Deng smackdown strikes a chord
By Wang Qingchu |
July 21, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
VOLLEYBALL training in her youth prepared Wendi Deng for the probably most important "spike" of her life as she leapt forward to smack an attacker threatening her husband, Rupert Murdoch, during a London hearing into the phone hacking scandal.
A BBC report praised her tiger-like agility and power when Deng was "up like a shot" to slap the assailant on the head.
The move, which sparked a wave of praise from Chinese web users for her boldness in the defense of her husband, sent Murdoch's News Corp stock up 5.1 percent in Australia and took the pressure off a news organization deeply mired in a hacking scandal which shocked the world and engulfed Britain's political elite.
The 42-year-old's swift right created a sensation in China's online community. The incident was the third hottest topic on Weibo.com, and 274,385 tweets related to the topic had been posted by microbloggers by yesterday afternoon.
Posts dubbed her the "smack down sister" and a survey about how people view Deng's actions had attracted 1,400 responses. About 71 percent of them admired Deng's courage in coming to her husband's rescue at a critical moment, while 19 percent were so impressed by Deng they said they had changed their view of her.
"Bravo to Chinese women, who can be graceful in front of guests, skillful in the kitchen and defensive when their husbands are in danger," 1DTaoniang said.
"It's so touching. Man should marry a wife like Deng," tweeted Hou Xiaoqiang, CEO of Shanda Literature.
"Deng is so strong. The slap proved that Murdoch married the right woman, tough, bold and brisk," said blogger rich_hu.
"That's our Wendi," said Vanity Fair writer Michael Wolff, author of a Murdoch biography. "She is great - incredibly full of energy, incredibly intelligent, living the life and just squeezing everything out of it," he said.
Deng emerged as the unlikely star of the British hearing. Video of her jumping forward to smack the protester quickly went viral, and numerous fan pages popped up on social networking sites praising her quick reflexes.
Deng was born in Jinan City, Shandong Province, and grew up in Xuzhou. in neighboring Jiangsu Province. She was once a top player in Xuzhou's volleyball team but retired due to injury.
She befriended an American couple, the Cherrys, after she moved to Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province in 1987 and the couple agreed to sponsor her to study at California State University in Northridge. Jake Cherry, who is 30 years older than Deng, married her in 1990 after divorcing his wife but their marriage lasted less than three years.
Deng joined News Corp's Star TV as an intern in Hong Kong in 1996.
She met Murdoch two years later when she acted as his interpreter during a trip to China. The pair married in 1999 after Murdoch divorced his wife of 31 years.
The attacker was named as Jonathan May-Bowles, a stand-up comedian.
A BBC report praised her tiger-like agility and power when Deng was "up like a shot" to slap the assailant on the head.
The move, which sparked a wave of praise from Chinese web users for her boldness in the defense of her husband, sent Murdoch's News Corp stock up 5.1 percent in Australia and took the pressure off a news organization deeply mired in a hacking scandal which shocked the world and engulfed Britain's political elite.
The 42-year-old's swift right created a sensation in China's online community. The incident was the third hottest topic on Weibo.com, and 274,385 tweets related to the topic had been posted by microbloggers by yesterday afternoon.
Posts dubbed her the "smack down sister" and a survey about how people view Deng's actions had attracted 1,400 responses. About 71 percent of them admired Deng's courage in coming to her husband's rescue at a critical moment, while 19 percent were so impressed by Deng they said they had changed their view of her.
"Bravo to Chinese women, who can be graceful in front of guests, skillful in the kitchen and defensive when their husbands are in danger," 1DTaoniang said.
"It's so touching. Man should marry a wife like Deng," tweeted Hou Xiaoqiang, CEO of Shanda Literature.
"Deng is so strong. The slap proved that Murdoch married the right woman, tough, bold and brisk," said blogger rich_hu.
"That's our Wendi," said Vanity Fair writer Michael Wolff, author of a Murdoch biography. "She is great - incredibly full of energy, incredibly intelligent, living the life and just squeezing everything out of it," he said.
Deng emerged as the unlikely star of the British hearing. Video of her jumping forward to smack the protester quickly went viral, and numerous fan pages popped up on social networking sites praising her quick reflexes.
Deng was born in Jinan City, Shandong Province, and grew up in Xuzhou. in neighboring Jiangsu Province. She was once a top player in Xuzhou's volleyball team but retired due to injury.
She befriended an American couple, the Cherrys, after she moved to Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province in 1987 and the couple agreed to sponsor her to study at California State University in Northridge. Jake Cherry, who is 30 years older than Deng, married her in 1990 after divorcing his wife but their marriage lasted less than three years.
Deng joined News Corp's Star TV as an intern in Hong Kong in 1996.
She met Murdoch two years later when she acted as his interpreter during a trip to China. The pair married in 1999 after Murdoch divorced his wife of 31 years.
The attacker was named as Jonathan May-Bowles, a stand-up comedian.
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