Women's Rights Statement on Jingyao v. Liu Qiangdong's Pretrial Agreement: "Reconciliation" is victory, please continue to walk with us in solidarity

On October 2, 2022, local time, the Minneapolis court issued a statement on Jingyao v. Liu Qiangdong's sexual assault civil case. The main content is that Jingyao and Liu Qiangdong reached a pretrial agreement. (See the end of the article for the full translation)

This is a historic moment. Looking back at the Chinese Rice Rabbit Movement in the past four years, this pre-trial agreement is of great significance - it is the result of a four-year struggle between Jingyao and feminists, and it is also a lock on the facts that Liu Qiangdong and JD.com have always denied. Liu Qiangdong's admission of concealing the truth. If he is really innocent, how could Liu Qiangdong give up the lawsuit? After all, in terms of financial resources, lawyers, and media resources, Liu Qiangdong has an overwhelming advantage. He is worth US$11 billion, and has a luxury lawyer group and public relations company, which is enough to bribe the domestic media for him.

We would like to express our concern and congratulations to Jingyao at the first time, and to express our gratitude to the unnamed volunteers who have devoted infinite energy since the case was exposed four years ago. This is our common victory. At the beginning of the case, we promised to accompany Jingyao to the last step. But now is far from the end of our support for Jingyao, let alone the end of our voice for Mi Rabbit.

Embrace Jingyao and understand her choice

In this case, reaching a pretrial agreement may be Jingyao's best choice and her right. By advancing the judicial process in the United States, Jingyao achieved a public result. She could accept a private "reconciliation" when the case happened in 2018, but she chose to go public and contribute her own efforts to the Mi Rabbit movement. In the past four years, we have witnessed the ordeal that Jingyao has endured in the judicial process and in the field of public opinion. We're glad she didn't have to endure the higher density of torture at the court stage, and the endless assaults and condemnations outside the courtroom, for unknowable outcomes.

During the course of the case, she confessed to herself and recounted her experiences. This opened up a public space for other women, allowing us to explore important issues such as the hatred of women's system, drinking table culture, rape culture, and transnational capital's hunting of women, and spread feminist discourse on a wide range.

In 2018, feminism popularized the idea of "refusing to be harsh on the victim." Today, feminists once again interpret it with actions - not asking the victim to be perfect, not looking at the victim, not expecting her to be a "feminist hero", not forcing her to sacrifice for the obsession of others efforts . Feminists cannot use victims as tool people. We trust that she will continue to make the choices that are best for her, and that is our expectation.

Thanks again Jingyao for walking this road with us.

Four years of struggle worth it, pay tribute to supporters

Early in the case, feminists united to translate Jingyao's indictment and related documents in an attempt to eliminate the information gap between China and the United States. After the launch of the #I'm not a perfect victim# campaign, the number of Weibo hits reached 20 million within two weeks, with more than 20,000 interactions, including a large number of self-reported experiences of sexual assault survivors, which played a broad public education effect. . Every offline hearing of this case has supporters from all over the place. The online voices of many Jingyao supporters and the live records of several feminists are against Liu Qiangdong and JD.com's huge public relations.

In the U.S., the Jingyao case is considered a fringe Chinese case and hardly enters mainstream discussion. But feminists have been actively interviewing and liaising with the media until the pre-trial period. They pioneered Chinese feminist discourses in the English-speaking world, especially the reports and comments on the progress of the case became the main source of information for serious media at home and abroad, which brought great pressure to Liu Qiangdong, and made him a serious threat in the process of listing on JD.com. caused an impact.

The #MeToo movement was first launched in the United States, and the American judicial system has a long-standing tendency to protect powerful men. While we believe Jingyao will prevail, we cannot predict whether she will receive justice. Jingyao has already been hurt once by Mingzhou police who dropped the criminal case against Liu Qiangdong. If Jingyao has to bear the price of being publicly humiliated again in court and in the media, without waiting for the desired outcome, it will be a huge blow to Jingyao, the feminist movement in China, and the people involved in it. Today, the terrible situation we envisioned will not happen to Jingyao, which will also encourage more victims to come forward.

We absolutely cannot stop. We will continue to discuss the workings of capital and power in sexual assault cases and prepare to support more victims in the future.

Here, we would like to pay tribute to our friends who contributed to this case, to the unnamed supporters since the 2018 Chinese Rice Rabbit Movement, and to other feminists who are still suffering for us.

#MeToo continues, cases are not the end

Jingyao guiltily told our volunteers: "I can't last until the end." At the same time, she expressed her gratitude to everyone. We understand very well that she has done so much for everyone and the Mi Rabbit movement. Now, she's decided to stop here, and promises to do everything in her power to help feminists.

At this juncture, an important issue confronts us: how can we continue to support Jingyao? How do we understand survivor choices? How to carry out feminist thinking on the Mi Rabbit movement? We still have to be vigilant that the domestic media continue to publish information such as "Fairy Dance" to discredit Jingyao. To be expected, some media outlets will still reinforce misogynistic narratives. Therefore, we must continue our efforts to resist and correct the patriarchal interpretation of the outcome of the pretrial agreement.

The outcome of the pretrial agreement cannot protect Jingyao from slander in the domestic public opinion field, nor can it reduce the possible scrutiny of supporters and organizers. Many feminist activists and volunteers pushed themselves to the public and exposed themselves to vulnerable situations in the process of supporting the case. Therefore , we call on everyone to continue to leave messages for Jingyao to express their support and tell us why you support Jingyao. I also hope that everyone will continue to pay attention to feminist activists. The more people pay attention, the less security threats they will face. The case was terminated due to a pretrial agreement, but the Mi Rabbit Movement will continue to move forward. Feminists will continue to fight against patriarchal society.

Upcoming Events

Below are three recent event previews, trust us to be there all the time.

1. Offline meeting

Time: October 2nd at 1:00 pm local time

City: Minneapolis

Location: Hennepin Co. Govt. Center (GC) 300 South 6th Street Minneapolis, MN 55487

Supporters will hold a rally at the courthouse, and hope that everyone will come, or introduce friends.

2. Live online

Topic: Women's Rights on Jingyao v. Liu Qiangdong "Reconciliation"

Time: October 3rd at 9:30pm (EST); October 4th at 9:30am (Beijing time)

Platform: ZOOM

Link: https://zoom.us/j/91554431245

3. In-depth interpretation of the results of this case

We will release further news of this case in the near future, as well as the professional interpretation of the pretrial agreement of this case by lawyers in the United States. Please keep watching!

Attached: court statement

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE PARTIES

“The incident between Ms. Jingyao Liu and Mr. Richard Liu in Minnesota in 2018 resulted in a misunderstanding that has consumed substantial public attention and brought profound suffering to the parties and their families. Today, the parties agreed to set aside their differences, and settle their legal dispute in order to avoid further pain and suffering caused by the lawsuit.

Beyond the above, there will be no further comment from Ms. Liu, her representatives or her counsel, nor jointly from the Parties.”

joint statement of the parties

"The differences between Ms. Liu Jingyao and Mr. Liu Qiangdong in the Minnesota incident in 2018 have aroused widespread social concern and have had a serious impact on the parties and their families. Today, the two sides agreed to put aside their differences and settle the case in court. resolve this legal dispute by pre-agreement to avoid further pain and suffering caused by litigation.

Other than that, there will be no comment from Ms Liu, her agent or her lawyer, nor the parties. "