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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 8 January 2021
2 convicted of defamation in blow to China's #MeToo movement

By HUIZHONG laws to protect public repu-
WU Associated Press tations.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — In Tuesday's decision could
a potential blow to the discourage others from
#MeToo movement in coming forward with re-
China, two former journal- ports of sexual misconduct
ists were convicted of de- in the future, the defen-
faming a third journalist by dants said.
publishing an account ac- "This is equal to telling some-
cusing him of sexual mis- one who was humiliated,
conduct. who was hurt, that if you
A court in the eastern city don't have audio record-
of Hangzhou ruled Tuesday ings or videos of the event,
that the evidence provided then you better hurry up
by Zou Sicong and He Qian and shut your mouth," Zou's
against prominent journalist and He's lawyer, Xu Kai,
Deng Fei was "not enough said in a statement. "The
to allow someone to firmly court had imposed the en-
believe without any hesi- tire burden of proof on Zou
tation that what was de- Sicong and He Qian."
scribed truly happened." "If back then we had the
The court ordered He and surveillance footage and
Zou to pay 11,712 yuan the police report and then
($1,813) in damages. They Supporters hold banners as they wait for of Zhou Xiaoxuan outside at a courthouse where Zhou is in the court I told this to
plan to appeal the ruling. appearing in a sexual harassment case in Beijing on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020. Deng Fei, then we should
The case was based on an Associated Press be standing in your position
article written by He that as the accuser," Zou said.
Zou published online in global #MeToo movement. who helped publicize the en it's been 10 years, I don't "This will definitely have a
2018, in which He alleged However, the movement accusations. even remember this person chilling effect."
Deng lured her to a hotel has had difficulty gaining Deng denied the allega- who said herself that she He said the the judgment
room in 2009 to discuss sto- traction in China, where tion, writing on his Wechat has only seen me once," was a setback but she still
ry ideas, then removed her politics, arts and the busi- microblog that he had Deng wrote. has hope for the move-
clothes and tried to kiss and ness world remain over- "never done anything this Throughout the process, ment.
grope her. whelmingly male-dominat- stupid or this bad." He peti- Zou and He said they faced "I want to know how far we
He said that at the time, she ed. Accusations brought tioned successfully to keep a higher burden of proof un- can go with the existing le-
was a 21-year-old intern at both publicly and anony- details of the case out of der Chinese law. Although gal system," she said.
a news magazine where mously against a few dozen the public record to pro- China allowed sexual mis- Deng did not respond to
Deng was chief reporter. men in industries ranging tect the privacy of third conduct as a ground for messages left on his social
The article came amid from media to academia parties who might be men- lawsuits in 2019, the defini- media accounts.
a swell of allegations as have sparked a backlash, tioned. tion of such harassment re- Zhou Xiaoxuan, the face of
young women across Chi- and since 2018, at least six "I did not even get a mains murky and very few one of China's most high-
na went public with sto- men have brought defa- chance to find the relevant cases are filed. Many have profile #MeToo cases, said
ries of sexual assault and mation suits against either evidence to prove my in- been prosecuted in courts she did not see the ruling as
misconduct as part of the their accusers or people nocence, and further, giv- as labor disputes or under a defeat. q

Officials: Attacks around Afghanistan kill at least 23

Qatar to resume talks with In southern Helmand prov- point killing at least 12 se-
the Taliban aimed at find- ince, at least five civilians curity personnel, said a pro-
ing an end to decades of were killed and five others vincial official who was not
conflict. wounded in a suspected authorized to speak with
In southern Uruzgan prov- airstrike late Wednesday the media.
ince, a suicide car bomber on the outskirts of Lashkar He said about 10 other se-
detonated a vehicle full of Gah, the provincial capi- curity forces were missing
explosives early Thursday tal, according to Attaullah and may have been taken
near a military base, killing Afghan, head of the pro- into custody by the Taliban
six security forces, said a vincial council. He said the during the attack. The of-
provincial council member casualties included chil- ficial said reinforcements
who was not authorized to dren and women. were dispatched to the
speak with the media. Abdul Nabi Elham, provin- area outside the provincial
Mohammad Karim Karimi, cial governor, said officials capital Kunduz.
deputy head of the pro- were investigating to deter- Two military vehicles were
vincial council in Uruzgan, mine whether the assault destroyed and weapons
Covered bodies of civilians lie in the back of a vehicle in front
of the Helmand Provincial Government Office in Lashkar Gah, confirmed the attack on was an airstrike or some and ammunition from the
south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. the military base in Tirin Kot, other type of attack. checkpoint were seized by
Associated Press the provincial capital, but No one immediately the insurgents, he added.
couldn't provide an exact claimed responsibility for ei- Inamuddin Rahmani,
By RAHIM FAIEZ at least 23 civilians and se- death toll. He said the ex- ther attack. spokesman for the provin-
Associated Press curity forces dead, officials plosion was so strong it sent In northern Kunduz prov- cial police chief in Kun-
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — said Thursday, even as Af- shock waves through the ince, Taliban fighters duz, confirmed the Taliban
Attacks in Afghanistan left ghan negotiators were in city. stormed a military check- attack.q