Young men in Chongqing surround entertainment agency and assault female fans - 경향신문

This article was translated by an AI tool. Feedback Here.

Aug. 14~17 siege protest at TF Entertainment

A video of a man kicking a female fan who had gathered at TF Entertainment in Chongqing in mid-August was posted on X and other social media platforms. X screengrab

In Chongqing, a hub of China's entertainment industry, groups of young men surrounded a famous idol group agency for several days and assaulted female fans, leading to their being taken into police custody. The incident is being viewed as exposing misogyny among young Chinese men.

Since mid-month, multiple videos on X and other social media platforms have shown young men gathering in front of the Chongqing headquarters of the major talent agency TF Entertainment, encircling trainees aged 11~14 and female fans and attacking them.

In the videos, the men shouted “zha hao” at the idol trainees and tore up idol posters, hurled abuse at the female fans on site, and threw water bottles. Multiple accounts posted online said the violence began with shouts of ‘zha hao’.

‘Zha hao’ is a derogatory term originating online that mocks a ‘young man pretending to be cool’. It began as a jab at a middle school student who, in 2024, went viral on China's short-form video platform Douyin for imitating electronic musician Alan Walker while wearing a black hoodie and mask, and it has come to mean a ‘man putting on a cool act’ or a ‘boastful man’.

The violence escalated, and videos posted on the 17th~18th included scenes of men kicking and hitting women. Influencers even livestreamed these scenes. The number of men on site grew, surpassing the fans, forming a siege around TF Entertainment.

On the 18th, TF Entertainment announced it would suspend trainees' offline training. On the 20th, the Chongqing Public Security Bureau issued a statement saying there had been quarrels and clashes among people gathered beneath an entertainment agency building on Nanbin Road on the 17th. It said it had provided legal education to several individuals involved and would conduct further investigations into those suspected of disturbing public order.

The public security authorities did not disclose what happened before the 17th, and urged young people to engage in “civilized fan activities”. In other words, they framed the clashes as a ‘side effect of fandom culture’.

Men involved in the incident pushed back, viewing the public security measures as ‘reverse discrimination against men’. The Hong Kong independent outlet Initium Media reported that after Chongqing police arrived on the scene, online criticism such as “the police detained only men”, “the police are Chongqing's mother”, and “selective law enforcement” spread, and that sexualized abuse followed, including doxxing of female fans whose faces appeared in livestreams and splicing their faces onto prostitution flyers.

TF Entertainment is an agency that introduced the idol system in China. In 2021, after ‘Youth With You 3’, a Chinese show modeled on South Korea's idol audition program ‘Produce 101’, became hugely popular, Chinese authorities defined fandom culture as a risk factor to social stability and stepped up their crackdown. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) introduced regulatory measures such as banning programs that rank the popularity of celebrities.

However, the authorities have not been able to halt fan activities themselves and have instead emphasized ‘healthy fan activities’. This is because fandom cannot simply be blocked outright, and attending performances and buying merchandise generate economic effects.

There is commentary that such measures have, for some men, legitimized negative views of effeminate male idols or of female fans. Criticism has also been raised that TF Entertainment's idol training system fuels constant competition and anxiety among teenagers.

Even in an apology video posted on Douyin, one man who took part in the violence said it was “an action to realize justice”. Online, posts criticizing the conduct of ‘women who chase idols’ rather than condemning the men's violence received many ‘likes’. Chinese media likewise did not emphasize the violence against women, instead limiting themselves to calls for a mature fan culture.

According to Taiwanese and Hong Kong media, the weight of evidence suggests that men converged in front of TF Entertainment after watching livestreams and social media. The public security authorities did not explain the background of the incident. On X and elsewhere, assessments appeared that “some men felt anger that the attention and care of women (which they themselves do not receive) was being poured onto celebrities” and that “gender conflicts long rooted in Chinese society have spilled offline”.

Idol fans labeled this incident as violence against women and pushed back against TF Entertainment's tepid response. Fans issued a joint statement saying numerous men had harassed ordinary fans and demanding that the agency take measures to ensure the trainees' safety.