, Columnist
Chinese Women Bear Grim Cost of Exclusion From Power
A viral video of a mother chained by her husband to a freezing hut has revived anger about human trafficking and the government’s failure to stop it.
Diversity isn’t really their thing.
Photographer: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
For the last month, Xiao Huamei, a 37-year-old mother of eight chained by her husband to an unheated hut, has been the most famous face in China.
She was first recorded on video by a blogger as she stood shivering by her dirty table, a breakfast frozen to her bowl. The clip became a sensation, and her face was soon everywhere, on social media and in state publications, staring out blankly. Thanks to the attention, she's inspired the biggest wave of popular Chinese discontent since the early days of Covid-19.