Husband of 'face-slapping Porsche driver' removed from post

Chongqing police announced on Monday the police officer husband of the face-slapping Porsche driver has been removed from his post for "disciplinary violations" and is now under further investigation.

Tong Xiaohua, head of the Shichuan police station in Yubei district, was suspended from duty on Aug 1 after Chongqing police started an investigation into his Porsche-driving wife, whose video of slapping a man in the street on July 30 went viral.

The video shows the woman, Li Yue, quarrelled with the driver of an SUV who refused to make room for her illegal U-turn; she slapped him in the face and the man slapped her back.

Later, another video which featured her bragging about always speeding, running red lights and avoiding responsibility for traffic violations caused heated online discussion about her background and police connections.

Monday's statement did not say whether the probe of Tong is related to his wife. It also did not mention what disciplinary violations he had committed.

Major media from home and abroad have followed the news and published commentaries to criticize Li's behavior and question her family background.

In response to questions about the couple's background, the investigation team found the couple, both born to rural families in Yubei district, got married in 1998.

Li drives a third-hand red Porsche coupe bought in 2016 with 636,000 yuan ($90,030) and Tong drives a BMW525 Li bought in 2015 with 418,700 yuan.

Li, 44, has been engaged in construction projects and logistics since 1997. Her business partners have no criminal records nor engage in gang activities.

However, there is no company registered under their names and they have no investments in financial products, stocks or funds.

According to Yubei traffic police, Li had 29 traffic offenses since she began to drive the vehicle in March 2016 — including one for running red lights — but no speeding.

She admitted in the inquiry she was bragging about her police connection to feed her vanity.

At present, all traffic police departments use the national traffic management platform and there is a record for the input, editing and cancellation of every piece of information, according to the Yubei police statement.

"The investigation found no editing or cancellation of the records about Li Yue's Porsche car," it said. "We sincerely appreciate the supervision of the media and the public. We will learn a lesson from the case and run the police with strict discipline in order to safeguard public security."