Tan Qindong incident
| The Tan Qindong–Hongmao Medical Liquor Reputation Damage Case | |
|---|---|
| Location | Guangzhou, Guangdong Province; Liangcheng County, Inner Mongolia |
| Inquiries | Local police of Liangshan county |
| Accused | Tan Qindong |
| Charges | Allegedly damaging the company’s reputation and product image (Article 221 - a legal offence in mainland China) |
| Convictions | Hongmao company withdrew the lawsuit |
The Tan Qindong incident refers to an event on January 10, 2018, in which Tan Qindong (譚秦東), a physician based in Guangzhou, was cross-provincial detained by local police from Liangcheng County, Inner Mongolia, after he published an online post criticizing Hongmao Medicinal Liquor（鴻茅藥酒）company as "toxic".[1][2][3]
Background
In recent years preceding this incident, local police have frequently detained critics of major local companies across provinces, which has been referred to as "abuse of police power" or "police acting as personal servants of businesses".[4] Against this background, the case has attracted public attention.
Tan Qindong is a Chinese physician born in Weinan, Shaanxi. He holds a master's degree in anesthesiology and is a licensed physician in China. He has worked in hospitals and has also served as medical affairs specialist and consultant for pharmaceutical companies. In 2015, he founded a medical technology company.[5][6]、
Article 221 of the Chinese criminal code is a rarely-used provision that criminalizes claims that could seriously damage a business’s reputation[7].
Incident
In December 2017, Tan Qindong, a physician based in Guangzhou, published an online post criticizing Hongmao Medicinal Liquor, a tonic containing over 60 traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients (in his post titled “China’s Divine Wine ‘Hongmao Medicinal Liquor’, a poison from heaven”[note 1]).[8] The advertisement for the product claimed it could "boost kidney and stomach functions" and "cure 100 diseases," including bone aches and common colds.[9]
After the post, local police from Liangcheng County accused Tan of causing refund losses of approximately 800,000 yuan and severely damaging the company's reputation. They also obtained his registered ID number and phone number from the platform.[10]
According to his lawyer, Tan was initially taken from his residence in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou on 10 January 2018 and transported to Shenzhen and then Beijing, before being held in a local detention facility by train and car, accompanied by three police officers and a company executive.[7][11][12] Local police requested his detention on 18 January, and the request was approved by the local procuratorate on 25 January, after which he was placed in a detention center.[4]
Dr. Tan reportly has experienced psychological distress and suicidal ideation during the detention. Dr. Tan was released on bail after prosecutors found insufficient evidence, though the case remains open and possible compensation may follow if charges are dropped[7].
Comment
An article in Guangming Daily said that “Freedom of speech and the right to exercise oversight are fundamental rights granted to citizens by the Constitution” to this incident[7].
Wang Yong, a professor of commercial law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing said that “This is a fairly typical instance of the public security authorities intervening in a civil dispute; it’s an overreach of power” in an interview[7].
Notes
- ↑ 《中国神酒“鸿毛（"毛" is a typo）药酒”，来自天堂的毒药》
References
- ↑ 内蒙古自治区人民检察院 (April 17, 2018). "内蒙古自治区人民检察院关于"谭秦东损害鸿茅药酒商品声誉案"的情况通报". Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ↑ "鸿毛药酒是天堂毒药？ 一篇网文引发的跨省抓捕". 新华网. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "人民日报：跨省抓医生 鸿茅药酒底气何在". 腾讯新闻. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
- 1 2 "发帖称"鸿毛药酒是毒药"，医生被跨省抓捕！警方回应…" (in Simplified Chinese). 新浪网，来源：大洋网-广州日报. April 15, 2018. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "医生发文指鸿茅药酒是"毒药" 案件移送审查起诉". 新京报. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- ↑ "【紫牛调查】广州医生质疑鸿茅药酒被逮捕,律师:若被起诉将做无罪辩护". 扬子晚报网. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "For Faulting a Chinese Tonic, He Got 3 Months in Jail. Then Cheers. (Published 2018)". April 19, 2018. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ↑ "广州医生因发"鸿茅药酒"网帖被跨省抓捕". 人民网. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "Doctor tells of harrowing arrest after calling popular tonic 'harmful' in blog - People's Daily Online". en.people.cn. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
- ↑ 梁宙 (April 13, 2018). "医生指鸿毛药酒是毒药被捕 是否构成损害商品声誉罪?". 责任编辑：郭一晨 SF160 (in Simplified Chinese). 新浪网. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "鸿茅药酒有人跟警方跨省抓捕医生？凉城警方回应" (in Simplified Chinese). 凤凰网，来源：澎湃新闻网. April 15, 2018. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "广州医生因发"鸿茅药酒"网帖被跨省抓捕". 人民网. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.