Chinese Corruption Whistleblower Slashed and Blinded by Acid and Knives

A whistleblower in Guangdong Province was attacked on July 9 by three men with knives and sulfuric acid and blinded in one eye.

The 47-year-old truck driver Li Jianxi had conducted online research on potentially corrupt officials which may have instigated the violence.

Li was driving his six-year-old son downtown when another car struck from the rear. When Li got out of the car to investigate, he was ambushed from behind by men who tossed acid on his back and stabbed at him with knives.

Li was unable to get away because he couldn’t abandon his son, he later told the Southern Metropolis Daily, a Guangzhou Province daily newspaper. Li suffered burns that caused permanent damage to his eye and several fingers.

Through the Internet, Li had found links between communist officials and businessmen and continued to research in his spare time, Li’s wife, Li Guiqiong, told the Southern Daily. Li had posted “dozens of online exposes,” according to the Shanghai Daily, on corrupt officials and other societal problems.

Men reportedly threw a brick through Li’s daughter window in March which evidently did not discourage Li from his activities.