A New Catchphrase for Chinese Netizens--70 Kmh

The term “70 Kmh” has become a catchphrase on line recently in China. It involves a deadly car accident occurred in Hangzhou, a city south of Shanghai.

On May 7th a pedestrian was hit and killed while crossing the crosswalk by a modified red Mitsubishi Evo sports car that was racing with two other expensive sports cars. The victim, who graduated from one of the best universities in China, was the 25-year-old only son of his family. The perpetrator, a 20-year-old man surnamed Hu, was driving a car owned by his mother.

The following day a police press conference was held and estimated that the car was speeding at 70 Kmh while the speed limit where the crash took place is 50 Kmh, according to the perpetrator and related witnesses-- the only witnesses accepted by the police were the other two drivers involved in the car race. This is a clever relation since 70 Kmh is just within the range of 50% over the limit.
 
It was the press conference that infuriated the public as the onlookers of the accident claimed that the car was at the speed of at least 100 Kmh, according to some media reports which pointed out that the accident victim was thrown in the air 5 meters high and 20 meters far. Netizens began to suspect that the police made a decision under the influence of the perpetrator’s family background. Thus the ‘Human Flesh Search Engine’ started once again. Soon the detailed personal information of the perpetrator and his family was available on line and it turned out that the perpetrator’s mother was an official of the government and his father owns a successful business. Then the criticism focused on the equality between ordinary people and rich people or people with power. This news began to spread through the country and tons of posts and comments were published on popular online forums by Chinese netizens. Yet this issue is not ended. What greatly outraged the public was the fact that most remarks posted were deleted and many accounts of different websites that had posted those remarks about the investigation were blocked while news about the accident was little, which caused an even worse uproar online.
 
On May 15th another press conference was held by the city police bureau. The police formally arrest the perpetrator and made an apology for the previous statements. Up to date, the perpetrator family has paid the victim’s family 1.13 million RMB as compensation.
 
This is not an isolated case. The term 70 Kmh is now being used to represent the people’s anger about the general police incompetence and the phenomenon that rich people use the “money right” to escape from the punishment they deserve. Meanwhile, the reaction of the public is also related to people’s complain of the government policies to maintain a “harmonious society” which involves media censorship. Many of my friends’ Xiaonei ( a socialization website) accounts were blocked since they shared some articles and videos of the car accident but this in turn made them more angry and came up with new ways of spreading the information. The role played by the communication technologies nowadays was that it provided an opportunity for people to better pursue their rights.