Online fury at another tale of privileged youth
By Zhou Yan and Liang Juan |
December 1, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE case of a student charged with stabbing a young mother to death after a car accident has sparked a public furor over moral standards among the children of China's privileged classes.
Yao Jiaxin, a 21-year-old student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, knocked down cyclist Zhang Miao, a farmer, on October 20.
When he saw Zhang noting the number plate on his car, Yao allegedly stabbed Zhang eight times.
Police said he admitted killing the victim because he feared the "woman would be hard to deal with."
In the provincial capital of Xi'an, Zhang's husband, Wang Hui, said he will do all he could to ensure his 26-year-old wife's killer is brought to justice. Zhang's two-year-old son was crying in his sleep and demanding to see his mother, he said.
Wang feared Yao would be let off lightly. "I heard his parents are rich - how else could a student afford a car?"
Neither of Yao's parents was available yesterday. A neighbor said they had not been seen at their central Xi'an apartment since the incident.
The neighbor, who didn't want to be named, described Yao as a "talented young man." "He plays the piano well and teaches children in his spare time - that's why his parents spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) to buy him a car this year."
He said that Yao's father served in the army and worked at a state-owned company in Xi'an before starting his own business.
The case sparked outrage online after police gave details of the accident at a press conference on Monday, four days after prosecutors issued an arrest warrant.
Demands for the death penalty were almost unanimous.
News website Sina.com's coverage of the case prompted more than 60,000 posts with many speculating that Yao's parents might use their connections to get him a reduced charge.
"It could be just the same old story of the rich and powerful doing whatever they want and never feeling guilty about it," said one post from the northern Hebei Province, where another outrage occurred in the same month.
On that occasion a drunk 22-year-old driver gained notoriety by shouting: "Sue me if you dare, my father is Li Gang," after hitting two students, killing one and injuring the other, on the Hebei University campus.
Li Gang was deputy chief of a local public security bureau.
"My father is Li Gang" has become infamous as a catchphrase, which netizens used to vent their fury over his words and the behavior of the children of the rich and powerful.
The driver, Li Qiming, has yet to appear in court.
The anger over the two cases reflected a public demand for justice and fairness, as well as worries over a "retreat of morality" amid China's economic boom, said Shi Ying, deputy president of Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.
Yao Jiaxin, a 21-year-old student at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, knocked down cyclist Zhang Miao, a farmer, on October 20.
When he saw Zhang noting the number plate on his car, Yao allegedly stabbed Zhang eight times.
Police said he admitted killing the victim because he feared the "woman would be hard to deal with."
In the provincial capital of Xi'an, Zhang's husband, Wang Hui, said he will do all he could to ensure his 26-year-old wife's killer is brought to justice. Zhang's two-year-old son was crying in his sleep and demanding to see his mother, he said.
Wang feared Yao would be let off lightly. "I heard his parents are rich - how else could a student afford a car?"
Neither of Yao's parents was available yesterday. A neighbor said they had not been seen at their central Xi'an apartment since the incident.
The neighbor, who didn't want to be named, described Yao as a "talented young man." "He plays the piano well and teaches children in his spare time - that's why his parents spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) to buy him a car this year."
He said that Yao's father served in the army and worked at a state-owned company in Xi'an before starting his own business.
The case sparked outrage online after police gave details of the accident at a press conference on Monday, four days after prosecutors issued an arrest warrant.
Demands for the death penalty were almost unanimous.
News website Sina.com's coverage of the case prompted more than 60,000 posts with many speculating that Yao's parents might use their connections to get him a reduced charge.
"It could be just the same old story of the rich and powerful doing whatever they want and never feeling guilty about it," said one post from the northern Hebei Province, where another outrage occurred in the same month.
On that occasion a drunk 22-year-old driver gained notoriety by shouting: "Sue me if you dare, my father is Li Gang," after hitting two students, killing one and injuring the other, on the Hebei University campus.
Li Gang was deputy chief of a local public security bureau.
"My father is Li Gang" has become infamous as a catchphrase, which netizens used to vent their fury over his words and the behavior of the children of the rich and powerful.
The driver, Li Qiming, has yet to appear in court.
The anger over the two cases reflected a public demand for justice and fairness, as well as worries over a "retreat of morality" amid China's economic boom, said Shi Ying, deputy president of Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.
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