The woman was filmed in a variety of outfits while catching fish and eels. Photo: Weibo
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https://scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3005395/chinese-woman-detained-wearing-young-pioneers-red-scarf-and People & Culture
Chinese woman detained for wearing Young Pioneers’ red scarf and ‘revealing’ outfit
- Video footage of woman fishing in a miniskirt and symbol of communist youth group deemed to violate law against ‘defiling revolutionary martyrs’
The woman was filmed in a miniskirt and red scarf. Photo: Weibo
Police in southwest China have detained a woman for “defiling revolutionary martyrs”after she appeared in a video wearing “bright, revealing clothes” and a Young Pioneers’ red scarf.
Footage of the woman, surnamed Tang, showing her fishing in a muddy field in Sichuan province was posted on the video-sharing website Kuaishou.com.
In one clip – which police said attracted three million views – she was dressed in a red blouse, white miniskirt and the red scarf traditionally worn by members of the under-14s Communist group.
Police in Rong county in Sichuan said Tang had deliberately dressed in “bright, revealing clothes” to “attract eyeballs, increase fans and video views”, and wearing the red scarf with such an outfit violated the Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law, which came into effect in May last year.
“The red scarf is a symbol of the Young Pioneers of China. It represents a corner of the red flag, dyed by the blood of martyrs,” the statement said.
“Tang’s action has severely defiled what the red scarf stands for: patriotic martyrs, the honour of the young pioneers, and the patriotic sentiments of the people. It has had a bad social impact.”
Police said Tang had been given 12 days’ administrative detention on March 28 and fined 1,000 yuan (US$150). A man who shot the video footage was released with a warning.
The police statement caused heated debate on the social media platform Weibo.
Some supported the police for punishing “inappropriate behaviour”, while others questioned whether they had abused their power.
“This woman was clearly courting people’s favour by doing something provocative. How would the souls [of the dead] rest if everyone was trying to attract eyeballs with the red scarf? It is a symbol and can’t be toyed with,” one user wrote.
“Revealing, are you kidding me? She is wearing a normal skirt and she was trying to catch fish. What has she done?” said another.
“She was wearing a red scarf, so what?” another Weibo user wrote. “An old member of the pioneers revisited her childhood by catching fish wearing a red scarf and shooting a video of it. Was that defiling the red scarf? I don’t think so.”
Since last year’s Martyrs Protection Law – designed to prevent people from defaming revolutionary heroes and symbols – came into force there have been a number of controversies surrounding the red scarf.
Last August a subsidiary of property developer Wanda Group apologised for printing an advertisement on red scarves sent to children at a primary school in Heze, Shandong province. The school’s headmaster received a party warning over the incident.
A couple of months beforehand the makers of an aphrodisiac had to apologise after the former Japanese porn star Sora Aoi wore a red scarf at an event it organised.