Beijing, July 25 — The recent case of a stray dog, nicknamed 'Wang Wang', has highlighted a rare avenue for public action in China, where independent civil society organisations — including labour unions, feminist and LGBTQ+ groups, rights-focused law firms, religious congregations and NGOs — have been systematically dismantled, a report has stated.
On June 28, a horrific act of animal cruelty unfolded in a village in Jieyang, in China's Guangdong province, where five boys — all under 14 — tortured and killed a stray mother dog, Wang Wang, along with her three puppies. They dragged her by a wire around her neck, beat her with sticks, poured fuel over her and set her ablaze, laughing as they filmed the attack before sharing the video on social media, according to a report in 'The Diplomat'.
“Because all four were below China's age of criminal responsibility, the official response was to send them to a 'specialised school' for corrective education. There were no formal charges – and not only because of their age. China still has no national statute against animal cruelty, so there was nothing to charge the boys with," the report noted.
“Nearly a month later, the case is still generating thousands of comments a day across Chinese social media. The shock, anger, and grief have coalesced into a concrete demand: pass an animal cruelty law,” it added.
The campaign spread beyond China. The message "Never forget. Never give up" recently appeared on a giant electronic billboard in New York's Times Square. Similar displays were unveiled near the Duomo in Milan, by the Leaning Tower of Pisa and around Taipei 101, as part of a worldwide memorial initiative featured on over 200 screens.
According to the report, the Chinese authorities remain highly sensitive to any popular movement that calls for political change — even campaigns centred on seemingly innocuous demands such as outlawing cruelty to animals. It did not take long for the censorship machinery to swing into action.
Screens on Guangzhou's Beijing Road pedestrian street, it said, which had been displaying Wang Wang memorials, went dark after staff said they were instructed to take down the tributes.
“Sympathy posts were quickly deleted from Weibo. In Chengdu, a street mural painted in Wang Wang’s memory was covered over. A leaked internal notice from a district internet affairs office in Shenyang reportedly classified the campaign demanding justice for Wang Wang as a ‘political risk’ susceptible to 'malicious hype by foreign forces' and instructed officials to inspect commercial LED screens," 'The Diplomat' mentioned.
“The repression reach to Hong Kong, another symptom of the increasing restriction of free speech in the city. Internet users had crowdfunded a screen to display a Wang Wang memorial at the junction of Argyle and Shanghai Streets in Mong Kok. Handwritten placards appeared in Causeway Bay. Each display was shut down," it stated.