Beat Up Now, Apologize Later

There's a story coming out of Sichuan that the police there are apologizing after they severely beat up a teacher they thought resembled a fugitive they were looking for even though other teachers and students tried to stop the assault.

Yu Hui was getting out of a taxi and about to enter an awards ceremony recognizing him as an outstanding teacher in Shehong county on Tuesday when he was assaulted. He is suffering from bleeding in his skull and is being treated in a local hospital.

Teachers and students, incensed by what happened to Yu, took to the streets demanding an explanation from the county government. A Shehong county police spokesperson said Thursday the beating was a misunderstanding because the suspect "looked kind of similar" to the teacher. Yu fled the police because he thought they were robbers. The seven policemen have been suspended pending further investigation.

A teacher at the school said the county's public security chief who is also the deputy county chief, came to the school and apologized, bowing three times on Thursday.

"He admitted the police were at fault and vowed to punish the wrongdoers severely and take care of all necessary medical costs and compensation," he said.

"We basically accepted their apology. After all, the incident had already happened, so there is not much we can do now. But we asked to send at least four of our teachers and students to be part of their investigating team to monitor their progress. We need to make sure all evidence collected is genuine."

More than 100 students and teachers at Shehong Middle School were at a farmhouse restaurant for the awards ceremony. Yu was attacked as he stepped out of the taxi.

State media give this account of what happened: "Yu and police officers clashed after Yu was mistaken as a fugitive", but photos online show Yu was the innocent one as the policemen were unharmed and Yu was the one covered in blood and bruises.

The teacher explained Yu's side of the events: "A plain-clothes officer tapped his shoulder and said: 'Brother, there's something I need to talk to you about.' But Yu thought he was a robber so he ran and the next thing he knew was that he was severely beaten by seven policemen. He was screaming for his life and I've heard the beating lasted for about 30 minutes. Some teachers heard his screaming and rushed to help."

The entire school was upset about the attack, as Yu had worked there his entire teaching career after graduating from university and was an outstanding language teacher and class teacher.

"We understand Yu is now being treated by a team of specialists and his situation is basically stable, but he's suffering from minor internal bleeding in his skull," the teacher continued. "His doctor told us Yu shouldn't be suffering from long term injury."

This incident clearly illustrates the heavy-handed nature of the police on the mainland, where they don't mind beating up people first then apologizing later. What's more shocking is how they beat him up so horribly when physically detaining him would have been enough.  It's also interesting the county public security chief is also the deputy county chief, as he is literally accumulating his power to the wrong effect.

Hopefully Yu will recover though he will have tremendous psychological trauma to deal with in overcoming his fear of the police or even just groups of men. The students are also losing out on having one of their top teachers in school -- all because some police officers wanted to act tough.

Ad Campaign That's Out of This World

Galaxy Macau opens May 15 and it wants the world to know about it

Hey folks! Galaxy Macau is opening on May 15! We've got the world's largest rooftop wave pool complete with sand, 50 restaurants to choose from, more than 2,000 rooms combined at Banyan Tree Macau, Hotel Okura Macau and Galaxy Hotel, oh yes and of course casinos!

Hong Kong clearly got the message from Wednesday when the entire MTR station at Tsim Sha Tsui was completely plastered in Galaxy Macau advertisements. That's nearly 10,000 square metres, making it the largest metro station-wide advertising campaign in China, of not the world, boasts Amy Chan, managing director at JCDecaux Transport Hong Kong, the sole agent for advertising in the six Hong Kong MTR train lines.

The one-month blitz includes exterior billboards, wrap-around graphics on pillars, stickers on the floor and platform screen doors, posters and graphics on the wall and ceiling. Talk about covering all bases.

Tsim Sha Tsui station was chosen as most mainlanders frequent the area for shopping and dining, as well as international tourists.

Galaxy Macau refused to divulge how much it spent on this lavish advertising campaign, only to say it was included in the HK$15.5 billion ($2 billion) total investment in the casino resort.

"We wanted to make a significant impact on the marketplace and get our message across to the 2.7 million passengers who pass through that station everyday," said Peter Caveny, head of investor relations at Galaxy Entertainment Group.

He hints there will be more Galaxy promotions to come, including wrap-around advertising on buses and taxis, print media advertising, commercials and ads on internet portals.

Looks like there's no limit to what Galaxy Macau will do to get the word out that it's opening -- it's been delayed many times -- which probably makes it even more anxious to prove it really will open its doors next Saturday.

Heads Up for Ai Weiwei

The 12 animal zodiac heads re-interpreted by Ai Weiwei

In New York on Wednesday Mayor Michael Bloomberg officially unveiled "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads", a series of bronze heads of animals in the Chinese zodiac that are reminiscent of the ones in the old Summer Palace before it was plundered by Western forces in 1860.

Ai Weiwei was supposed to be at the opening, but is still detained somewhere in China since April 3. And so the ceremony turned into a public call for China to release the artist cum human rights activist.

Bloomberg called Ai's detention "very disturbing".

"This is a message from America to the whole world that we are the place where people can come and express themselves," he said. "China would be well served to listen to our message and to copy us."

The mayor continued, saying "freedom is our competitive advantage" and called free expression "the most valuable of all New York City's riches".

"The more a city embraces diversity and tolerates dissent, the strong it becomes," Bloomberg added. "And there is no place on earth that gives freer rein to more voices and viewpoints than New York City."

During the ceremony dozens of artists and cultural leaders including artist and director Julian Schnabel took turns reading Ai's writings and interviews.

It's quite appropriate for Ai's exhibition to start in New York, where he lived from 1983 to 1993 and studied at Parsons, the New School for Design. The show continues on to Houston, Los Angeles, Pittsburg and Washington.

While the Chinese consulate in New York made no comment about the event, one wonders how or if Bloomberg the news outlet will be impacted by Beijing after its owner publicly called for Ai's release.

Bloomberg the mayor didn't seem to worry about repercussions if any. "If you start setting your beliefs on what's important to your pocket, you're not going to be a very happy person, nor is society going to benefit," he said.

Perhaps the Chinese government should heed Bloomberg's warning -- with the widening gap between the rich and the poor there aren't many happy people there...

Smashing Preconceptions

An article in the Japan Times says more than 150 mainland Chinese reporters went to Sendai to report on the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 and the experience ended any prejudice they had towards the Japanese.

 

Many Chinese still hold grudges against the Japanese for what happened during the Sino-Japanese war and in particular the Nanking massacre in 1937. The Chinese government likes to trot out these anniversaries not only to fan the flames of patriotism, but also encourage the Chinese, particularly young people to hate the Japanese.

 

One of my ex-colleagues in Beijing who is in her late 30s, well traveled and educated, told me she specifically avoided buying a Japanese car after what the Japanese did to her family.

 

These prejudices are further enforced in textbooks and in schools, so the hatred towards the Japanese is fully ingrained by the time young Chinese become adults.

 

However, for this handful of young Chinese, their perceptions have been changed forever.

 

In the Japan Times story, the reporters were particularly impressed by the orderly and patient behaviour of the survivors and the relative transparency of the information that was given. In the end many said they felt greater respect towards the Japanese.

 

Thirty-eight-year-old Chen Jie, a cameraman from Beijing News admitted he originally felt distrust and resentment towards the Japanese for a long time. But "the prejudice that I felt gradually disappeared while I was there, trying to cover the disaster damage," he said. "In the 14 days I spent on the assignment, I learned much more than I would have done if I read books for 10 years," he added.

 

For Chen, his strongest impression of the Japanese was "the cool and collected" manner of the people in the devastated areas, including the direct survivors in the disaster. He was moved seeing the people wait patiently in line in front of shops and that shop owners didn't raise prices to gouge people, and even family members trying to restrain themselves from crying openly during burials.

 

"I was surprised that I was given priority treatment at a gas station, as I had an emergency pass," he added. Other Chinese reporters made similar observations.

 

The dramatic change in the reporters' long-held beliefs reveals how outdated young Chinese people's perceptions are of Japan and how manipulated they are into believing the Japanese are still their enemy.

 

It is understandable for their parents and grandparents to continue to harbour resentment towards the Japanese for the unspeakable acts that happened to them over 60 years ago, but for today's generation who are living a better life, what right do they have to continue to have such prejudices? Can they not see for themselves what the world is really like?

 

Giving Chinese reporters opportunities to see the world as it really is only makes them realize what kind of country they are living in...