A man wielding a knife smashed a door and was killed in self-defense by a female veteran born in the 1990s: Is it justifiable self-defense?

Self-defense has sparked controversy again, this time in Yongsheng County, Lijiang, Yunnan. On August 26, Cover News exclusively disclosed the case of "a man attacking a door with a knife and being killed in self-defense by a post-90s woman." According to Wang, the village party branch secretary of Zhongzhou Village, Sanchuan Town, Yongsheng County, where both parties involved are located, Tang Xue is a female veteran. As he understands, there was no conflict between the two parties before the incident.

Secretary Wang stated that the victim, Li Mouxiang, was also only in his early twenties, not much older than Tang Xue. Currently, neither family had anyone left in the village. "Both families are migrant workers. Tang Xue is a former soldier," Secretary Wang said. During the Spring Festival, both had returned home. Before this incident, he had not heard of any conflicts between them.

(唐雪)

Unlike the "Kunshan Counter-Kill Case," where public opinion overwhelmingly leaned toward "self-defense," there are clearly two different voices online regarding whether this case constitutes self-defense or excessive defense:

　　Those who believe it is self-defense:

Those who believe it is excessive defense:

　　Lawyer's interpretation:A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated that according to Article 20 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the following five elements must all be met for an act to constitute self-defense:

1. It must be carried out to protect the state, public interests, or the personal, property, and other rights of oneself or others from unlawful infringement.

2. There must be an occurrence of unlawful infringement.

3. The unlawful infringement must be ongoing.

4. It must be directed against the person committing the unlawful infringement.

5. It must not clearly exceed the necessary limit and cause major harm.

6. Therefore, general defense has a limit requirement; exceeding the limit constitutes excessive defense and requires criminal liability. The limit condition stipulated in criminal law is "clearly exceeding the necessary limit and causing major harm." During the defense process,[1] Major harm refers to consequences such as causing the death or serious injury of the unlawful infringer.[2] Causing minor injuries or less does not constitute major harm.

　　[3] Clearly exceeding the necessary limit means that, based on a comprehensive assessment of the nature of the protected right, the intensity and urgency of the unlawful infringement, the defensive measures lack necessity, and there is a significant disparity between the intensity of the defense and the degree of infringement.

[4] In judicial practice, determining major harm is relatively straightforward, but assessing whether the necessary limit has been clearly exceeded is more complex. This should be judged comprehensively based on factors such as the nature, means, intensity, and degree of harm of the unlawful infringement, as well as the nature, means, intensity, timing, and environment of the defensive act.

[5] In this case, the dispute over whether it was justifiable defense or excessive defense arises because many people overlooked several critical turning points in the course of events.

[6] Those who believe it was justifiable defense see the sequence of events as: Li Mouxiang came to the door with a knife → Tang Xue counterattacked, stabbed him, and caused his death.The full sequence of events is: Li Mouxiang came to the door with a knife → Li Mouxiang's knife was taken away → Li Mouxiang fought barehanded while Tang Xue held a red knife, both grappling → Tang Xue was at a disadvantage → Tang Xue switched to a black knife, stabbed him, and caused his death.

In this case, from Tang Xue's perspective, although Li Mouxiang had the upper hand in the fight, the actions Li Mouxiang took at the time were only general barehanded combat.

Therefore, the author believes that, considering the intensity of Li Mouxiang's barehanded fight and the urgency of the harm caused, Tang Xue's defensive act of stabbing Li Mouxiang with a knife clearly exceeded the necessary limits, with a significant disparity between the intensity of the defense and the degree of the infringement, making her act one of excessive defense.