By Chang Ping, published: November 15, 2014 Editor’s update on Ye Haiyan: Ye Haiyan was released at midnight on November 12. She has since been placed under house arrest, guarded by local policemen, the Communist Party’s local Politics and Law Committee, and neighborhood workers. Her boyfriend, while with her currently, has received threats from the Chinese authorities that he either leaves her or faces detention himself.   On October 23 at UN headquarters in Geneva, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviewed the Chinese government’s periodical report. Chinese officials promised on the spot that Chinese NGOs would not face retaliation for taking part in this meeting. I was there at the meeting. To me, the promise first sounded ridiculous because, why […]

Published: July 6, 2013 On May 27, Ye Haiyan (叶海燕), perhaps China’s best-known activist for women’s rights, protested that a local school principal and a government official molested or raped six school girls in a hotel in Wangning, Hainan. She stood in the sweltering heat of the subtropics holding a hand-written sign: “Ask me to have sex with you, Principal, leave the children alone!” Her sign went viral on Weibo, inspiring thousands online to display similar signs in protest against one of the most disgusting scandals of moral corruption. The assault on Ye Haiyan promptly began when she returned to her home in Bobai, Guangxi (广西博白).  Four or five women broke into her home and beat her. She tried to defend herself, and was given […]