Slogan Reminds of Racist Incident
I was down in Sanlitun today just behind 3.3 when I noticed a sign I had never seen before. It is right where the reported roundup and beat down of a number of black men took place about six weeks ago. Police (or paramilitary police as was reported) were supposedly trying to crack down on drugs, but they had a foolish way of going about it: singling out anyone black, regardless of any specific suspicions, or lack thereof, and punching many of them repeatedly.
The English (if you can’t read it clearly) says “Severely blow to drug related crimes”. A somewhat more literal translation is “Strictly attack illegal drug activities”, but since they used the characters “打击” (strike/blow/attack), there was really no translation that would have avoided reminding people of the brutal incident.
On a side note, one of the shop keepers saw me pulling down the sign that had gotten flipped up on top of the awning so it could not be read. Thinking I was just an upstanding citizen, and not trying to make it easier for me to take a picture of it, he offered me a cigarette, told his buddy that I was a “hao ren” and gave me a discount. (His buddy asked if other customers were not “hao ren”.)
(Click to enlarge)
Yuefei responds:
Posted: November 14th, 2007 at 10:24 pm →
It’s about time the police cleaned up the drug dealers in Sanlitun. I can’t remember one time where I wasn’t offered dope down there. Perhaps my appearance indicates I would be customer (years breathing Beijing’s polluted air, I look 10 years older and the hair stylists aren’t that good here in China). One would think that with all the PLA in and about Sanlitun, that illicit drug sales would be an impossibility. Not the case. Drugs are offered unscrupulous to all passers by. How is this possible? As much as the cleanup is needed, a beat down or attack is a bit much.
Perhaps this event is meant to send a message. Could this latest crack down be an indication of how they will treat sports dopers @ the Beijing Olympics?
Josh responds:
Posted: November 15th, 2007 at 7:34 am →
If this is their anti-doping strategy I wouldn’t want to be on the Jamaican team. Besides, doesn’t the IOC handle that?
chriswaugh_bj responds:
Posted: November 15th, 2007 at 7:14 pm →
It’s not PLA, but People’s Armed Police around Sanlitun. They’re there to guard the embassies, that’s their job. And what effect would large numbers of PLA have on anything illicit anywhere (except where such illicit activities are a PLA money-making venture, of course)? The PLA’s job is national defence.
And y’know, as pacifist as I am, I wouldn’t mind seeing drugs cheats getting the Sanlitur treatment. Nothing rankles us Kiwis like cheats in sports.
Richard responds:
Posted: November 16th, 2007 at 11:37 am →
OK, for we dummies who haven’t gotten around to learning any Mandarin, what does “hao ren” mean?
Josh responds:
Posted: November 16th, 2007 at 9:41 pm →
Good people/person