Wang, a 31-year-old Chinese woman, expected nothing unusual as she sat in the restaurant. But suddenly a man came up and started touching her. "Get lost!" she shouted. Then he slapped her.

One of Wang's friends grabbed a bottle and hit the attacker. Then several men pulled Wang out into the street. There she was hit and kicked until her shirt was covered in blood.

Within a day, a surveillance video of the attack in TangshanA city 100 miles east of Beijing. had gone viral. But some media outlets told their own story. A Beijing news app reported that the man had simply "struck up a conversation" with Wang. The Feidian video channel said that "conflict erupted from both sides".

Journalists who tried to investigate the incident were arrested. And when, two days afterwards, WeiboOne of the most popular social networks in China, where platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are banned. announced a crackdown on "harmful speech", many people guessed that it was feminist protesters they had in mind.

China's Communist Party used to support feminism. "Women hold up half the sky," said Mao ZedongA revolutionary leader, also known as Chairman Mao, who ruled China as head of the Communist Party from 1949 until 1976.. But according to The New York Times, "unapologetic male chauvinismThe blind belief that the group you belong to is superior to all others. It is commonly applied to anti-feminist men." has taken over. Since 2012 China has fallen from 69th to 107th in the World Economic ForumAn independent organisation based in Switzerland which is committed to improving the world.'s list of countries which most respect women's rights.

In 2015, two feminists led a protest against domestic violence by marching through Beijing wearing white wedding dresses splashed with red paint. Others shaved their heads to protest against universities which made it harder for female applicants¹ to get places than male ones. Five women were arrested for "provoking social instability".

A woman called Gao Xiao who sued a restaurant for discrimination received a visit from the police. When the tennis star Peng Shuai said on social media that a senior politician² had forced her to have sex with him, her post was deleted and she disappeared.

Yes: Chinese censors commonly remove posts containing terms that feminists use, such as "sexual harassment", and hashtags such as #MeToo. Feminist demonstrators run the risk of arrest.

No: The Communist Party has such a strong grip on the country that it does not need to fear any groups. Far-reaching laws mean that any form of dissent can be dealt with swiftly by the police.

Or... The government is afraid not just of feminism but of any movement or organisation which does not directly support it. The memory of the Tiananmen Square protests is still too fresh for comfort.