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Zhou Xiaoxuan (recording from December 2020)
Photo: FLORENCE LO/ REUTERS
It's a setback for the #MeToo movement in China: a court in Beijing on Wednesday dismissed Zhou Xiaoxuan's lawsuit against Zhu Jun, a well-known entertainment host for state broadcaster CCTV.
Zhou, 29, accused the presenter of groping and kissing her in 2014 when she was 21 at the time.
At that time she was an intern at the station.
Zhou posted her allegations on social media in 2018 and sued Zhu Jun for damages.
However, in September 2021, after two closed hearings, a Beijing district court dismissed her lawsuit on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
Zhou then appealed.
But the Beijing People's Court, as the next instance, dismissed the lawsuit again.
"The court considered that the evidence presented by plaintiff Zhou was insufficient to prove that Zhu had sexually molested her and that the appeal could not be upheld," the court said in its official statement.
Neither Zhou nor Zhu reacted to the court's decision.
However, a day earlier, she posted: "I have no regrets for fighting all of this and I know that all painful feelings and hardships are precious and I hope that you are like me and still believe that everything makes sense."
China's #MeToo movement started in 2018 when a student in Beijing publicly accused her professor of sexual harassment.
It spread to NGOs, media and other industries.
as/Reuters