The Zhang Gaoli sexual assault scandal: Political power struggle or #Metoo?

A screenshot from Hong Kong CitizenNews‘ video report on Youtube.

Content notice: this article contains mentions of sexual assault that some readers might find disturbing.

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai made allegations that Zhang Gaoli, the former vice-premier of China, sexually assaulted her two times in the last ten years. The revelation triggered social media discussions, which were then removed from Chinese social media in under one hour as censors hastily blocked any content related to the sexual assaults.

Discussions quickly moved outside China's Great Firewall to Twitter, where Chinese netizens came up with two theories on Peng's exposé. Some see it as part of an internal power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while others believe that Peng's courage comes from the Chinese #MeToo movement.

The unverified allegations of sexual assault

The unverified testimony of 35-year-old professional tennis player Peng Shuai was reportedly published on her Weibo account on November 2 around 10 pm. It was removed in about 20 minutes, but her followers had already screenshotted the post and circulated it. Emily Feng from NPR posted Peng's testimony on Twitter:

Unverified post from Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, taken down from Weibo within minutes, in which she claims (again unverified) that she was assaulted by former Vice premier Zhang Gaoli, before willingly becoming his mistress. Highest public #MeToo allegation in China pic.twitter.com/lPU8fQ9vbx

— Emily Feng 冯哲芸 (@EmilyZFeng) November 2, 2021

The testimony said that the first sexual assault had taken place more than ten years ago when Peng was in her twenties, and the most recent assault was about three years ago. She described being “terrified” and lured to the politician's home under false pretenses of playing tennis. Peng's wife was present when the assaults took place. After the first assault, she felt pressured to become his mistress.

Peng Shuai has remained silent since the post was uploaded to Weibo.

Zhang Gaoli, 75, was the vice-premier of China from 2013–2018, a member of the standing committee of the CCP from 2012–2017, and the party secretary of Tianjin from 2007–2012. While there have been many sex-related scandals involving government and party officials, Zhang is the highest-ranking official to be implicated.

Although the details of the allegation can’t be verified, many Chinese netizens view it as authentic, as pointed out by Chinese human rights activist Yaqiu Wang:

Peng's account of events can't be verified. Even whether it is from her is not verified. But reading the essay, one can feel the authenticity, because we are all familiar with this dynamic involving unaccountable power, secrecy, abuse, and exploitation. https://t.co/hdZpRlsiPr

— Yaqiu Wang 王亚秋 (@Yaqiu) November 3, 2021

As expected, the incident has triggered some of the most rigorous censorship seen in recent years. All online discussions on major social media platforms about Peng Shuai’s allegations were deleted in China, including posts that used homonyms or coded words to replace the involved parties’ names. William Yang, a journalist, and Alexander Boyd, a former NGO volunteer, shared their observations on the rigorous censorship on Weibo:

Just tried to leave a “hi” under Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s Weibo account and this is what pops up: “Because the content contains messages violating Weibo’s community rules, it can not be processed.” #China’s censorship in play. pic.twitter.com/nTLOeIvZN1

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) November 3, 2021

A list of censored terms AND emojis related to Peng Shuai's post about Zhang Gaoli:

- 诸葛亮 Zhu Geliang
– 张国立 Zhang Guoli
– 菩萨 Bodhisattva
– 巨型瓜 Gigantic Melon
– 网球 Tennis

likely far more… but both hunted (melon-eaters) and hunter (Weibo censors) have ran past me

— Alexander Boyd (@alexludoboyd) November 2, 2021

The magical 20 minutes

Some netizens are debating whether this event is being used as a tool in the CPP's internal power struggle. Cai Xia, a retired professor of the CCP Central Party School who resides in the US, believes that the Chinese censor intentionally kept Peng’s post online for more than 20 minutes, just enough time for the scandal to spread:

中共網管極為嚴密，前常委等人名字都可以是敏感詞，直接點名道姓的爆瓜丑聞，一般根本發不出去，而彭帥微博文居然存活了20分鐘，多麼奇妙的20分鐘！這就是讓子彈飛……飛一會兒。
20分鐘足夠傳開，於是封閉微博……這是典型的網絡操控過程，即要打擊對手又不能動搖中共極權統治……

The CCP has an extremely strict censorship practice. The names of former standing committee members are often flagged as sensitive terms. Exposés that involve real names, could trigger an automatic blockage and could not be published in most circumstances. But Peng Shuai’s Weibo post survived for 20 minutes. This 20-minute time is quite magical. This signals an intention to let the bullet fly… fly for just a moment.

20 minutes was just enough time for the scandal to spread, then the censors stepped in… This is a quite typical censorship practice when cracking down on opponents, they have to contain the damage to prevent undermining the CCP dictatorship.

Sumerian, another mainland Chinese dissident based in the US, developed a more elaborate theory:

显然是习包示意抛出的桃色新闻。不然针对政治局常委的长微博能在网上停留这么久，以致维基百科也已更新该消息。
六中全会只剩几天了，习包需要在会上定调明年二十大，实现再次连任、长期执政的宏大皇帝梦，所以放出不太听话的人、或被杀鸡儆猴的人的负面消息，让他们自顾不暇自乱阵脚，最终俯首认命。 https://t.co/5DE1qdPOwi

— Sumerian ?? (@Sumerian0) November 2, 2021

Obviously this is a sex scandal under the instruction of Xi. Or else the Weibo post could not survive for that long. Now even Wikipedia has updated the related entries. The Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee will start in just a few days. Xi will present his plan for the 20th Party Congress in 2022 so that he will be re-elected again and fulfil his dream of being the Great Chinese Emperor. That’s why he has to release some negative news targeting those who are not loyal to him as an act to “Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.” His opponents are now in chaos and they will have to surrender to their fate.

As a result of the scandal, the stock prices of Xinyin Solar Holdings and its related subsidiaries, which are controlled by Zhang Gaoli’s daughter-in-law, dropped nearly nine percent on November 3.

“This is a Me Too moment”

However, many have rejected the conspiracy theory. Exiled Chinese dissident Wen Yunchao is one of those who voiced the need to stand by Peng and take her account as it is:

看热闹不嫌事大的权斗解读，只宜用于权威势相当的双方。若事件当中的一方当事人显见弱势，绝不宜作权斗解读。权斗解读，模糊了强势一方的过错，对弱势一方的当事人亦可能构成二次伤害。真相未明之前，建议站在鸡蛋一方。 #张高丽 #彭帅

— Wen (@wenyunchao) November 2, 2021

Many have interpreted the incident as a power struggle. But in any power struggle, the power between the two parties are more or less equal. When one side is powerless, we should not take it as a power struggle or we have downplayed the harm that the powerful had inflicted upon the weak, causing more pain to the victim. While the truth is still unclear, we have to stand with the eggs (the powerless).

In fact, many Chinese feminists believe that Peng’s exposé is a result of the #MeToo movement. Lu Ping, a prominent mainland Chinese feminist, wrote a series of tweets about the significance of Peng’s exposé. A blogger, Sara Liao, compiled Ping’s comments and translated them into English here.

2.因为大家都知道那一定是真的。其实他们一直都是那样腐烂堕落，包括一直都在剥削女性，只是总隐在黑幕之后。所以，“说出来”太重要了。这是米兔，也不仅关于米兔。我赞美米兔，米兔真的太厉害了。它三年积累效应才走到今天。这不是说它的重要性取决于被揭发者的权力地位，而是说可以看到…

— 吕频Lü Pin (@pinerpiner) November 3, 2021

I will comment on the Peng Shuai incident in a series of tweets. 1. The Peng Shuai’s exposé is crucial. It reveals the real life of top Chinese leaders and lets people have a glimpse of their hypocrisy, corrupt lifestyles, excessive power abuse, and fear underneath their moralistic masks. We used to imagine the truthful side of powerful people, now it is publicly unveiled by a real person.

People know that the exposé is authentic. They [the top leaders] have always been rotten and corrupt. They have always exploited women but have managed to do that in the dark. That’s why it is so important to “voice it out.” This is a #MeToo moment, but much more than that. But I give the credit to the #MeToo movement, it is so powerful. It took us three years to reach here…