 17, is the son of a famous military singer and was recently detained in Beijing for partaking in a gang rape following a night out. On July, a law professor at Tsinghua University spoke out to defend Li by stating, “Raping a hostess is less harmful than raping a woman from a good household”. The post sparked outcry from many netizens who reflected on humanity and the state of the education system in China. Finally, the article climaxes with a survey which asks netizens what their feelings are regarding the Tsinghua University professor’s comments. The current results of the survey (which has currently been completed by 576,136 people) are also shown in the article. 

Li Tianyi, 17, who is the son of famous military singer Li Shuangjiang, has recently been detained in Beijing for participating in a gang rape after a night out. On July 10, Li’s new attorneys released a statement on a blog claiming that the press should protect minors and old artists. The two new attorneys also stated that they were going to plead not guilty for Li. Li also recently claimed his innocence as he stated the rape victim was “only a hostess”, and therefore he was not guilty.  

When Li was arrested, his family soon expressed doubt over the accusations. They stated that Li had told them that when he was leaving the bar his friends weren’t with him, and the girl in question willingly left together with Li. Apparently, when they arrived at a hotel the girl wasn’t drunk and didn’t put up any resistance during the incident. Although these claims completely contradict many media reports, Li’s family believe they have proof from eye witnesses and CCTV footage. Due to this, Li’s family asked his lawyers to plead not guilty during the trial.   

Tsinghua professor’s Weibo post causes outcry

On July 16, a Weibo user by the name of Yi Yanyou, whose account states he is the Head of the Law School Evidence Act Center of Tsinghua University, defended Li Tianyi and his lawyers by posting, “Raping a bar hostess is less harmful than raping a woman from a good household.” As soon as his comment was posted, it brewed up heated discussion from netizens. After noticing widespread criticism from many netizens, Yi revised his comment and rewrote it as: “Raping a woman from a good household is more harmful than raping prostitutes or hostesses who drink, dance, and sleep with customers.”    

Below is the original post from Yi Yanyou regarding the Li Tianyi scandal.

Here are a few sentences which defend Li Tianyi’s lawyers: 1. Pleading innocent is his right. To quote the Haidian District Prosecutor: “The sky won’t fall down if we let people plead not guilty.” 2. Minors enjoy special protection; there’s nothing wrong with his lawyers appealing to people to obey the law. 3. Emphasizing the point that the victim was a hostess doesn’t mean that it’s okay to rape hostesses, but rather hostesses are more likely to agree to sex. Furthermore, even if it is rape, raping a bar hostess is less harmful than raping a woman from a good household.

Comments from Weibo netizens

Below are a few selected comments from Weibo users in response to Yi Yanyou’s original post.

Weibo user “@宦卿世界”: Mr Yi, who being from Tsinghua University Law School is a man of the law, is clearly speaking on behalf of Li Shuangjiang (Lis father). The only thing that can be discussed is whether the punishment fits the crime, as there are already regulations in place regarding minors who commit crimes. Making the point that a hostess is more likely to consent to sex as a defence is legally blind. The law only listens to evidence, not possibilities. Such possibilities are really groundless and are not evidence.

Weibo user “@FTD-TT”: May I ask what standard is the degree of harm measured by? Rape is rape; as long as its against the womens will then its an offence, and has nothing to do with her occupation. People like you are still able to be PhD tutors? Do you know how to teach your students well?

Weibo user “@一十一为王”: Its over, really its over. How has Chinas education reached such an animalistic level? The humanity is even worse than that of animals.

Weibo user “@包炬强”: Head of the Law School Evidence Act Center of Tsinghua University: are people just graded in your mind? How can you openly say such discriminatory things? To quote director Yang Heping: People like this who are legally blind, childish and ignorant can manage to sneak their way into Tsinghua and become a professor? What’s happened to this country?!  

Survey: what do netizens think of Yis comments?

On Chinese news website Ifeng, a four-question survey was conducted to find out what Chinese netizens think of Yi Yanyou’s comments. Below are the current results of the survey with percentages used to depict the ratio of people who agreed with certain questions.

1) What do you think of Yi Yanyou’s comment: “Raping a bar hostess is less harmful than raping a woman from a good household”?

- From a legal perspective, there’s nothing wrong with Yi’s comment

3.07%

17,307 Votes

- The comment was said in an attempt to absolve Li Tianyi from any guilt

50.2 %

282,444 votes

- The comment is discriminatory

41.41%

47,575 votes

- Yi doesn’t know enough about expressing himself on a public platform. He may be right, but it is very difficult to avoid any onslaught of public opinion.

3.92%

22,078 votes

- Not sure

0.63%

3,557 votes

- Other

0.76%

4,271 votes

2) Are you still willing to ride the high-speed trains?

- Yes

8.62%

48,556 votes

- No

91.38%

241,194 votes

3) Do you agree that, should they be raped, greater harm is given to a woman from a good household as opposed to a hostess?

- Yes

14.28 %

80,035 votes

- No

85.72%

45,505 votes

4) Regarding Yi’s comments, why do you think netizens are engaged in such a heated debate?

- They don’t know enough about legal procedures and are using morals to the judge the situation rather than the law

9.44%

53,599 votes

- Discrimination – they don’t believe that a prostitute should enjoy the same rights as a “woman from a good household”

43.15%

244,936 votes

- They pretend that they have morals and use these comments as a chance to prove that they believe prostitutes are equal. In their hearts however they still hold discrimination towards prostitutes.

25.72%

146,034 votes

- All of the above

17.82%

101,163 votes

- Not sure

3.87%

21,991 votes

Source: Ifeng

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Keywords: Li Tianyi gang rape Li Tianyi Tsinghua university professor

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