India’s #MeToo is inspiring, says Chinese accuser

A young screenwriter at the centre of China’s #MeToo campaign has said the anti-sexual harassment movement in India is a source of “great encouragement and inspiration” to her and others fighting the battle here amid social stigma and restricted media coverage.

Since it began in January, China’s #MeToo campaign exposed several cases of sexual harassment in journalism, academics, sports, the non-governmental sector and even the country’s top Buddhist temple.

In response, the education ministry vowed “zero tolerance” for predatory behaviour by teachers, and in August, a draft version of China’s first civil code to provide legal protection to sexual harassment victims was issued “in response to the widely followed issue”.

The Indian example is being cited in China because it led to the resignation of junior foreign minister MJ Akbar, accused of harassment by multiple women. Akbar has denied the accusations and filed a defamation case.

“It is a great inspiration. According to my knowledge, this is the first case in Asia that a man in a high position in government resigned after being accused (of sexual harassment),” the woman, who goes by the online moniker Xianzi, said.

Xianzi’s case is similar to the case involving the “man in a high position” in India, and in China, the man in question has sued her for defamation.

She was sued by one of China’s best-known anchors with national broadcaster CCTV after she alleged in a lengthy online post in July that he molested her four years ago. The anchor, Zhu Jun, is a household name in China. Xianzi counter-sued him for “infringement of personality rights”.