Chinese tech billionaire Richard Liu Qiangdong has launched a criminal motion towards an outspoken feminist blogger over a series of internet posts. She claimed he changed into a rapist.
Liu, the founder of e-commerce web page JD.Com, who turned into accused of – however no longer charged with – rape within the United States, issuing the unnamed lady for 3 million yuan (US$436,000) through the Beijing Internet Court.
On Friday, the blogger – liable for the popular “MaKuSiShuo” account on China’s microblogging platform Weibo – shared info and screenshots of the defamation lawsuit filed on July 2 through Liu to her one hundred fifty,000 followers in a broadly circulated post.
Liu, forty-five, changed into accused of rape final 12 months with the aid of a Chinese alternate student at the University of Minnesota; however, US prosecutors decided not to press charges towards him in December because of inadequate evidence.
His accuser, Liu Jingyao, has to see that he filed a civil lawsuit in opposition to the CEO, looking for more than US$50,000 in damages. Online petitions supporting Liu Jingyao won thousands of supporters on Chinese social media before they were taken offline earlier this 12 months.
In a nameless submit on Weibo, the blogger wrote: “He simply wants to shut up all the people who are talking out for Jingyao.
“Do I regret publishing that essay? Up until now, I nonetheless don’t remorse it.”
The lawsuit claims the blogger defamed Liu in several Weibo posts that called him “base and shameless” and often defined him as “rapist Dong” – a play on his call.
The lawsuit additionally claimed that one publish, wherein Liu’s wife, Zhang Zetian, turned into referred to as a “flower vase” and a “vessel for bringing up his next successor,” become a “malicious conjecture about his marriage.”
Richard Liu is seeking 1 million yuan (US$145,000) in compensation for “intellectual damage” and a couple of million yuan in damages for “monetary losses.”
The blogger, primarily based in Xiamen, Fujian province, stated she had no choice, however to counter-sue Liu for 800,000 yuan due to her low monthly income of about 5,000 yuan, online information outlet Red Star News pronounced on Saturday.
“This is not just sincerely a case of 1 character suing some other, that is a large quantity of capital getting used to snuff out an everyday man or woman,” she became quoted as announcing.
“Richard Liu isn’t simply suing me alone; he’s suing each person on the net who dares to specific their opinion.”
In May, Richard Liu additionally filed every other defamation lawsuit against blogger Zhao Shengye in search of three million yuan in damages. Zhao rejected the claims. However, they deleted the online posts from the account.
High-profile legal blogger Han Dongyan wrote on his Weibo microblog on Monday that the lady ought to settle the lawsuit during his view.
“The blogger should not stubbornly refuse to admit her mistakes; this isn’t a great manner to cope with a lawsuit. Richard Liu isn’t short of money; he simply desires to vent his anger,” Han stated.
