Surveillance Clips Show Chinese Billionaire With Accuser – The Associated Press
What happened: Two edited videos of JD.com founder Richard Liu and a woman who has accused him of rape were posted Monday to Chinese microblogging site Weibo. The woman filed a lawsuit against Liu on Apr. 16, four months after prosecutors declined to file charges citing lack of evidence. One video shows that Liu and the woman, named Liu Jingyao (no relation), left a group dinner in Minneapolis and the other shows the woman holding Liu’s arm as they walked to her apartment. The law firm representing Liu Jingyao said the videos are consistent with what she told law enforcement, but Liu’s attorney in Minnesota said the clips had dispelled “the misinformation and false claims that have been widely circulated.”
Why it’s important: Though nothing in the videos disproves Liu Jingyao’s account of the alleged attack, the two videos have sparked widespread discussion on Weibo. Many have commented that the videos reveal a “plot reversal,” indicating that Liu may have been falsely accused. The Associated Press reported that Liu’s attorney showed the news agency full, unedited surveillance videos, which contained the same footage as the online videos. The user behind the account, named “Mingzhou Events” (translated), is unknown. It was created on Jan. 31 and has no other posts.