Top 10 Chinese Women list taken down due to objections from netizens over the inclusion of Lee Jinglei and Du Meizhu

Mandopop singer Wang Leehom’s ex-wife Lee Jinglei may have won a lot of support from many as the messy split between the couple unspooled, but not enough it seems for her to be considered among the Top 10 Chinese Women for 2021.

A post on social media platform Weibo said that Chinese culture magazine New Weekly took down its list of Top 10 Chinese Women for 2021 due to strong objections from netizens over the inclusion of Ms Lee and 19-year-old influencer Du Meizhu.

Ms Lee, who is not in the entertainment business, was praised by many netizens for the excellence of her written Chinese, as seen in several Instagram posts where she poured out her heart.

Women, especially, also cheered her on for no longer tolerating her husband’s indiscretions.

The South China Morning post even reported last month that Lee’s words had been “nicknamed the “hammer of the thunder goddess”, and were “praised as precise and powerful, especially when compared to her former partner.”

She has even been compared to the Norse god of thunder, Thor, since a Chinese character in her name, “lei” has the same pronunciation as the word in Mandarin for “thunder.”

Ms Du, characterised in the media as “the catalyst to Kris Wu’s downfall” is a student in Beijing. On July 8, 2021, Ms Du posted on her Weibo account an accusation that the Chinese-Canadian rapper and actor raped her as well as a number of other women, some of whom were underage.

Wu was arrested shortly afterwards and has been detained since then.

Both Ms Lee and Ms Du were praised by New Weekly for their whistleblowing, which the magazine said caused a greater discussion in society about issues affecting women.

However, maybe not everyone is a fan.

Commenters objected to their inclusion on the list, saying that their achievements do not compare to the other women, including, Wang Yaping, the first Chinese woman to ever perform a spacewalk, and Zhang Guimei, who has a long and storied career as an educator and who founded China’s first and only free public high school for girls.

New Weekly has since taken down the list. /TISG

Read also: ‘Thunder Goddess’: Wang Leehom & Lee Jinglei’s online dispute inspires female empowerment advocacy

‘Thunder Goddess’: Wang Leehom & Lee Jinglei’s online dispute inspires female empowerment advocacy