Murder of Chen Shijun

On the night of June 14, 2021, Chen Shijun, a 23-year-old female college student, was raped and stabbed to death in a grove of trees alongside Shiji Avenue in the Yinzhou District of Ningbo, China. In the early hours of June 15, police arrested Shadeed Abdulmateen, an American citizen working as an English teacher at Ningbo University of Technology, where Chen also studied. Abdulmateen told police the killing was the result of a "relationship dispute" between him and the victim.

The case became officially known in China as the "June 14 Foreign-Related Criminal Case" and generated widespread discussion on Chinese social media, including a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment and debate over whether foreigners in China receive lenient treatment for crimes — a concept referred to online as "super-national treatment." The public urged authorities not to show leniency toward Abdulmateen on account of his nationality.

According to background circulated after the incident, Abdulmateen was born in the 1960s in Los Angeles and held an associate degree in human resources from the University of Phoenix. He had previously worked as a salesman of mobile phones and communication equipment before coming to China. He had been married to a Chinese woman, with whom he had a son, but was divorced before the killing. Screenshots reportedly showed Abdulmateen's employment contract had expired in 2019 and that Lily Liu, director of the International Exchange College at Ningbo University of Technology, had insisted he remain employed. Following the killing, the university faced accusations of enabling misconduct by foreign teachers, and an article previously published by Liu characterizing certain foreign-teacher conduct toward students as "cultural difference" rather than sexual harassment drew renewed scrutiny.

In the aftermath, Chen's family said the university refused to let them retrieve her belongings, citing concerns about "bad influence for the school," and family members were stopped by both the school and police when they attempted to visit on June 18. The university was also accused of removing family members' posts about the case from Sina Weibo, and other related posts and videos were removed from Chinese platforms. Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin publicly urged that public discussion avoid focusing on the suspect's nationality and skin color, warning it could cause international backlash.

The homicide investigation was completed and referred to the Ningbo People's Procuratorate on July 23, 2021. On August 20, 2021, prosecutors filed an indictment against Abdulmateen with the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court for intentional homicide, stating the evidence was sufficient to hold him accountable. A hearing took place on November 25, 2021, at which both prosecution and defense presented evidence, an interpreter was provided for the defendant, and officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai attended; the court adjourned without an immediate verdict. On April 21, 2022, the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court found Abdulmateen guilty of intentional murder, ruling that the killing was premeditated and motivated by revenge against Chen, and sentenced him to death.