Yang Xin

Who is Yang Xin?

Yang Xin is a famous Chinese actress and Beijing restaurateur who was a victim of police brutality in 2007.

Yang started her acting career early in 1995 and rose to fame by playing major supporting and leading roles in several Chinese TV series and films.

A native of Shandong, Yang moved to the capital Beijing with her devout Christian family and started her Shandong seafood family restaurant while continuing her career in the film industry.

In April, 2007, two local off duty policemen and their relatives clashed with a waitress at her Beijing restaurant, located in the Huilongguan district over their liquor tab, and lashed out at all of the Yang family members present with senseless violence. Yang's brother and husband, who were only in defensive positions, were severely beaten; leading to permanent injuries and disability. The actress was also bruised; her restaurant's windows were smashed by the agitators and eventually closed down due to the enormous costs of repair.

The Yang Xin case is particularly notorious not only because of its high profile victim, but because of subsequent effort by the entire Beijing Capital Police apparatus to cover up and to lay blame on the victims. Yang Xin's brother, Yang Yue was accused of violent attack on the police even though the leading agitators, Changping District policemen Zhang Haiyang and Ran Guangzhi were off-duty and were breaking the police code that prohibited drunk and rowdy behaviors, and even though Yang Yue and Yang Xin's husband, successful businessman Li Yi, did not attack first and were in passive positions throughout the event. Also, Yang Xin's brother and husband sustained critical, permanent injuries while none of the policemen or their relatives had anything more than minor scratches. The Beijing Capital Police filed a police warrant against Yang Yue, a disabled man who hid from the public for a short period, and eventually detained the man as he was traveling with Yang Xin's husband.