China: My father is Li Gang! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“My Father is Li Gang!” has become the most popular catchphrase in the Chinese Internet in the past few days.
First of all, you may ask, who is Li Gang? Li Gang is the deputy director of the police department in the northern district of Baoding city, Hebei province.
On October 16, a car accident took place in Hebei University, which led to the death of a female student. According to eyewitnesses, the car knocked down two girls who were riding roller on the school campus, but the driver did not stop and continued to drive to the female dormitory to drop off his girl friend. In the end, the school security guards and students blocked the entrance of the school gate and demanded the driver to get off the car. Instead of showing any sign of remorse, the driver, Li Qiming, yelled out to the angry crowd, “Go ahead and sue me, my father is Li Gang!”. Below is a photo showing the car accident scene:
What is the underlying meaning of the sentence: “My Father is Li Gang!”? Many netizens believe it reflects the arrogance of the offsprings of government officials (the so-called G2-official) that they could easily get away with any mistake or crime that they have committed. They are outraged by such inherited corruption and expressed their anger online. The greatest hit about this incident is the following music video:
The lyrics is written by 司文痞子, a user in a popular forum, MOP:
横行路中央 轿车轻飞扬
黄土地里养育着咱那霸道的爹娘
平凡的模样 可咱爸是局长
只手遮天的大树 还有神秘的力量
我爸叫李刚 公共安全专家局里副局长
撞死人了又怎样
谁让我爸是局长 我爸叫李刚
撞死人都不用离岗
这是为什么呢 因为我爸是局长
撞人后的那个鲜血哟 红个艳艳个艳
如果飙车能够带走我的校友 就让她随风飘远
The writer explains his idea and motivation in writing this song in MOP:
昨天看到河北官二代撞死人的新 闻非常气愤，前有富二代七十码，后有官二代爹救驾，当肇事者撞死人之后并没有去管被撞的女生怎么样而是还在责怪把他的车撞成什么样，看到这里我愤怒了，一 条鲜活的生命在他的眼睛里还比不上一辆没有生命的汽车，可见那个官二代感情淡漠到已经不在人类范畴之内了，更可气的还是撞死人之后竟然可以淡定的继续去接 自己的女朋友，当保安拦住时竟又脑残地高喊：“我爸是李刚！”，这让我想起了《西游记》里那句喊出“齐天大圣”就可以逢凶化吉的咒语，可惜你爸不是孙悟 空，你爸只是个某局的副局长，能够在这样危机时刻喊出这样咒语的我们应该想象得到以前这句话是多么的威力无比，你喊这话因为那是在你爸的地盘，但是你低估 了舆论的力量，这不知天高地厚倒霉的孩子，你的一句可笑的话不仅断送了你自己，你爸也是在劫难逃，若是你能低调的形势也许你这句咒语还能再用上个三年五 载，但是至你喊出来之后你的这句密语已经失效了，别说你爸只是个副局长，就是再大的官职在强大的舆论面前也保全不了你，全国人民一人一口唾沫足以淹死你， 这句话也有可能能成为今年最流行的一句网络语言。
On Wednesday October 20, MOP user, Asshole wetman, made a public call for poetry writings with the catchphrase “My Father is Li Gang!”. So far there are more than 350 submissions. The most circulated ones are reiterations of Thoughts in a Still Night, poem by Tang dynasty poet Li Bai. Below is one of the reiterated versions:
床前明月光
疑似地上霜
举头汪保安
我爹叫李钢
Apart from songs and poems, there are short stories and pictures based on the catchphrase. One example is an imagined conversation between two people in a buffet queue:
Give me more rice, my father is Li Gang!
God damn it, why my father is not Li Gang!
Another widely circulated photo is a software generated advertisement Government official father for sale!
While the incident keeps spreading across the internet in various media forms, the Hebei University school authority started pressuring students to keep quiet. According to a famous journalist microblogger, Wang Keqin, many student eyewitnesses of the incident have been summoned by the school authority. Now it has become very difficult for the reporters to follow up on the issue and dig out the truth. However, he still managed to collect some students’ comments:
河北大学同学的声音之一，有同学给我的留言如下：“现在学校不让我们说这件事情，所以目击者很难找，因为他们一旦向记者透漏什么事情，学校知道后肯定会对说的学生做出处分的，谁都会害怕，所以学校里的目击者都只能什么也不说。”
河北大学同学的声音之二，同学给我留言：“我妈已严令禁止我再管这事，但我没办法让自己的良心受煎熬！晓凤惨白的脸一直在我眼前晃动，我若不管，我怕我会 夜夜被噩梦缠绕！晓凤晶晶都是我所在社团的部员，她们甜甜的叫过我学姐，我没法坐视不理！但，我真的没办法要求那些仅仅是目击人的同学太多”
河北大学同学的声音之三，同学留言说：“我觉得您根本不太清楚现在大学黑暗城什么样了，学校领导就像地方一霸，他们的一句话影响同学考研，入党，毕业，奖学金，答辩等几乎所有问题，有人说高考决定一生，其实大学的校领导更能决定一个人的一生吧。”