Hong Kong, Dec 14: One of China’s most prominent feminists has written a letter to US President-elect Donald Trump warning him of the perils of chauvinism as he prepares to take office in January 2017, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Zheng Churan, who was arrested for her activism in 2015, wrote to Trump saying: “Feminists worldwide are speaking, and we are watching you.” Churan was supported by US Democrat Hillary Clinton for her advocacy.
“Even across the Pacific, in the faraway land of China, there are constantly reports of you and your government’s involvement in sexual discrimination. We wish you to watch out,” the Guardian quoted Churan as saying.
Trump famously boasted about using his fame to have sex with women and grope them without prior consent, saying: “When you are a star they let you do it.”
Churan called on Trump to respect women’s rights, warning him not to use his position to spread “straight-man cancer”. The term has become popular in China to describe a “disease” among narrow-minded men seeking to control women and work against gender equality. “Just like cancerous cells, straight-man cancer spreads everywhere damaging feminist movements and undermining social equality. It is pervasive,” said Churan.
She predicted a hard fall if Trump’s previous sentiments followed him into the White House, which he will step into on January 20.
“We wish to warn you that those who spread this straight-man cancer will inevitably pay their price for the contemptible comments, violent remarks towards women or actions sexualising women.”
