Interview: Grace Before Meals post-rocking Shanghai
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Around Shanghai: No more airplane temperature checks, but we're getting a Wall St. Bull and Linkin Park!
The Guardian reports that in Shenzhen, police paraded a bunch of prostitutes and johns in public:
As part of a two-month crackdown on vice in the booming city of Shenzhen, public security officers handcuffed about 100 women and some of their male customers, dressed them in bright yellow prison tunics and hauled them through the streets.
Using Baidu's new blog search engine we found some more information on this matter, including an open letter to the National People's Congress from Shanghai lawyer Yao Jianguo who says that such actions not only show no respect for individual dignity but are unlawful in themselves -- there were laws passed in the 1980s that made the Cultural Revolution era parading of counterrevolutionaries a thing of the past.
Speaking of the Cultural Revolution, notice that in the above link (which is in Chinese), among the Chinese characters are the Roman characters "WENGE" and "RENQUAN." WENGE=文革＝Cultural Revolution and RENQUAN=人权＝human rights. We gather, at least from our own experience, that these are not written in Chinese because you cannot post those words on a blog. Several months ago, when we tried posting the characters for Communist Party in a blog post it told us that we could not publish the post and that our I.P. address was being recorded. Shanghaiist couldn't believe his eyes and promptly fled to Happy Donuts, the best donut shop in Palo Alto, California, where we could lose ourselves in an anonymous crowd of free wi-fi users. Lawyer Yao is calling for the NPC to take a clear stand on the issue and make a public declaration in that regard. He also feels that there needs to be more legislation to prevent such things from happening ever again. It is sobering, to us, to think about the fact that this happened in Shenzhen -- sure, we know what goes on in that city, but you'd think that one of the most affluent areas in China which is so closely linked to Hong Kong, would have been beyond resorting to such measures.
The video above is from a Hong Kong news broadcast. We don't understand Cantonese, and the subtitles are not that clear, but the video is pretty self-explanatory. One thing we noticed is that not only were these people paraded, at one point the police read out their names, birth dates, and their crimes. We found that video here and there are some more, but it seems most of them are duplicates.
Image from here.
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I'm lost for words. Imagine the ordeal those women and men endured before, during and after that shocking display of this country's complete disregard for human rights.
I'm sure the local party bosses, their friends and "golden birds" all had big laughs while watching this spectacle on their plasma tvs.
All that was missing was the dunce caps.
Prostitution EVERYWHERE and used by MANY in China.
So they decide to 'shame' the prostitutes who had previously not been told they were doing wrong.
Such a very backwards country. This is like being in the stocks with tomatoes thrown at you 400 years ago.
If Shanghaiist is going to condemn the police and authorities for shaming these people, perhaps it should consider not running the photo and link to Youtube. A story would have been sufficient.
Not for most people.
Reporting a story means displaying all the facts, not just writing about it.
just like the Christmas parade, lots of repetitious bright uniforms and big audience, kids everywhere. I wonder how the police were dealing with the cheering / general support after each name was read out. Probably better to just cheer once at the end, otherwise the event tends to drag on a bit.
i don't see anything wrong about this, it shows the government is determined in forbidding prostitute business. Prostitute industry is illegal in China, illegal means if somebody has done that, they are guilty, and they will receive punishment according to the law, otherwise only encourage more people in.
American come here and are shocked about this, and then simply classify it as a mistreatment of human rights, well, maybe sexual business is legal in America, but i don't think the American government will treat the people who are guilty rightly. I see enough documentaries about American soldiers asulting other folks. And I don't see they really respect human rights.
Actually, its not at all legal in America. This film could very well be you! Which is why its important to stand up against these human rights abuses. Its not the same as if it were people having been found guilty of robbery, or even assault. Sex work is very stigmatised everywhere all over the world, and these people could have very well lost their families and all social support by now. Above all, the women, as women are forgiven for much less than men.
This is an interesting article I read on Danwei a week or so ago...
http://www.danwei.org/tv/learning_about_america_from_pr.php
In the story, the author comments on the contrasting view of criminals/prisoners as a part of society in the US & criminals/prisoners as non-citizens in China.
Worth a read.
Forris
the government is not determined to forbid prostitution--at least not in Shanghai, where many streets have "barber shops" where there are many girls in short skirts that don't know how to cut hair but are nonetheless skilled with their hands.
the government also sentenced the internet porn king guy, who ran a couple of smut sites, to LIFE IN PRISON. The guy is 28 years old--is that fair? There are people running karaoke businesses and hotels all over China that are in the real prostitution business, whereas this guy was just in the "virtual" prostitution business, if you want to call it that. The point is not the intentions--but the method. No doubt you know that this is the logic of 杀一儆百 which is not exactly the impartial ideal of justice that a modern state goes for.
The whole bit about the Americans not respecting human rights is the typical Chinese arguments. All you have said about the US not caring about the human rights of Iraqis and Afghanistanis does a great disservice to every American voice of dissent, because our defeat at the hands of the Bush administration means, to you, that we don't exist. Governments are one thing, people are another--the people who care about human rights are those who, in general, subscribe to the basic premise of the current human rights regime--that these values are universal.
I think that this is not even close to a "human rights violations" as the liberal media wants to put it. Postitution should be illegal in all forms. China doesn't want it's country to become a "White Man's Paradise" like Thailand/Philippines. where you can just run around raping children and women. In the long run this will protect girls and children from exploitation.
Also they did parade men, not just the women. so the feminazi crap won't fly. paedophiles and sexual assault criminals should recieve the harshes punishments possible in all circumstances. men or women.
Chindian, comparing this with pedophilia is a complete distraction from the actual issue.
For one thing, the women are victims (you implied so yourself) if anything and should not be paraded around like they are. This has nothing to do with the legality or illegality of prostitution and everything to do with how the government has dealt with it. If you're worried about the girls being exploited, why shame them across television and the internet? Is that not a form of exploitation?
If the government wanted to stop prostitution, it would be more successful, for one thing, if it were to start actually busting up the brothels working out of massage parlors, hair salons, and hotels in cities across China. It would also benefit from reform programs for these women and support networks.
And it has nothing at all to do with pedophilia. About as much as your so-called "liberal media" does.
Ah, Chindian sensed that someone might possibly be saying something bad about China and couldn't have it.
And yes, all white men run around Thailand being paedos. (no paedophilia in china's history)
The point is that this behaviour of allowing prostitution EVERYWHERE in China (almost literally every street) and then parading people about, is the typical hypocritical contradiction in china.
If prostitution "should be illegal in all forms" then you must be really angry at your incompetent government which allows all forms everywhere.
"China doesn't want it's country to become a "White Man's Paradise"" -- Too late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The USA isn't the center of the universe. Just because there are countries that have different laws and practices does not mean they are wrong.
well, tell me mao, which chinese law allow the government force these poor people to parade. This freak show is degrading of the law and human rights. you just dont understand law and dignity and you have no sympathy