BEIJING -- Lawyers of a well-known Chinese general's son accused of taking part in a gang rape are waging a rare, Western-style war of words against his critics in a reflection of the growing perception that public opinion counts.

The airing of accusations surrounding the high-profile criminal case via the Chinese Internet has been all the more unusual because the teenage defendant is a member of one of China's wealthy and privileged families, who usually prefer to bury salacious scandals - if they can.

Li Tianyi, 17, the photogenic, baby-faced son of Li Shuangjiang, 72, a military singer who holds the rank of general, has become the newest target of popular anger over abuses of power by the country's elite.

"At the moment, public opinion is not on Li Tianyi and his family's side," said Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. "China's public mood is this way when some wealthy or powerful people are involved and the opposing side is a weaker victim," he said.

"It's a protest against Chinese society's lack of fairness," Zhan added.

Since news of his detention in the gang rape of a woman at a Beijing hotel emerged in February, pictures of him and his family have been splashed across Chinese media and websites. The case surfaced after the alleged victim told police that some men she had been drinking with at a bar took her to a hotel and took turns raping her.

This week, just days after state media reported that Li and four others have been charged with rape, Li's attorney Chen Shu said in an interview with the official Legal Daily newspaper that his client would plead not guilty, a report that incited a storm of renewed criticism.

The lawyers also circulated a statement online pointing blame at the unnamed Beijing bar for allowing underage teenagers to consume alcohol. "This case happened after a minor and others who were in a bar late at night were persuaded by adult bartenders to drink large quantities of alcohol, and then checked into a hotel," the statement said.

This prompted the victim's lawyer to issue a statement saying that Li's lawyers' comments caused her great "grief and indignation" on top of all she had already been through and that she had also endured threats after the incident. The victim's identity has not been reported.

"The victim was wantonly beaten, insulted, and offended by Li and the others when she was isolated and helpless," the lawyer Tian Canjun said on his blog, accusing Li of threatening the victim to stop her from reporting the case. "The victim lived in great fear and helplessness for two days and nights, afraid to tell anyone."

Many news commentators also criticized the boy's lawyers' statement. "Not a single word in the statement mentioned the failure of the boy's guardians, instead it's the entertainment venue's fault, or the hotel's, and the adult men and women who accompanied him in drinking or persuaded him to drink. The whole thing gives the impression to people that everyone else is guilty, only Li is innocent," said a commentary in the state-run China Youth Daily.

The strategy adopted by Li's lawyers reflects an increasing recognition that public opinion might have the power to indirectly sway some court decisions. Courts are controlled by the Communist Party and verdicts in many cases, particularly high-profile ones, have to be approved by the party's local politics and legal committees.