Huang Xueqin (born in 1988) is a #MeToo activist, women's rights activist, and independent journalist in China. Before working as an independent journalist, Huang served as an investigative journalist for several newspapers in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
Guangdong Province
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In September 2021, she and another activist, Wang Jianbing, disappeared and were believed to have been detained on charges of subversion of state power.
In 2022, she received the Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award from the
International Women's Media Foundation
The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), located in Washington, D.C., is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created programs to help women in the media develop practical so ...
(IWMF), given to a journalist who is unjustly imprisoned.
Career
Sexual Harassment Report on Chinese Women Journalists
In October 2017, Huang initiated a survey on Chinese women Journalists' experience on sexual harassment and collected 416 answers. On March 7, 2018, based on this survey, a Sexual Harassment Report on Chinese Women Journalists were released. According to the report, over 80% of women journalists had experience of being sexually harassed, 42.2% of women journalists who participated in the survey experienced sexual harassment more than one time.
#MeToo in China
Beihang University Incident
In October 2017, sexual harassment survivor,
Beihang University
Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (), abbreviated as BUAA or Beihang ( zh, c=北航, p=), is a national public research university located in Beijing, China, specializing in engineering, t ...
Ph.D. graduate, Luo Xixi reported anonymously to the university that her former Ph.D. advisor, "
Changjiang Scholar The Changjiang (Yangtze River) Scholar award (), is the highest academic award issued to an individual in higher education by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. It is also known as the Cheung Kong Scholar and the Yangtze R ...
" Chen Xiaowu had been harassing his graduate students for years. However, the university did not respond to her report. Meanwhile, she saw Huang's survey on Chinese women Journalists' experience on sexual harassment, and sought help from Huang. They created an alliance called "Hard Candy" and exposed Chen Xiaowu's behaviors on January 1, 2018, on
Weibo Weibo may refer to:
* Microblogging in China, or China-based microblogging services (), including:
** NetEase Weibo (), launched by NetEase
** People's Weibo (), launched by ''People's Daily''
** Phoenix Weibo (), launched by Phoenix Television
** W ...
and received more than three million views within a day. In response, the university revoked Chen Xiaowu's teaching credentials, while the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
revoked his "Changjiang Scholar" title. This marked the start of China's #MeToo movement.
Subsequently, Huang started several campaigns to support many #MeToo survivors.
Detention in 2019
On June 9, 2019, Huang participated in a protest against the
2019 Hong Kong extradition bill
The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 () was a proposed bill regarding extradition to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance () in relation to special surrender arrangements a ...
, and wrote about her experience on the platform ''Matters''. On June 11, she posted on her social media and stated that Guangzhou police harassed her because of her writing the article about Hong Kong protesters. She said her parents were "terrified". Subsequently, in October 2019, Guangzhou police arrested her in the name of "
Picking quarrels and provoking trouble
Picking quarrels and provoking trouble () (also translated as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble or picking quarrels and making trouble) is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China.
The official translation of this crime is ...
". On January 17, 2020, Huang was released on bail.
Detention in 2021
On September 19, 2021, Huang and workers’ rights advocate Wang Jianbing went missing and subsequently lost contact in Guangzhou. Huang was due to start her study in development studies at the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
after receiving a
Chevening Scholarship
The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that lets foreign students with leadership qualities study at universities in the United Kingdom.
History
The Chevening Scholarship ...
, and Wang was accompanying her before her planned flight. A human rights organisation said that a person familiar with the matter has stated that Wang and Huang may be detained for investigation on charges of