Hebei University - Hit-and-run Incident (2010)

Hit-and-run Incident (2010)

When a driver hit and killed one young woman, wounded another, and declared “Sue me if you dare. My father is Li Gang!” before trying to flee the scene, he set off a series of repercussions. First, the authorities tried to censor Internet and newspaper coverage. "But it was so widely discussed on the Internet that propaganda officials allowed some official press coverage." The driver's challenge to bystanders and police "quickly became a cynical catchphrase to describe various forms of corruption in China and a symbol of the growing divide between the privileged and connected elite and the underprivileged in this country." The driver was said to have been drunk and "racing." He ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison and some US$100,000 equivalent in compensation was paid to the family of the deceased victim and to the wounded student. The court, after the one-day closed trial in early 2011, said it was a "lenient" sentence due to a confession and the compensation. And "a lawyer who at one time represented the family of ... called the verdict flawed. 'Of course it’s not fair.... The whole legal process of this case has broken the rules many times.'" Li Gang "is the deputy public security chief in the district where the school is located, according to China’s state-run news media." The victims had been in-line skating on the HU campus when struck. As to the news coverage, " gadfly blog, sarcastically titled Ministry of Truth, to puncture the veil surrounding censorship, anonymously posting secret government directives leaked by free-speech sympathizers. According to the blog’s sources, the Central Propaganda Department issued a directive on Oct. 28, 10 days after the accident, 'ensuring there is no more hype regarding the disturbance over traffic at Hebei University.'" Meanwhile, "China’s national television network, CCTV, broadcast an Oct. 22 interview with Li Gang and his son, filled with effusive apologies for the accident though police regulations ostensibly bar interviews with detainees."