Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has faced rape and other criminal charges in a closed trial in Beijing as China was upset over a video showing a group of men physically assaulting four women in another city. Wu’s trial on Friday in Chaoyang People’s Court was reported late Friday night by the Chang’An Net, which is part of China’s powerful Central Committee on Political and Legal Affairs, a committee controlled by the ruling Communist Party. Many internet users criticized the timing of the announcement of the trial. “I’m more concerned about the Tangshan issue,” the top comment on Weibo said in response to the Political and Legal Affairs account. Liked more than 22,000 times. The attack on four women dining at a restaurant in Tangshan, a seaside town east of Beijing, early Friday morning was seen in surveillance footage widely shared on Weibo. By Sunday, police had arrested nine people on suspicion of violent assault in the case. Attack and public outcry have revived talk of misogyny and mistreatment of women in China. Earlier this year, a video appeared of a woman chained to a shack. The police investigation found that he had trafficked and sold her as a bride. Wu, meanwhile, has been in police custody since last August. The trial of the former member of the Korean EXO group was closed to the public to protect the privacy of the victim, state media reported. Wu was tried on charges of rape and “the crime of gathering a crowd to engage in sexual misconduct.” Rape is punishable by 3 to 10 years in prison, although in exceptional cases life sentences and the death penalty may also be imposed. The second charge that Wu faces is punishable by 5 years in prison. The verdict and sentence were to be handed down later, state media reported. Wu was accused last year by a teenage girl of having sex with her while she was drunk. Wu denied the charge. The teenager also said that seven other women contacted her to say that Wu seduced them with promises of jobs and other opportunities. He said some were under 18 years old.
