Letting an Ugly Skeleton Out of China’s Closet

“Family ugliness must not be aired” is one of China’s most familiar sayings, reflecting a code of silence that demands: don’t talk about bad things happening at home. Kim Lee didn’t obey the cultural command and blew open a shame-filled secret — widespread domestic violence. On Aug. 31, Ms. Lee, 40, a tall, vivacious brunette who, despite her name, is Italian-American (“Lee is an Ellis Island name,” she explained), began posting photos of her bruised and bloodied forehead, ear and knees on Weibo, a Chinese microblog. The injuries were inflicted by her celebrity husband, Li Yang, in an attack in front of their 3-year-old daughter. The couple have two other daughters, aged 9 and 5.

China erupted in public debate. Mr. Li is a household name for founding “Crazy English,” a method of learning English followed by millions who yell at the top of their voice. (Its slogan: “Make the voice of China heard throughout the world!”) On Sept. 10, he admitted on his Weibo that he had done it. “I formally apologize to Kim,” he wrote. “I committed domestic violence against her.” Contrition has since given way to bravado. In news interviews, while still admitting he was wrong, Mr. Li has said that it was “no big deal,” that domestic abuse is part of Chinese culture. Today, he is still teaching thousands of children daily in mass events at schools and stadiums. Many know he is a largely unrepentant wife-beater. All this has infuriated women’s rights campaigners, scholars and ordinary people, who worry about the moral message to young people. While there have been statements of support for Mr. Li, others have dubbed him “Crazy Li” and said he demeans China. “Today Crazy English Li Yang is coming to our school to teach,” a user called Zhubinismichong wrote on her Weibo. “Nauseating! A person who commits domestic violence, teaching!!” “You lack the most basic common sense,” a riled Chen Haoran, a criminal law expert at Fudan University, told Mr. Li on a Shanghai talk show. “You believe what you did was very correct.” Pleading Chinese tradition was irresponsible, said Feng Yuan, head of the Anti-Domestic Violence Network, an outreach and research center. “For a man like Li Yang who has been exposed to modern values to excuse this as Chinese culture and tradition is unacceptable,” said Ms. Feng. “More and more young people today know that beating and threats are wrong.” Surveys have found that domestic violence is widespread here, occurring in 25 to 35 percent of households. Most victims are women, but children, some men and, increasingly, the elderly, suffer too. Surveys suggest that around 90 percent of offenders are men.

In October, the All-China Women’s Federation, a government organization, said that 24.7 percent of nearly 126,000 women and girls over 10 years old had experienced domestic violence, a broad term that includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as “economic control,” reported Xinhua, the state-run news agency. In March, Ms. Feng’s group republished a 2004 survey of Zhejiang, Gansu and Hunan provinces, conducted with the China Law Society, showing a rate of 34.7 percent. The news media often report that 81 million families, or 30 percent of China’s 270 million families, live with domestic violence, a figure supported by a 2006 survey in Society, a scholarly journal, that also found a 30 percent abuse rate. Pressure is growing for a comprehensive law against domestic violence, with advocates hoping that discussion can begin in March at the National People’s Congress. Currently, the law does prohibit such violence, but the prohibition is scattered among different statutes, said Ms. Feng.

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