Jiangyou bullying incident and protests

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In the summer of 2025, a female student was beaten by her schoolmates off campus in the city of Jiangyou in Sichuan, China. A video clip of the bullying circulated online and drew nationwide attention. The perpetrators were eventually punished. The authorities' handling of the case however was perceived as being too lenient, leading to protests that were subsequently suppressed and information about them censored. The incident sparked discussion in China about underage offenders.

Contents

Background

In recent years, China has seen several high-profile cases involving bullying and crimes committed by minors. One in 2023 and another one in January 2025 led to protests. [1] [2]

Bullying incident

On July 22, 2025, a 14-year-old female student was bullied by three of her female schoolmates in a vacant building off-campus, receiving slaps, kicks, and hits with an object. [1] [3] Her mobile phone and items of clothing were also removed during the prolonged confrontation. [4] The bullies dismissed her warning that her father would report the matter to the police and flouted having been to the local station previously without suffering any long-term consequence. After seeking medical attention for their daughter, the victim's parents, who have disabilities, reported the incident to the police later that night, and two of the perpetrators were summoned by police around midnight. On August 2, a video recording of the incident began circulating online. The next day, following procedures to assess injuries one to two weeks after the initial trauma, a physician re-evaluated the victim, ruling out occult fracture and concluding that the bruises to her scalp and knees were "minor". From July 24 to August 3, the police summoned and began investigating all individuals involved. [5] [6]

August 4 announcement and protests

On August 4, the Jiangyou Municipal Public Security Bureau made its first public announcement regarding the case, but it was perceived to have downplayed the severity of the matter. [6] [5] The victim's parents and a crowd of supporters entered the municipal building demanding justice for the daughter. The parents kowtowed before an official, and members of the public expressed anger at the case's handling. [7] More and more people gathered outside government buildings and on the streets late into the night. [8] They sang the national anthem. Some of them yelled slogans such as "punish the perpetrators severely", "say no to bullying", "return democracy to us", and "Chinese Communist Party (CCP) step down!" [4] Local and nearby police forces were deployed to control and disperse the protesters using pepper spray and tear gas. Demonstrators were seen being dragged away or struck with batons. [2] [1] According to one witness, at least eight individuals were arrested. [7] Information about the protests has been censored in China after briefly trending on Weibo. [4] [9] [7]

Punishments

According to police statements on the afternoon of August 4, of the three bullies, the 15-year-old was detained for 13 days and fined 1,000 CNY. The 14-year-old was detained for 10 days and fined 800 CNY. The third perpetrator, being under the age of 14, had her legal guardians reprimanded. [6] According to reports, this was not the first time that the group had bullied their victim. [10] [3] Jiangyou police said that one of them had been investigated by the station previously, on one occasion, and that the case was delayed because of the many individuals involved and the need for medical assessments. [6] [5]

Social media rumors

A few social media posts alleged that the bullies' parents were police inspectors or lawyers. Later reports said two of the parents were unemployed, two were working outside the province, and the other two worked in retail or delivery. [11] [1]

Video clips began circulating on social media outside China claiming that the incident had escalated and millions were chanting for the CCP to step down. They were later found to have been spliced from New Year celebration clips with audio components edited in. [12]

Commentary

The incident came after several other high-profile cases of abuse or bullying involving students in recent years and prompted discussions in China regarding the prosecution of crimes committed by minors. A new 2025 law allows more underage individuals to be punished but would only go into effect in 2026. [13] [10]

Some netizens compared the police to the Japanese army during the Nanjing massacre. [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Protests in China over viral school bullying case". BBC News . 2025-08-05. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  2. 1 2 Hawkins, Amy (2025-08-05). "Video shows rare protests in China over beating of schoolgirl by three teenagers". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  3. 1 2 "江油童黨毆14歲女孩惹公憤 民眾聚集市區與警徹夜爆衝突" [A gang of Jiangyou children assaulted a 14-year-old girl, sparking public outrage. Crowds gathered in the city center and clashed with police overnight]. Headline Daily (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2025-08-05. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  4. 1 2 3 "江油霸凌事件引发大规模抗议 遭警方镇压" [The bullying incident in Jiangyou triggered a large-scale protest, which was suppressed by the police]. Deutsche Welle (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2025-08-07. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  5. 1 2 3 "四川江油"校园霸凌"事件三点关切,为何报警十多天后才作出处理决定?" [Three points of concern regarding the "Sichuan Jiangyou" school bullying incident: Why was the decision made more than ten days after the police were called?] (in Chinese). Hunan Daily. 2025-08-06 via Baidu.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "江油警方回应"14岁少女被殴打"关键问题" [Jiangyou police respond to key questions about the "14-year-old girl being beaten" incident] (in Chinese). Qilu Evening News. 2025-08-04 via Baidu.
  7. 1 2 3 Hawkins, Amy (2025-08-08). "How a teenage bullying incident spiralled into city-wide protests in China". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  8. "Police deployed in China to quell teen bullying case protest". South China Morning Post . 2025-08-06. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  9. Colville, Alex (2025-08-15). "Chatbots Silent on Sichuan Protests". China Media Project. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
  10. 1 2 ""未成年"绝不是霸凌者的"免罪金牌"" [Being a minor is definitely not a get-out-of-jail-free card for bullies]. The Paper (in Chinese). 2025-08-05.
  11. ""江油霸凌施暴者为官二代"消息不实,警方通报:丁某(女,41岁)、杨某琳(女,27岁)为博眼球编造谣言被处罚" [The rumor that the perpetrators of Jiangyou bullying are the children of government officials is false. Police announcement: Ding (female, 41 years old) and Yang (female, 27 years old) punished for fabricating the rumor to attract attention] (in Chinese). Anhui Radio and Television. 2025-08-05 via Weibo.
  12. "中國多地跨年影像遭挪用後製,錯稱為四川江油抗議" [Video using New Year celebration clips from China misrepresented as Jiangyou protests]. Taiwan FactCheck Center (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2025-08-18.
  13. Guo, Peter; Gao, Larissa; Yang, Chloe (2025-08-07). "Unusual protest erupts in China as anger over latest case of teen bullying mounts". NBC News . Retrieved 2025-08-13.
  14. 中央通訊社 (2025-08-06). "四川霸凌案爭議多 警方粗暴執法被譏「江油照相館」" [Sichuan bullying case controversies: Rough policing mocked as Jiangyou "Dead to Rights"]. Central News Agency (Taiwan) (in Chinese). Retrieved 2025-08-18.