Silenced at home, finding a voice overseas: China’s feminists cultivate the expatriate community
- Supporters of #MeToo and Liu Jingyao turn out at a panel discussion and exhibition opening in New York
- The exhibition, The Voiceless Rise Up!, which aims to put a spotlight on sexual assault, was shut down in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, activists said
“We support Jingyao!”
“I’m not a perfect victim!”
“We believe in survivors!”
“We support #MeToo in China!”
On Sunday evening, about 60 feminists, mostly Chinese nationals, formed a human chain on the streets of New York City’s Lower East Side. They chanted slogans and held signs in solidarity with Liu Jingyao – a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota who has sued billionaire JD.com CEO Richard Liu over alleged rape – and also called out support for the thwarted #MeToo movement in China.
This group of activists, students and volunteers had just left the opening reception of an art exhibition at the Access Theatre on China’s #MeToo movement called The Voiceless Rise Up!, following a panel discussion on the movement.
None of the events could take place in today’s China, organisers said; the topic of MeToo is heavily censored there. Earlier this year, the same exhibition, aiming to give voice to sexual assault victims, was shut down in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu just days after it opened, activists said.