Do China's criminal courts recognize women's right to defend themselves against their abusive husbands?

Two recent news articles have reported about women who have killed their physically abusive husbands.

1. Domestic violence leads to the tragic murder of a husband, the murderer is captured after 12 years of hiding（家庭暴力引发杀夫惨剧 凶手潜逃隐居12年后落网)
2. Zhongxiang woman, unable to bear domestic violence, kills husband in his sleep（钟祥一妇女不堪家庭暴力 趁丈夫睡觉之机将其杀死）

Unfortunately, both articles provide only scant detail regarding the criminal prosecution of the women. While the articles accept the fact that the women were physically abused by their husbands, there is no discussion as to whether the women can defend against the criminal charges based on self-defense. Nor do the articles tell us the ultimate judgments in the cases.

My cursory Internet searches have not uncovered any documented cases where a woman has been acquitted of homicide or assault charges on self-defense grounds. This much is clear: Women are being criminally prosecuted for killing their abusive husbands. The question is whether the legal system recognizes their right to defend themselves.

The first of the above-listed articles does not provide much hope that the woman, Xia Fang (a pseudonym), will be treated with sympathy. The article suggests that Xia Fang could have solved her problems by simply divorcing her husband. This proposed solution ignores persisting difficulties involved with obtaining a divorce in China. Moreover, even if Xia Fang successfully divorced her husband, she would still be vulnerable to continued harassment, stalking, and violence.

Unfortunately, the misconception that divorce is a panacea to domestic violence appears to be a popular view. In the Law Forum on the Tianya Community website, a woman asks: "My husband sometimes hits me. I'm no match for him. I have to prepare a tool. The next time he hits me, I will stab him. If I'm not careful and injure or kill him, will I have committed a crime?" （我老公有时打我，我打不过他。我得准备工具，下次他再打我我就捅他。如果我不慎把他捅伤了捅死了我是犯法吗？） The answer: "Yes. You can divorce."（算！你可以离婚）