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Supporters of the five feminists detained by authorities in China use new media to voice their support.
Supporters of the five feminists detained by authorities in China use new media to voice their support. Photograph: Free the five campaigners
Supporters of the five feminists detained by authorities in China use new media to voice their support. Photograph: Free the five campaigners

China's feminist five: 'This is the worst crackdown on lawyers, activists and scholars in decades'

This article is more than 8 years old

Five women’s rights activists were freed on bail this week after being arrested by Chinese authorities for ‘provoking trouble’. But is their release secure? One Chinese blogger explains how the internet is helping fellow activists across the country fight for their rights

The five young Chinese feminists who were detained by the authorities on the eve of International Women’s Day are not yet safe. Though they were released on bail on 13 April, they remain under constant surveillance. One of the women’s lawyers, Liang Xiaojun, stressed that their release is not a victory – they are still suspects. All of this comes following a chilling March, during which fellow activists from all over the country have been summoned for questioning by the police.

The women – Wei Tingting, Li Tingting (Li Maizi), Wu Rongrong, Wang Man and Zheng Churan (Datu) – were detained on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” after planning a multi-city protest aimed at bringing an end to sexual harassment on public transport. They are part of an increasingly vocal group of young female activists who are turning to the internet and the streets to voice their anger at the “toxic vitality of sexism in China today” – sexism that has, in recent years, been intensifying.

This is not an easy time for the civil-society community in China – some are calling the spate of arrests the “worst crackdown on lawyers, activists and scholars in decades”. However, unlike the activists before them, this generation’s feminists are equipped with new media, art and a distance from the crushing legacy of Tiananmen. IThis activism is, for instance, at the root of the work of the Feminist Youth Action Group, a loose network of university students and NGO workers founded by Datu.

These five women’s protests in recent years have often taken the form of performance street art. Three years ago, some of them took part in the occupation of men’s toilets – an affront to the lack of women’s facilities. That campaign, according to the state-run China Daily, led to four cities pledging to increase the ratio of public toilet cubicles for women. Another protest, this time against domestic violence, saw the women don wedding dresses spattered in fake blood and parading through the streets of Beijing.

Continuing in what one key supporter from south China called “the spirit of feminist youth action”, women in Beijing and Guangzhou have been appearing on the streets wearing masks with photos of the five women, in a show of solidarity. Stickers calling for their release were plastered on walls and in male toilets. Photos and posts counting the days of the women’s detention were circulated on social media, sparking a battle between those posting and those seeking to censor them.

The five were detained for reportedly planning to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers in public spaces.
The five women were detained for reportedly planning to distribute anti-sexual harassment stickers in public spaces. Photograph: Free the five campaigners

The internet, though subject to powerful censorship, is providing these activists with a place to organise. Filtered social media platforms – such as WeChat and Weibo – are used for raising awareness with wider audiences in China, while discussions about strategy are moved to diverse encrypted mobile applications, such as Surespot. As one application becomes popular, and therefore risky, new non-mainstream platforms are introduced. The ability to connect virtually is fostering a sense of emotional affiliation within the community, as well as the ability to mobilise en masse.

Deftness online is not the only way the new generation of Chinese feminism differs from other contemporary social movements in China. Local, intellectual feminism has been nurtured since the 80s and the hosting of the 1995 UN World Conference on Women in Beijing gave feminist NGOs in China rare development opportunities. In the wake of the conference, at which women’s rights were famously declared to be “human rights”, experts, local governments and domestic media strategically and proactively interacted with feminists’ requests for gender equality.

The broader movement of clued-up activists, to which these five belong, has taken university gender programmes and been exposed to the likes of the Vagina Monologues (local versions of which were put on in theatres in various Chinese cities through the 2000s). In this digital age, it is not as hard for ordinary people to access this kind of revolutionary information.

While fear and self-censorship guided the behaviour of most intellectuals, NGO workers and members of the general public into relative conservatism after the Tiananmen Square massacre, this generation hasn’t had that trauma so deeply implanted. This time around, equipped with new media, art and courage, these younger activists, despite governmental intimidation, are finding the courage to say “no” to the detention of their five feminist sisters. So far, it seems to be working.

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