By China Media Project - In February 2022, the story of a woman kept in chains in the city of Xuzhou came to dominate public opinion. The level of attention paid to the story of “the chained woman” (铁链女) surpassed even that paid to celebrity Chinese American freestyle skier Eileen Gu (谷爱凌), the three-time gold medalist for China who was the subject of widespread praise from many Chinese but also faced uncomfortable questions over her nationality. So many questions swirled around the case of “the chained woman” that official responses offered by government officials at the county, city and provincial levels in Jiangsu province did little to quell speculation and discussion.