Blogger banned for reported comments on ‘comfort women’

A writer known for offering relationship advice was banned from posting on Sina Weibo for six months on Tuesday over comments she made about “comfort women”.

Yang Bingyang, 35, came under fierce criticism after an article shared on WeChat paraphrased comments she had made in an “emotion training” class.

The article, which went viral over the weekend, quotes her as saying that women in wartime have a better chance of survival because of their gender. As an example, she cited “comfort women” — women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

According to an article published by Guyu Lab, which is affiliated with tech giant Tencent, she said that women had a better opportunity than men to survive and serve as witnesses to history, even though they were raped.

Angry netizens responded by leaving messages on Yang’s social media account, while China Women’s News, the official paper of the All China Women’s Federation, accused her of poisoning minds, selling lies and challenging society’s mainstream values.

Yang, who blogs under the name “Ayawawa”, quickly issued an apology. On Tuesday, however, Sina Weibo said it was suspending her account because of the controversy.

“Though the user did not publish the remarks on Sina Weibo, she has a certain influence and has already caused serious adverse social effects,” the company said in a statement.

It added that it will cooperate with any request for further action from the government’s internet watchdog.

On Tuesday, the comments about “comfort women” attributed to Yang have since been removed from the Guyu Lab article.

Yang, who is based in Shanghai and is a former head of Mensa China, has more than 3 million followers on Sina Weibo. Her public account on WeChat was still active on Tuesday evening, although she had not posted anything since Friday.