by Becky Davis Have a taste of Chinese rule of law at Beijing US embassy explosion site!
Scene 1: A bystander (woman wears flower print shirt at far right) kindly decided to share images and video – apparently passed to her by a friend – with a scrum of journalists via WeChat. The internet enables journalism/sharing! Er, sort of. Images of the bloodied ground (aftermath) come through on WeChat but not her video material despite multiple tries – already a bit fishy. I turn my back for second and next thing I knew the poor woman has been dragged across the street away from the journalists by plainclothes men o.O
Scene 2: I chase them. “Take her into the hotel,” green shirt guy says. “Why do you have to take this woman away?” I ask. No answer “Get out of here quick. Dad’s waiting for you at home,” green shirt guy says, forcibly grabbing her.
Scene 3: The abduction. “Why? What has she done wrong?” I ask. “This is a family matter!” says green shirt. It gets loud but I basically stuck my head in the car so could hear her loud and clear: “I do not know that man. I didn’t do anything! I was just a bystander!”
Scene 4: The verdict I love this. Sorry it’s upside down. “Can I ask if that woman did anything wrong? Do u know what happened to her?” I ask. “I’m sorry, I’m enforcing the law,” says cop, scuttling away like an awkward teen at a school dance (LOL) Ohhh that’s what you’re doing.
Cop 2 also doesn’t know why she was taken.
Cop 3: “It’s not convenient now for us to do interviews. We don’t know. Please leave – there are too many people here.”
Later as I was leaving, ran into Cop 1. “What media do you work for? Where are you from?” he asked, increasingly aggressive. When I wouldn’t say he said: “I have control over your visa!” China’s go-to in the field these days: threatening expulsion for critical coverage.
Having a plainclothes pose as a relative seems common. Saw this scene near Houhai in May en route to a friend’s bday. Man helping shuttle her into van told me he was her bf. Bystanders said she’d talked back at cops for chasing away a busker, and asked them to let him keep singing.
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