Incels attacked Chongqing, a city in southwest China, the acts lasted for three days and were reported across Chinese media.
Monday 17th August, the police department in Chongqing, a city in southwest China, issued a public statement after shutting down filming of a show hosted at the talent agency Time Fengjian Entertainment. This decision came as a result of reports of incidents of men attacking female fans outside the agency building.
A video posted on Instagram by Taipei-based news outlet Almost showed men livestreaming attacks on prospective members of the boy band and attacking their female fans when they attempted to defend them.
The attacks came as a result of rising resentment building online towards both the underage male trainees and their female fans. The attack lasted three days, from 15 to 18 August.
The attackers were shouting “jiahao”, a Chinese internet slang term (家豪 or 佳豪) while they were pulling the trainees out of the cars. The term mocks young men perceived as mediocre yet overconfident.
According to a report about misogyny and online radicalisation by the Alan Turing Institute published in August 2025, “the normalisation of harmful and hateful beliefs can damage the mental well-being of social media users (including men and boys), and creates vulnerabilities that can be exploited by bad actors.”
The young fans were also accusing the men of taking pictures of them, using AI to create “pornographic cards” of the women in sexually suggestive positions, implying sexual services were being distributed at the scene. According to the Online Radicalisation report, “Online communities of incels promote extreme misogynist viewpoints”.
Chinese student and feminist Giselle Liu spoke to us about the incident. “I found this whole situation deeply disappointing. Chongqing is one of China’s most vibrant and diverse cities, yet something like this still happened.” Giselle continued by saying, “ Too often, there are no real consequences. Or maybe the perpetrators have never stopped to think about the impact of their actions, because no one ever taught them to. Not in school, not at home, not in society at large. No one made it clear that it is not okay to hurt someone just because you believe they are in the wrong.”
During the attack, both sides left graffiti. Fans expressed their adoration towards their idols. However, in retaliation, men wrote that the talent company are paedophiles.
In the statement, police said they are providing training to those arrested under the suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a vague term used under public-order offences and will conduct further investigations looking into those suspected of being involved.
In their press statement, the police asked both parties to behave in a civilised manner, urging the female fans to support their boy bands rationally and to refrain from fabricating, believing, or spreading rumours. However, screenshots sent to TNF of conversations on Threads show that users, allegedly classmates of some of the attackers, are enrolled in the police academy.
Giselle explained the wider issue and the bigger issue in China: “This small scene reflects a much larger issue in China. At its core is a lack of humane education. Schools focus on grades and exams, but forget the first rule of teaching: to educate is to shape a person before a scholar.”
She continued, “Empathy and respect should come first, yet that lesson is often missing. What makes it worse is how such incidents are handled. They get swept under the rug, as if ignoring them will make them go away. That approach feels less like resolution and more like avoidance. And that is truly disappointing.”
