“The ‘Wangwang Storm’ Continues to Face Government Suppression as Solidarity Actions Persist (July 25, 2026)” On July 25, Chinese Communist Party authorities further intensified their crackdown on various activities supporting “Wangwang.” In Beijing and other cities, netizens who had participated in solidarity actions were summoned by police for “tea”; in Shanghai, even an ordinary animal adoption event was forced to be canceled. Meanwhile, online censorship continued to escalate. Content related to the “Wangwang Incident” became increasingly difficult to publish, and even posts that appeared successfully were often throttled or deleted. One netizen said that she was unable even to post videos of her own dog. Despite the authorities’ intense pressure, large numbers of self-described “Wangwang Group employees” continued to speak out for Wangwang through daily online check-ins. Offline solidarity actions also continued in places including Shashi, Hubei, and Ningbo, Zhejiang, taking the form of public-screen displays, T-shirts, car stickers, billboards, and other activities.

On July 27, some netizens discovered that Xiaohongshu has begun blocking content related to "Jieyang Wangwang." Searching for keywords such as "Jieyang dog abuse," "Jieyang dogs," "Wangwang dog," and "burning stray dogs" yields no posts connected to the Wangwang incident. Currently, only a small number of related videos remain on the platform, with titles or captions mostly avoiding keywords like "Jieyang" and "Wangwang."

One Month Later, We Are Still Fighting for Justice for Wang Wang Today marks one month since Wang Wang, a gentle stray mother dog in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, China and her three newborn puppies were brutally tortured and killed. According to information later circulated online, five minors were involved, including one who filmed what happened; the official notice identified four directly involved boys, all under the age of 14. The videos and reports show that this was not a momentary outburst, and it cannot be dismissed as “children not knowing better.” It was prolonged, escalating cruelty. Wang Wang's three puppies—barely old enough to open their eyes—were beaten to death. Wang Wang was restrained by the neck, repeatedly beaten, doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire, with eyes gouged out. She was so sweet that she did not even try to attack them. Even in her final moments, she reportedly struggled back toward her babies and used the last of her strength to lick their bleeding heads. Meanwhile, the perpetrators filmed, laughed and cheered. This was not ordinary childish misbehavior. It was the deliberate creation, observation and celebration of suffering. It challenged the most basic limits of human conscience. What makes this even more unbearable is not only the cruelty itself, but the absence of clear, transparent and credible accountability. Local authorities stated that the four directly involved boys had been sent to a specialized school for education. Yet the public has received little meaningful information about what intervention, psychological assessment or continued supervision actually followed. People familiar with the case said they were not sent to any "special school", and the authorities had never criticized such horrid behaviors. The parents and family of these perpetrators even threatened to kill more dogs and cats in response to online fury. And at least one father of the killers did kill more animals and brag about it. China still lacks a nationwide anti-cruelty law specifically protecting companion animals such as dogs and cats. Existing laws cover wildlife, livestock and laboratory animals in different ways, but significant gaps remain when someone deliberately tortures an ordinary companion or stray animal. This is not a debate about vegetarianism, and it is not about telling people what they may or may not eat. It is about whether a society is willing to draw a basic legal line against deliberately torturing a sentient being for pleasure, entertainment, attention or online content. Justice means establishing the truth, requiring serious psychological evaluation and long-term intervention, holding guardians accountable, preventing perpetrators from owning or accessing more animals, and creating laws with meaningful consequences and deterrence. Because when children can torture defenseless lives while laughing—and the adults and institutions around them remain silent—the damage extends beyond the animals. It reaches the moral foundation of society itself. Wang Wang never had a real home. She reportedly sheltered her puppies in a small hole, trying to keep them safe. She may never have known comfort or had a truly good meal. But this Earth was her home too. She and her babies harmed no one. They were simply trying to survive. Yet even that most basic right was denied to them. Today, we remember Wang Wang and her three puppies. We will continue to say their names. We will not allow them to become another horrific video that briefly circulates online and is then forgotten. We must turn our grief into strength: continue speaking, advocate for China’s long-overdue animal anti-cruelty legislation, and work toward a society in which more animals like Wang Wang can live peacefully—and those who choose to harm defenseless lives know that there will be consequences. Cruelty is not entertainment. Abuse is not freedom. Deliberately inflicting suffering must have consequences. Justice for Wang Wang and her family.

A month ago today, on June 28, a stray dog named Wang Wang was killed in Guangdong, China. In a July 28 commentary, "Why Wang Wang Should Worry Xi Jinping," Newsweek argues her death taught millions of Chinese something no censor can delete: how to organize. Fed and named by local residents, Wang Wang lived an ordinary life until its brutal end. That morning, at least four boys, all under 14, beat her three puppies to death with sticks, dragged her by a wire around her neck, doused her in flammable liquid, and set her alight. They filmed it and posted the video. Two days later the town government issued a notice. It confirmed the abuse, said the boys were below the age of criminal responsibility, and sent them to a corrective school. It never used the words cruelty or torture, and closed by asking internet users not to spread the story. The request failed. Deleted posts went back up on new accounts. Supporters bought billboards in more than a hundred cities; as domestic screens grew risky, they crowdfunded foreign ones, translated the material into over ten languages, and put Wang Wang on a screen in Hong Kong's Mong Kok, and on boards in Taipei and New York's Times Square. More than 70,000 people have signed a petition asking China to change the law. By the third week of July, several million people had worked out how to organize. A stray dog could not be granted justice, but in trying to give her some, an unlikely and scattered public learned it could act on its own, across borders and beyond any single platform. That lesson is the part no notice can ask them to forget. Full commentary in Newsweek: