People need to relax - Drugs are bad, m'kay?

No doubt the 3 of you who read my blog have heard about the incident in Sanlitun on Friday night (Sept. 21).  If you haven’t, read the following articles:

• Beijing Boyce:  Sanlitun smackdown targets blacks
• Africabeat: Beijing: Chinese police beat up Africans
• Reuters: Beijing police raid busy bar district for drugs
• Zhongnanhai Blog: Black men are rounded up and beaten in Sanlitun drug sting

Particularly, the Africabeat article has eyewitness quotes such as:

• “I think a lot of [foreigners] tonight were left questioning their decision to live here.”
• “I have not really ever seen anything so brutal,” my friend told me.  “There was blood all over the street. I will not sleep well for a long time.”
• This is not the first “roundup” of “drug dealers” of its kind in Sanlitun, but was apparently more brutal than usual.

I like this quote in the Zhongnanhai blog:

• The ambassador mentioned in the article that his son was beaten for no reason. He ended up spending the night in hospital.

Um, obviously he was beaten for a reason.  He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the police had orders.  There, that’s your reason… My favorite quote is the first one above where the person is questioning their decision to live in Beijing.  Well, um, I’m certainly not questioning my decision to live here simply from this incident.  If anything, it solidifies my decision to live here.  One less questionable person is better for everyone’s safety.  I’ve certainly seen these drug dealers many times and have been approached with “hey man…” or “sup?".  But I ignore and move on.  But I often question why the authorities are allowing, or turning the blind eye, to this kind of garbage. It’s one thing to have this kind of stuff going on in the back alleys where you need to know someone who knows someone who knows the password to get into a basement apartment… but this is happening right on the streets in front of legit establishments in the heart of sanlitun.  One of the comments in one of the above linked articles labeled Sanlitun as “seedy”. It is certainly getting that way and it’s a shame. While I may not agree totally with the tactics of the authorities (racial profiling), something had to be done and this is simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here’s some advice to anyone who is worried about something like this happening to them, regardless of their skin color:

1. Don’t hang out in previously-known shady areas
2. Don’t loiter with shady looking fellows
3. Don’t look guilty
4. Oh, and if the Chinese authorities come running after you with long sticks, DON’T RUN!  Idiots…

There, simple as that.  If you’re not guilty, you’re not guilty.  It’s true that generally speaking, the Chinese authorities leave us foreigners alone to our own devices.  Just don’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and you’ll be left alone. Oh, and, until we see actual photos or videos of the incident, any “first-hand eye-witness” accounts are total B.S.   Everyone has their own agenda influencing what they say. Take it all with a grain of salt.