Peng Tang's Not Guilty Plea Still Leaves Many Questions Unresolved

The court administrator turned away visitors who arrived in ones and twos to the arraignment —at least a half dozen—including three young Asian men.

“You here for Tang?” she asked, from behind her desk outside the court room.

“Yes,” they hesitantly answered.

“There’s nothing to see here,” she let them know, “it’s just paperwork.”

So Peng Tang’s , submitted by his lawyer, did not match the strange drama of the preceding days. The awaited event at the Johnson County Courthouse turned out to be nothing more than a documented confirmation with Tang, 21, of Iowa City not even in attendance.

With many questions about the case still unanswered, there weren't the revelations that some were hoping for.

When a woman called Iowa City police on March 30 and in her own home at the Seville Apartments on West Benton Avenue, the after effects rippled throughout the local Chinese community in Iowa City and beyond. Some of this was expressed in rumors that swirled through the Internet and on campus; while others were concerned about the safety for women, Chinese or otherwise, who might be vulnerable to a similar situation.

The alleged victim reported to the Iowa City police the day after the attack. According to the police report, Peng Tang is accused of going to the victim’s apartment and allegedly assaulting her after seeing an ad for a sublease she posted on the Chinese social network Renren.

The website Renren is often called the “Facebook” of mainland China. Therefore some Chinese students who spoke with Patch for this story speculated that both the victim and attackers are likely from mainland China, and that they connected through that service, rather than connecting through an anonymous listing service like Craigslist.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Denise Brotherton said nationality usually doesn’t matter in the consideration of safety. But in this case, Tang is accused of taking advantage of his nationality to earn the trust from another Chinese person. Chinese students, who have come to study in Iowa City , have begun increasingly to rely on each other as they make arrangements in town.

“They [Chinese students] do need that community and this guy took advantage of it, that guy’s a predator, it doesn’t matter what his nationality is,” Brotherton said.

She also suggested that a general safety rule to follow for all female students is to not show apartments to potential male renters while alone.

Peng Tang's status as a potential Chinese national living in Iowa City still remains unclear. Although Tang has been living in off-campus apartments, according to the University of Iowa Registrar's Office he only registered as a University of Iowa student for two semesters-- fall 2009 and spring 2010.

“If so, I’m amazed,” said Han Xuyang, a third year Chinese undergraduate who spoke to Patch for the story,  “according to our visa, this should be an unusual thing.”

Chinese students interviewed for this story shared different opinions on the incident, as rumors spread on the Internet and among Chinese students on campus. For example, rumors to the effect that Tang’s parents wanted to use money to bribe the woman their son allegedly assaulted spread between Chinese students early last week. It was only later that reports surfaced in the media that his parents for this very thing.

Some students also expressed worry about their safety.

"I'm concerned with the off-campus apartment security. I can open the building door with my quarters," said Menghua Jia, a freshman double major in business and art at the University of Iowa.

For those who are worried about safety, the Department of International Students and Scholars provides safety information during each year’s orientation. Usually they invite members of the university police to tell students about American laws and how to watch out for their own personal safety.

Assistant Provost of International Programs Doug Lee could not recall a similar incident to Tang's alleged sexual assault throughout his tenure with the university starting in 2001.

Lee said there is no specific orientation provided to Chinese students, but as the Chinese population has increased the interest in these programs has grown along with it.

“They’re not geared to a specific community,” Lee said about orientation of new members of Iowa City’s Chinese population. But, he says “we’ve been aware that the numbers (of Chinese students attending) of late have been growing.”
 
Tang is being held in the Johnson County Jail on $750,000 bond and has been place on immigration hold by the Immigration and Naturalization department, meaning he could be deported to China if found guilty after he serves his full sentence.

According to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, if Tang is found guilty it is still possible that he will be allowed to return to China, as long as the U.S. Justice Department agrees to let Tang serve his sentence in a Chinese prison.

Guannan Huang also contributed to this report.