On the face of it, China’s new Civil Code wasn’t supposed to be controversial. In fact, when it was introduced at the start of this year, its very purpose was to focus on the mundane. Take, for example, the growing problem of so-called “train seat thieves” — railway passengers who refuse to move from their seat despite not having a reservation. Here in Britain, that hardly seems a big deal. But in China, where it’s simply not the done thing, a number of videos exposing “thieves” have gone viral on Weibo, its version of Twitter. So the new Code empowers train conductors to kick them off.
So far, so inoffensive. And yet over the past month, the Code, which is now the binding authority over all civil disputes in China, has become the subject of fierce internal criticism. Its origin? China’s increasingly outspoken new generation of feminists, who are furious at its introduction of a one-month “cooling-off period” before a divorce is finalised.
During that time, a husband and wife now have the power to revoke a divorce application without the other’s consent. That may seem like a mere technicality, but for China’s feminists it represents an infringement on women’s freedom to divorce, as well puts the victims of domestic violence in a potentially dangerous situation. They are also concerned that the ultimate purpose of the “cooling-off period” is to remedy China’s decreasing birth rates by keeping marriages afloat. In essence, they argue, it treats women as resources instead of rights-bearing individuals.
Since it was first mooted last year, Chinese feminists have launched a number of anonymous online social media campaigns against the move. And while they would seem to have failed, they have certainly succeeded in making their presence felt. Whether China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) likes it or not, over the past year the country’s nascent feminist movement has become a force to be reckoned with.
Indeed, Beijing was so rattled by this new feminist opposition that in recent months it has felt compelled to call in in legal experts to cite foreign precedents to the “cooling-off period”, as well as to emphasise that in extraordinary circumstances such as domestic violence, either side of a marriage can file a divorce lawsuit. Suffice it to say that these explanations did not convince China’s feminists, who pointed out that divorce is not easily granted by Chinese civil courts — not to mention that disadvantaged women may not be able to afford the lawsuits.
And so, last October, President Xi decided to take matters into his own hands — and in doing so, inadvertently assured China’s feminist movement a place in the history books. “Gender equality is China’s basic national policy,” he said in a speech to the nation. “Women are the pioneers of human civilisation and the promoters of social progress, and they have written extraordinary achievements in all walks of life.” Although he did not directly comment on the “cooling-off periods”, a clear attempt was made to placate China’s feminists; Xi identified gender equality as a principle in China’s post-pandemic recovery plan, and promised that the government will provide concrete help to females affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Xi’s response, as well as the recent opposition to his new Code, raise two important questions: just who are China’s feminists? And how did they become such a powerful force?
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Subscribe>Chinese actress Zheng Shuang was effectively “cancelled” by the feminist movement after it was reported that she’d had two surrogate children through overseas services, whom she later abandoned.
I think that’s the most reasonable reason I’ve heard yet for cancelling someone.
Interesting piece, thank you.
They sound as ghastly as the Western version.
Whether China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) likes it or not, over the past year the country’s nascent feminist movement has become a force to be reckoned with.
Good luck with that. Next I’ll be reading about the country’s ethnic and religious minorities becoming forces to be reckoned with.
I clicked expecting some discussion of the genuinely sexist attitudes towards women that can be found in China – the concept of ‘leftover women’ for example – and got an article on how some young Chinese women are engaged in similar online ‘activism’ to that which pervades Twitter – all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Call me when they’re up in arms about their government’s involvement in forced abortions and sterilisations, when they’re fighting for equal rights for ethnic and religious minorities, when they’re doing more than getting upset over the banning of a fan-fiction site for goodness’ sake. And may they be reminded, via stark examples from the West, of how LGBT activism and women’s rights make very uneasy bedfellows.
This reads like a new Karen meme for China – very little to do with political rights for women. It mentions shopping, social media frivolity, outrage at a TV show, and Daily Mail style anti-surrogacy complaints.
Meanwhile, of the 25 members of the current Chinese Politburo (commencement 2017), only one is female…
So where is the real news of Chinese feminists standing up for the Uyghur women against enforced sterilization and sexual violence?
I don’t think that we should mess with China’s anything-and I think that they should return the favor.
The Chinese feminists obsession with “female-oriented anime with a focus on fantasy erotic relationships between men” caught my attention. More than a little strange.
Perhaps UnHerd could dispatch Julie Bindel forthwith for some on the ground investigation as to how that one is all down to the patriarchy.
Absolutely fascinating – and (to me at least) a little terrifying. The Borg have arrived.
Feminists or anybody else in China have precisely as much power as the CCP decides they will have, let them try and go against that and see what happens
Interesting article.
Is their a tradition of chivalry towards women in China ?
Very interesting article. Critics suggesting that Chinese Feminists are focused on a strange set of causes are missing the author’s point: This feminism is not a lot like the western version so will take up different causes. Therefore a western feminist will justifiably criticise it.
Also, working in a one party dictatorship it will have a relatively small impact.
The sinister attempts by UnHerd to demonise China demonstrates a degree of irresponsibility that is nothing short of breathtaking considering the recent causation of mass death and destruction due to the regime change policies of the West engendered through such verbiage. China has every right to expand her economy just as the West has sought to do by a variety of much more sinister practices. The articles appearing recently on UnHerd are nothing short of a concerted propaganda campaign Goebbels would have been proud of.