The Shen Chong case (), also referred to as the Peiping rape case, was a rape case in 1946 that sparked a nationwide

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

movement in the Republic of China. It involved

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

stationed in China (the "China Marines") allegedly

raping Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or a ...

a Chinese university student in

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

(Beijing).

The case

On Christmas Eve, 1946, US Marine

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

William Gaither Pierson and private Warren T. Pritchard stopped Shen Chong, a Peking University student, on her way home and forced her into the Peiping Polo Field. A mechanic from a nearby repair shop reported the crying girl being dragged into the field, first to his peers, then to the police. The mechanics were driven away by the soldiers when they tried to intervene, even with a policeman accompanying in the second attempt. By the time a senior officer arrived at the scene, Pritchard had already left. Later Pierson was convicted by US Marine Court led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fitzgerald for raping her, but the verdict was overturned by the US Department of Navy for insufficient evidence.

Public anger

Pierson and US consular official Myrl Myres claimed that Shen Chong was a prostitute, and such claim contributed to the public anger. Shen Chong was reportedly from an elite family of

Shen Baozhen Shen Baozhen (1820–1879), formerly romanized , was an official during the Qing dynasty. Biography Born in Minhou in Fujian province, he obtained the highest degree in the imperial examinations in 1847 and was soon appointed to the Hanlin ...

and

Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was the head of states (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynas ...

, and was studying in the most prestigious university in China; thus the claim she was a prostitute was viewed as adding insult to injury. Selective reporting in US media and later acquittal of the soldiers added more fuel to then Chinese public rage against American military presence in China. In February 1947 alone, police arrested thousands of rape case protesters. The government of the Republic of China's action alienated students and intellectuals and pushed them closer to the communists, who played a leading role in the protests.

Aftermath

Because of the intense publicity, Shen Chong was unable to continue her studies at Peking University. She changed her name to Shen Jun (沈峻) and later was admitted to

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

in Shanghai. After graduating with a degree in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, she worked in Beijing-based

Foreign Languages Press Foreign Languages Press is a publishing house located in China. Based in Beijing, it was founded in 1952 and currently forms part of the China International Publishing Group, which is owned and controlled by the Publicity Department of the Chi ...

for decades. She married the renowned Chinese cartoonist Ding Cong. For most of her life, the public was unaware of the whereabouts of Shen Chong. In an interview with a journalist in 2012, Shen Jun finally revealed that she was Shen Chong; she also refuted a conspiracy theory that she was collaborating with the Communists to provoke an international incident. She stated that she joined the party in 1956, nearly a decade after the incident. Shen died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in Beijing on December 11, 2014, aged 87. William Gaither Pierson died in 2001 and is buried at Temple Sinai Cemetery in Sumter, South Carolina.

Notes and references

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The case

Public anger

Aftermath

Notes and references

See also