Deng Zhengjia () was a Chinese fruit vendor who was killed in a confrontation with urban management officials on 17 July 2013. Deng, 56, was selling watermelons with his wife in

Linwu Linwu County () is a county in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chenzhou. Located on the southern margin of the province, it is adjacent to the southwest of the city proper in Chenzhou. The cou ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Province, when several officials (known as "'' chengguan''") reportedly confiscated some of their fruits and asked them to relocate to an area approved for street vending. The couple complied, and approximately 50 minutes later the ''chengguan'' officers returned. Witnesses said the officials struck Deng with a weight from his scale,Xiaoqing Pi
"Vendor Death Shines Light on China's Urban Enforcers"
''Wall Street Journal'', 19 July 2013. and Linwu police said that Deng "unexpectedly fell to the ground and died".Andrew Jacobs

''New York Times'', 20 July 2013. According to witnesses on the scene, the officers continue to kick Deng after he fell, and refused to call emergency services. When authorities later attempted to remove the body, villagers stood in their way, capturing images in the process. That evening, hundreds of unarmed protesters clashed with riot police. Photos of bloodied protesters were widely shared on Chinese microblogs and social media platforms, where news of Deng's death was met with outrage. One netizen cited by the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' compared Deng's death to the case of

Mohamed Bouazizi Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi ( ar, طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي, Ṭāriq aṭ-Ṭayib Muḥammad al-Būʿazīzī; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bo ...

, the Tunisian vegetable vendor whose cart was seized by police in 2010. Bouazizi responded by self-immolating, and his death catalyzed the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

. Following a public outcry, authorities announced they would award Deng's family ¥879,000

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

(~US$123,000) in compensation.Yang Fan
"Slain Chinese Watermelon Vendor's Family Gets Government Payout"
''Radio Free Asia'', 22 July 2013. The death drew considerable attention in the domestic media, and prompted heightened criticism against ''chengguan'' urban management officials.Matt Schiavenza
"Meet the 'Chengguan':China's Violent, Hated Local Cops"
''The Atlantic'', 22 July 2013. The ''chengguan'' system was established in 1997, and operates separately from the conventional police forces with minimal oversight. Accounts of violence perpetrated by chengguan officers are widespread; between 2010 and 2012, Chinese media reported on over 150 violent encounters involving the chengguan forces.

References

{{reflist 2013 deaths 2013 in China Society of China Victims of police brutality People murdered in China Chinese murder victims Law enforcement in China Scandals in China History of Hunan Year of birth missing