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Excessive Force or Racism by Beijing Police?A hazy picture of a police round-up of black people in Beijing's Sanlitun is emerging today. The full details are not fully known, but foreigners are starting to wonder if this fits into a pre-existing prejudice against black people by some Chinese. For those who have lived in China it is pretty clear that a fair amount of racism exists. Locals frequently throw unpleasant remarks awkwardly into conversations, but ignorant words and actions are quite different matters. This weekend there were allegations that Beijing police beat up numerous dark-skinned people in city’s Sanlitun area and I am curious as to whether this reflects a broader trend in society, or if it was simply a drug sweep carried out by poorly-trained officers. More on this story later in the post, but first, let me relate a conversation I had with one of China’s famously chatty drivers the day after the round-up occurred. After chatting about various topics for a while, he suddenly announced that he really likes foreigners—except black people. He informed me “黑人太坏”(black people are really bad). I gave my normal answer to this: there are good black people and bad black people just like with Chinese, white people, and everyone else. (It should tell you something that I have to have a stock answer for this statement in China.) My cab driver actually seemed to like this answer a lot. He laughed and kept repeating that I was absolutely right, emphatically saying “中国有好的，又有坏的” (there are both good and bad people in China). Despite the fact that Chinese people frequently make offensive statements about black people, they also often criticize the US for its history of race problems. For some reason the contradiction between these ideas is lost on them. However, while it is awful to hear people making offensive statements, I have been fortunate enough never to have heard of outright racist actions in China (aside from anti-Japanese riots, which arguably fall into a different category). Until yesterday that is. There were several reports that Chinese paramilitary police targeted people with dark skin on the Sanlitun bar street Beijing in the late hours Friday night. The most comprehensive (but not necessarily most reliable) source was a blog claiming the police targeted black people in the area where Africans can frequently be seen dealing drugs. This initial account quoted a witness who said, “I have not really ever seen anything so brutal…There was blood all over the street.” The full story can be found here, although the site appears to be blocked in China. Reuters has done a more thorough investigation and was not able substantiate that the police were indiscriminate, instead finding conflicting accounts: "Some Africans entered the vans peacefully but others tried to flee and the police used force," added Wang, who works on the street frequented by young foreigners. Other witnesses said the troops targeted anyone on the street with dark skin. It is hard to say if this event on Sanlitun is a reflection of a bias against black people that is more widespread in society, or simply a poorly executed effort to rid the area of drug dealers who have become relatively ubiquitous. Perhaps the truth falls somewhere in the middle. Incidentally, if anyone happened to be on the street that night and witnessed the events first-hand, your comments would be greatly appreciated. The rumor going around is that anyone with cameras or cell phones, uh, don't have them anymore. [update: while we're discussing racism, ironically a Chinese sculptor was chosen to make a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.]
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Posted On September 24th, 2007 by Josh 
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excessive force or racism?
The SCMP has a more thorough report on Friday night's incident if you have a log in...
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253...
SMCP
For those of us without subscriptions, can you tell us what additional information was including.
Thanks for the help.
SCMP text
The SCMP text can be found here:
chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?p=123177
Can't read it
That link brings me to a page that says I do not permission to read
SMCP content
According to zhongnanhaiblog.com this is part of the SMCP article (I cannot independently verify if this has been quoted correctly:
_____
Dozens of black tourists and expatriates, including the son of the Grenadian ambassador, were arrested and some badly beaten during an apparently indiscriminate anti-drug operation by Beijing police.
About 30 men, mostly African or Caribbean, were detained as dozens of baton-wielding security guards and uniformed police swept through Beijing's nightlife district, Sanlitun.
Students, tourists and the ambassador's son Joslyn Whiteman Jnr were among those wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and hauled to a nearby police station."
*****
"It was pretty brutal," Beijing-based magazine editor Alex Reid said.
"I saw a man being beaten by six guys in camouflage. He was covered in blood. The police seemed to be targeting anyone who was black."
Thabo Lieket, a 24-year-old student from Lesotho, was among those arrested and later released without charge. He thought the police assumed he was dealing in drugs because he was black, he said.
"They were rounding up all the black people; it was pretty frightening," he said. "I was walking with some friends past one of the bars when I was grabbed by some of the guys in camouflage. They dragged us all to the police station, where we were put in the same cell."
_____
Typical Chinese if you ask
Typical Chinese if you ask me. I have rarely met a Chinese person (in China) who thinks anything less than "Black people are bad". If I had $1 for every time I heard that...!
The cops just finally had their chance to do what they always wanted to do, beat up black guys.
So much for "one world one dream" China is finally being exposed for the racist nation it is.
Too prevalent
Yup, definitely a lot of racism against black people in China. Strange, Josh, that I wrote an article about Racism in China today as well, didn't know this had happened, though.
Stereotypical Racism
If you are black you sell drugs.. No matter what type of operation they wanted to put in place they when about it in the wrong way. If one makes a sweeping generalization that its the BLACKS that are selling the drugs, "so we are going to round up the BLACKS" its discrimination and against the International Humanitarian laws of the Geneva convention.Firstly the police should have pick up all suspicious guys regardless of color or origin and done a simple on site search.
secondly Identification should have been requested by the police because it is against the law in any country to touch a diplomat or his child they all have diplomatic immunities I urge that young man and his father to take legal action. What was done what illegal.
How could that amount of force been appropriate, the Chinese law states that only the amount necessary force enough to subdue the suspect NO MORE.
How can china want to be the world leaders with this public display of racism.It doesn't matter how much there economy grows or how cheap you can buy products there is a human aspect to life that they must adhered to.I hope this situation is not swept under the rug. God forbids this ever occurs in this fashion again. The Olympics are quickly approaching this is not the kind of precedent that want to be setting because soon enough they will be exposed on the intentional scene.
I am black and I am proud although I am not from Africa and I appear to be more of a mixed origin I still get the racism sometimes but I must admit I have it a bit easer but many times I have been passed by taxi cab drivers and they go 5 feet down the road and pick up someone white. Life still goes on . Keep your head up , stand up and speak out lets put an end to racism especially in china because most of in is out of there own ignorance. Before Chinese look down on black they should take a look in the mirror.
International PM 242
Wow
Jut hearing about this now, but not too surprised. I have absolutely had it up to here with the incredibly ignorant garbage about black people that spews out of the mouths of even supposedly-educated people in China, which is compounded, as noted, by their harping on American racism like the whole country is the south fifty years ago. (One cited "case" that sticks in my mind was the story of "John Smith," a black man beaten to death in New York for not carrying is "hei ren zheng." Okay, guy.)
I hope this story catches on, because frankly, the more desperate the government gets to cover up Chinese society's shortcomings with this "harmonious society" crap, the more I get off on seeing China embarrass itself. Oh, I know, an apparent human rights violation should also be condemned and all that, but I never said I'm not petty.
MLK Statue
Regarding the story of a Chinese sculptor being chosen to do the MLK Jr. statue, there was a bit of controversy in the US over this. Some complained that this would be an "insult" to the memory of Martin Luther King, in some ways a reference to a string of reports recently in the US over poorly made Chinese goods. The Chinese sculptor, when asked about the controversy, seemed hurt and could not understand why there would be opposition to him doing the job because he's Chinese. He seemed to feel that such an opposition violated the spirit of what MLK stood for.
Re: MLK
My understanding was that it was not specifically anti-Chinese, but rather people thought an African-American should have been chosen. It doesn't seem to have much to do with lead in toys, but then again, Americans draw odd conclusions sometimes.
witness
I witnessed the majority of the raid, and upon my attempts to film it on my phone, was apprehended by police. My phone was violently taken from me and I was led to the police station where i was instructed to delete any offensive material. Upon doing so I was released. I am adverse to the sale of drugs and support the governments attempts to clean up the streets in preparation for the Olympic Games, however Friday nights exhibition by Chinese police was both brutal and racist.
Why?!?!
Anonymous says:
Why is it that when black people are assaulted, every cries "racism." But when blacks attack others, no one seems to care.
I hope you can see the difference between a private gang assault on an individual and an organized government assault on a specific group.
your ignorance lets us all know you the tyrpe of person you are
Its not about Black if it was all whites, Latinos, who ever we would have been enraged.. You should read the piece written by international pm 242 that person could illuminate your darkness ...i don't know who you are but open your mind. I hate drugs and I hate what happens when drug dealers try to push drugs... I have been approached and it makes me sick. But the government's approach sickened me even more. I am a international law major take if from me those guys have a good case in the UN humanitarian bureau.. A parachute works better when it is open so will your mind. by the way I am white IV league transfer student from the US with a dad that works in a fortunate 500 company. if I can see it then damn........
I do think it's funny, poor surpressed blacks have it so bad
The only people who have ever approached me to sell drugs in 4 years in china are black.
I've seen many blacks try to cheat and jerk around taxi drivers, a technique i've seen done by nigerians in europe also.
most chinese complain to me they do not like the way blacks smell, due to diet or not bathing, though chinese dont bath so often, they also do not sweat.
Last time I was in kfc a black man sat down and smelled so bad, I had to leave
this is not racism, these are just facts. you want to be treated well in a country you should all act like ambassadors, this includes the chinese that lie and cheat also.
reputations get around, sometime they are well deserved and sometimes not. But don't stick your head in the sand and protest when you know the real truth.
Like the song says, don't tell me sh!t smells like roses!
There is evil in the world
So much evil in our world but it doesnt means that evil is the one controlling the world now.Instead it is`nt and that is why we hear mostly evil things everyday when we turn on the news.When things like this happen what i see is leaders without enough knowledge about the outside world.Really this is a big error.I will like u to follow me in thinking the situation i have in my own country were chinese immigrants sell even what had been left to the most poorest families to sell,e.g,rappen papers,boiled peanuts,puff puff and beans(this is the food most people eat in the morning and in the evening,because it is the cheapest and it is a third world country).I am not speaking out of rumors but facts.i have seen them right in my city market and i talked to them in chinese because before i stayed in china.Furthermore,it is also becoming a clear fact that most of our businesses are closing due to the coming of thier chinese cheaper and mostly fake counterparts.But still nobody talks,what we ignorantly do is packing our bags to come and hussel in China and then we are beaten by the police.After some time we go back to our country and still meet this Chinese people sitting on the floors of our market selling wrappen papers,next to his african counterparts.What do we do?Nothing?This could go on,u hear chinese people have been kidnapped,for a ransom,what the kinappers say most is always left out of the news apart from the fact that they are asking for 1 million dollars which is what most people want to hear because they were kidnaped in Africa,this goes on to synthesizes anger and hate towards blacks back in China.Some chinese locals in some way try to through it on any black skin person he sees around.So it goes on and on,round and round,and could eventually escalate into a major conflict,just because those in power were not aware of the seeds they planted.What thier own people are doing in our countries they dont even know,because our governments are week and desperate for chinese investments.Thanks.
I lived in china for 2
I lived in china for 2 years, and i couldnt tell you how many times i had been approached by an African asking me if i wanted some drugs. If you want drugs in Beijing go look for an African. Also China has a dark past when it comes to drugs, it almost destroyed the country. So given the history and the complete lack of respect the African people have to the Chinese country (ive seen it first hand), i can understand why the police did what they did. Also im not going to try to curry favor to all the Hippies out there by showing any sympathy to some criminal with a boo boo. You break a law in another peoples country expect some discipline.
If you wallow with the pigs...
I'm certainly not going to condone police brutality or racism, but there really is a very easy way to avoid getting into that kind of situation - don't go to the places that are known for its shady character! When was the last time you heard police in any country carry out a raid of this kind in a clean-cut neighborhood? Whenever you play in the mud, you take your chance that you're going to get muddy.
Can only assume
Guess you've never been to Beijing. The area where the beat-down happened was a reasonably upscale western hang-out with a number of nice bars and restaurants.
The fact that you'd blame the victims is sad. If it looks and talks like a racist...
Its funny how easy it is
Its funny how easy it is label someone a racist now a days, when all that person is doing is telling it how it is. Also the person who wrote this article seems to be jumping to any conclusion to give this article some substance. Just because there are some people in China who have a negative view towards Africans doesn't mean that those views are what motivated the police to do what they did. For all we know the Africans are the racists, maybe they saw the Chinese police as weak, stupid, and inferior. Possibly causing them to resist the demands of the police so the police did what they had to do. This whole racism thing seems as though its a tool used by those with an agenda or by someone who wants to discredit those with a view that oppose their own.
Blacks in China
Why are there Blacks in China? Who gives them jobs? What is the purpose of Blacks in China? Are they allowed into China because the are to become Chinese citizens? Business men with buisness ties back in the USA or Africa and China needs their expertize? Are they married to a Chinese woman and just like China? Are they out to Change China by inpregnating Chinese women and take over a sector of Chinas society?
If all I hear is that they came to sell drugs, then the question is where do they get the drug from? If they get them from Chinese drug dealers then the Government should go after those people and starve out the Black dealers then they might go back to Africa or get deported for their crimes. It all gets back to allowing criminals to operate freely.
With the Olimpic coming next year it can turn into a bonanza for drug dealers.That would bring China into the 21st century along with every other country now infested with drugs and drug dealers.
China Clean it up before you loose your people to the scurge of the world.
Violent against yellow
Anonymous,
I'm gonna take a precious time to answer your lame questions,cos when turds are ignorant to stuffs,they tend kinda curious in a pathetic way... "why are there blacks in china"? It's pretty simple as why are yellows buzzing all over europe,slurping adam's apple.
"who gives them job?" Can't imagine your gullible self, Black's a race,not an individual on your space
"what is the purpose of blacks in china" It's crystal clear that you're so full of your sick twisted world,need a spank to your head to let you understand "globalization" in its sense
"are they allowed into china to become a chinese citizen?"
A country of 52 ethnic groups,millions of citizens still live on a cent per day..do the math,you moron!
"Are they married to chinese woman and just like china"
I'm starting to get the feeling that you just a deranged middle school student filled with filthy hate,and yes they get married to open-minded out-of-the-box kinda chinese lady,check the register,chump!
And lastly,why would a whole sorta race fly into an overpopulated country to deal dope and haul cracks?? You made a point clear which I agree on that,Black ain't got no pots and pans company to cook cracks,no ships to haul 'em in,so its definitely droping from the sky huh?dont you say?
I dont support no drug dealing negro,I dont stand for 'em but geting a beat down cos of an individual's skin color sounds plain stupid,and only retards moutai-drinkin morons do that. Bust on a street filled with foreigners and start beating up any dark skins,sh** made the front page and they label it "Violent Against Blacks" lol.
When the table turns,It's gon' be Violent against Yellow.
beat it!!
BLACKS IN CHINA
I READ ALL THE WRITEUPS, SOME BAD, SOME GOOD AND SOME JUST STUPID. I AM A EDUCATED BLACK AMERICAN HERE WORKING FOR THE AMERICAN EMBASSY AND A GOD LOVING MAN. I DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE BLACK, WHITE OR PINK, YOU HAVE A WRIGHT TO WALK THE STREETS OF THE WORLD AND NOT HAVE YOUR HEAD KICKED INN. PEOPLE GET A LIFE!!! I GUESS ITS EASY TO ALWAYS HATE SOMEONE ELSE TO MAKE YOUR FUC?UP LIFE BETTER>
I live in Australia and I
I live in Australia and I have sat next to white people on trains who smell bad quite often. However, i don't go around declaring that all white people smell.
don"t worry
Don"t worry about it by the time White America finish selling out America
the chinese will be over here batting them upside there head.
Yellow people
have lived in china beijing for two years and in my view chinese are really funny little people!the majority of them (80%) are clearly not educated,and are the utmost primitive minded creatures i have ever met.In regards to they culture,which is filled with comical fantasies,(visibly seen by the movie "flying daggers" and a million others)they seem to stop growing mentally at the emotional age of 13 (men and women).I find it hard to engage in meaningful conversations with a man from where they believe black is less and white is right(or the otha way round),where they have been stripped naked of their diginity by the minority(actualy i now fully believe that the only way to control such a primitive mass is by total control of everything,because if there was another system the country would be .... ,due to the multitudes of fake leather jacket wearing hermits that think they know it all but actually would find it difficult to locate thier anus),the current government has done well in their perpetual steady growth.I am mostly appalled by the behavior & hygiene standards in china,the hermits spit everywhere.You walk along the street you definetly not short of seeing a stand with the most disgusting looking food (or hermits face) you have ever seen.The chinese literally eat anything that moves (or not move),the chinese are responsible for atleast 70% pirated products in the world too.Now with this in mind and the many other points i have left out,i find it hard for a person from this background to have the audacity to lookdown on my race.Take the speck out your own eye before you attempt to take one out from another mans eye-i believe is jesus' saying- For any of the black people that are thinking of coming to china i'll tell you here and now that it is a waste of time and energy,you will not like it here period.the extent of which the hermits and the educated hermits have taken it is beyond recovery(to the extent of arresting and beating black people on sight-ask questions later typa-style)you will only bring stress upon yourself really.I would recommend visiting rather than long stays,china does have some beautiful spots that are worthwile to visit however if you stay too long you will pick up thier culture and way of thuoght and end up thinking like the locals that perhaps indeed you really are second hand class citizens.When i think of china i always have good memories like my visit to the great wall,my experience dating a local,skiing,cheap clothes gadgets and other products,yanjing pijiu,etc.. but most of these great memories are over-shadowed by the reality of being black and in china.The thoughts of countless racial discrimination i went through,leaves much to be 'disired'..
i am sure the chinese in my country aren't treated this bad,howevevr now that i've been to thier country and treated this way,leaves me with no other thought that when i return home and see one or two of them passing by,Why not?..
Chinese police rarely get
Chinese police rarely get involved with foreigners if they can help it, owing mainly to poor foreign language skills.
Yea, china is a racist
Yea, china is a racist place, but not as bad as Russia. In Russia you can be murdered or attacked for being a 'blackhead'. Scary!!
Ok. Russia and China are racist, but......
The same happens in the USA and Africa. Whites get attacked in the US, and the Chinese living in Africa are being attacked. But nobody really cares.
Yeah, there is still the
Yeah, there is still the factor of people which makes it worse for the black comunity.
There is one guy, his name is Sidibe Yacouba.
He introduces himself as a business man with good relationship to the embassador of Mali.
He has connections to a Group in Great Britain (Offshore Banking from Manchester).
He likes to lend money for investment but finally he disappears somewhere in China without returning the money he "lend".
He is 160 tall and has around 90kg.
He is black person and likes to wear some kind of traditional cloth and a cap, plenty of gold rings on his fingers.
Those kind peolpe will not help to improve relationship.
what goes round comes round
A proud black as i am .Fortunately they are many frogs in my country.Thanks for the brutality in China because our actions will be justify.Before the cheap frog goods ,African and blacks were doing great.Basically nothing has changed or gonna change
Peace
Size matters - Chinese sexual mentality toward blacks
I have been told that Chinese men resent black people because they believe that black men are powerful in sex. They believe that size matters. That is why whenever they see a Chinese girl with a black guy, the are furious. They are of the opinion that the girl likes a black guy for sex reasons. This is really stupid. The size of a man's sexual organ is proportional to his build and height. The color of a man has nothing to do with his sex powers. I have lived in China for some time and have close friends there who are quite frank about this. I wonder when the Chinese men are going to change this stupid mentality.
Twisted minds
There are an alarming number of people who have posted comments here that seem to think that it is right to persecute a group of people simply because they have witnessed similar people form that group committing crimes. Smarten up and change your way of thinking. We should never allow any authority or group to persecute another group of people for any reason. I don't think I should be allowed to rape white women because white South African farmers are raping black women on a weekly basis. And we should not think it is ok for Chinese police/military to batter all black men because they have witnessed other black men committing crimes.
This is a criminal act and should be fully investigated and punished. China is a backward country with a savage mentally in my experience. They are too far behind in my opinion to host any Olympics or to attempt to set any standards for the world.
look at this act for what is was and do not let your thought wander too far on anything else.
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