Shen Xiangdang, father of Shen Kai, an urban management officer who was stabbed to death by a street vendor four years ago, works three jobs, as a parking lot guard, parking fee collector and garbage man. Photo: Yu Weihua

Shen Xiangdang works three jobs every day, sleeping only four hours a night. He does this not only to save for retirement, but to stay busy and avoid the grief of losing his son - a low-level enforcer of municipal regulations who has become one of the most demonized officials in China.

Shen's son is one of two urban management officers, or chengguan, who were stabbed to death four years ago in their office in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, by a street vendor.

"I try my best not to miss him. But when I close my eyes at night, I still can't help missing him," the 62-year-old told the Global Times, choking back sobs in the 5-square-meter guard shack where he sleeps.

On September 25, the vendor was executed. Nevertheless, the old man did not feel relief but suffering, as many Internet users praised the vendor as a hero, and showed sympathy to the killer's family. Many said Shen's son "deserve to be killed."

Chengguang are widely despised because they enforce rules harming unlicensed street vendors, a poor, mostly migrant population. At times, confrontations turn violent, and in some high profile cases vendors have been killed. Negative sentiment has built up over time, explaining the vitriol directed at Shen's son.

After four years of silence on the killing, Shen is fighting back, unable to bear the scorn being heaped upon his son. Working as spokesman for the families of both urban management officers who were slain by Xia Junfeng, he actively speaks to the media and demands financial compensation from Xia's family.

"The killer was touted as a hero but the urban management officers were ... how could they say that?" he said in anger. "[My son] is the only boy who can carry on our family name. Don't we need sympathy?"

Shen Xiangdang, father of Shen Kai, an urban management officer who was stabbed to death by a street vendor four years ago, works three jobs, as a parking lot guard, parking fee collector and garbage man. Photo: Zhang Qianye

Self-defense or murder?

On May 16, 2009, while enforcing law on a busy road in Shenyang's downtown Shenhe district, several chengguan, including Shen Xiangdang's 33-year-old son Shen Kai and Zhang Xudong, 34, had a conflict with Xia over his illegal kebab stall. Later, Xia, then 32, went along with the chengguan to their office, where he stabbed Shen and Zhang to death and severely injured another officer, Zhang Wei, who came to the office on hearing the noise, according to court documents.

Xia was captured four hours after the killing. On November 15, 2009, he was handed down a death sentence by the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court. The final hearing on May 9, 2011, at the Liaoning High People's Court, upheld the ruling.

Xia insisted that it was self-defense. On September 25, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) announced it approved the death penalty and Xia was executed the same day.

The result ignited a deluge of outrage. Many people including legal experts and Weibo celebrities believed that Xia confronted the officers in self-defense, and said the punishment was too heavy and the judgment was unfair. The challenges continued even though the SPC specifically rebutted the doubts.

Asked whether chengguan would be sentenced to death if they killed Xia, He Weifang, professor at Peking University Law School, said "eighty percent no" during a chat forum organized by Tencent Weibo on the day Xia was executed.

"Before, the public would unanimously applaud when a death sentence was handed down. But the public outcry triggered by Xia's case shows that the government today is more and more estranged from the masses' interests. This is dangerous," He said.

A song sung and played on guitar by Hu Lifu, an independent film director from Hebei Province, recently circulated on the Internet. The 14-minute song mainly tells the story of Xia's family and their helplessness as people living at the bottom of society.

Sympathy for Xia has been fanned by his wife, Zhang Jing, who keeps updating and forwarding posts relating Xia's case and the family's life on her Sina Weibo. She has gathered more than 106,000 followers and sent out 9,156 posts since the microblog was opened on May 13, 2011. Many people have sent messages of support and offers of assistance, considering her to be a strong wife and mother who fights against injustice.

Zhang set up an account and started receiving donations from China and abroad. Social critic Li Chengpeng donated 100,000 yuan ($16,000), according to Zhang's Weibo. Another online post also said a boss surnamed Wang donated $500,000 in a trust fund to ensure Xia's son can study abroad. However, this information could not be independently confirmed.

A chengguan officer on patrol. Photo: CFP

 

Blaming the victims

In comparison, the sympathy extended to the families of the two slain chengguan was much less.

"Behind the debate, the two dead have become the target. Some even say they deserved to be killed," Shen Xiangdang said. The hard-working father sometimes sits in an Internet bar and reads news connected to the case. The one-sided opinions make him very angry. Some who deemed his son behaved badly said, "like father, like son."

Shen admitted that he was put in prison between 1995 and 2007 for corporate fraud. "I'm not covering up my past, but it has no connection with my son. The various honorary certificates he won tell everything."

In his eyes, his son Shen Kai was good and loyal to his family. Shen Kai joined the army at age 16 and became a Party member nine months later. After three years of service, he retired from army. In 2002 he was admitted to the Shenhe branch of the Shenyang City Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau.

In 1993, Shen Xiangdang divorced Li Peixia. Their son Shen Kai remained in his custody, while their daughter was in his wife's custody. During his time in prison, Shen Kai often went to see him and give him encouragement, according to Shen.

The demonizing of the slain officers resulted from the silence of their employer and incomplete media reports on the facts, said Wang Yi, an expert in urban management studies from Yangzhou University.

"Due to wrong guidance of public opinion, Xia and his wife and son have obtained wide sympathy and support," Wang told the Global Times. "But the two slain chengguan and their families were neglected. It seemed like they were the criminals."

The bureau where Shen and Zhang worked rarely commented on Xia's case. Calls to the bureau remained unanswered.

Shen said he previously feared the media would twist his words. Ji Jing, Zhang Xudong's widow, explained that she seldom spoke to the media because she wanted to give her daughter, 12, a peaceful life without unnecessary disturbance. She has moved in order to gain some privacy.

"We believed the law will give justice. White is white and black is black," she told the Chengdu Business Daily. "The death of Xia proves that evil is evil and justice is upheld in the end."

Shen, in a phone interview, said he lives in a simple shack in a residential community in Shenyang. He said he earns 4,200 yuan a month in total, working as a garbage man and parking lot guard for a residential community, and a parking lot fee collector.

"Being busy will give me less time to think of other things. I'm trying to earn as much as I can for when I'm older, when I'm healthy. Furthermore, I don't want to bring any more trouble to the government," he said.

The local authorities paid the families of Shen Kai and Zhang Xudong 900,000 yuan each as compensation. Shen Xiangdong used 300,000 yuan to buy a 30-square meter house and gave the rest to his ex-wife. Shen said he does not live in his apartment because he can't afford to furnish it.

Shen said he calls his ex-wife and Ji Jing occasionally, informing them of the latest news. Meanwhile, he shares the duty of spokesman for both families.

Shen shows pictures of his son, killed by street vendor Xia Junfeng. Photo: Yu Weihua

Emotional appeal

Xia's widow Zhang Jing has drawn a lot of criticism. Some online users criticized her for winning public sympathy and donations by doing publicity stunts, including putting her struggle on Weibo and making emotional appearances in the media.

She declined to comment for this story. "I'm so tired. I don't want to say anything any more," Zhang told the Global Times.

Some said the people involved in Xia's case were all used as a tool to let people who hate the rich and powerful vent their anger. Some said Xia and the slain chengguan are both victims of the flawed urban management system.

Due to some violent incidents involving chengguan, the profession has been unpopular with the public since it was founded in 1980s. Local authorities have been trying to improve their image using innovations like prohibiting the confiscation of vendors' property, exchanging jobs with vendors and forcing the vendors to leave by surrounding them and staring them down instead of resorting to violence.

Zhao and Wang Yi agreed the current urban management system lacks a legal basis to deal with conflicts between vendors' rights and the need to keep the city orderly, and called for quick legislation regarding urban management.

Shen and Ji Jing have decided to demand civil compensation from Xia's family. They want 650,000 yuan in total, which was decreed in the verdict.

Shen said that when he misses his son, he takes a look at the documents the boy collected over his life, from his army acceptance notice and Party school diploma, to his excellent chengguan award and blood donation card, which are packed in a bag that he always takes along with him.

His son's ash is still waiting at the Huilonggang Graveyard in Shenyang. He wants to hold off on the burial until the title of martyr is granted to his son, something the local authorities promised to do four years ago.