April 22, 2008
Attack on an American volunteer by anti-Carrefour mob in Zhuzhou, Hunan: UPDATED
READ THIS: Volunteer in China: "I was not in fact attacked by a mob"
Editor's note: This post has been updated. Details after the jump.
Here's an email we received from a volunteer teacher from an Ivy League university volunteer programme in Hunan Province (who shall remain unnamed to protect the identities of everyone involved) — a chilling account of an attack on his colleague by an anti-Carrefour mob in Zhuzhou. The matter has been brought to the attention of the US Embassy in Beijing and should serve as a warning to all Caucasian readers, particularly those living in second-tier cities, to avoid large crowd gatherings at all costs during these crazy, crazy times. Our foreign correspondent friends in Shanghai and Beijing have been receiving death threats on their mobile phones and through their faxes, but clearly, this is something else:
Last night [Editor's note: Sunday, Apr 20] around 7pm my friend was attacked by a mob of about 150 people outside the Carrefour in Zhuzhou, Hunan (near his placement site). When leaving Carrefour some of the crowd started shouting at him and he tried to say he didn't have anything to do with the Olympics, but 3 men started to push him and then he was hit in the back of the head at least 3 times. He started to run, and the mob chased him. He jumped into a cab, but the mob surrounded the car and started shaking and rocking it. The cab driver was shouting at him to get out. Then they started hitting the car. The crowd was shouting "kill him! kill the Frenchman." He called the Field Director while in the back of the car. The cab driver abandon the car when he saw police coming. Two police made there way though the mob and managed to drive the cab away. The Field Director alerted [a certain public official]. The police got him another cab and he took it from Zhuzhou to the field director's home in Changsha. He spending the night here in Changsha and is likely leaving China as soon as possible.[My colleague] is only 22, an American (not French), and a volunteer teacher. He graduated from [university] less than 10 months ago. If he can be attacked anyone can be. The situation in central china is becoming much worse very quickly. He has been cut up pretty badly by the glass and the people trying to grab him.
I didn't think the situation and protests were anything to worry about before now, but if the mob had gotten him outside of the cab he could have easily been killed.
Foreigners need to be more aware that this is a real danger and MUCH more careful around the protests here in central china.
Im also sending this letter to the embassy.
People need to be more much careful.
The following letter was sent by the Field Director of the programme, to all their volunteers in China:
Dear Volunteers,It goes without saying that right now is a very sensitive time in China. I wrote to you last week to avoid talking about the three 'T's' and other controversial topics in China now.
By now, you've probably all heard about what happened last night, but before I go into details, I'm going to tell you TO AVOID PROTESTS AND PLACES WHERE PROTESTS ARE BEING HELD. This is extremely important for your own personal safety. I spoke with the US Embassy in Beijing this morning, and the officer that I spoke with told me that there have been cases in the past of protesters in China targeting innocent foreign bystanders. Despite what you may or may not think, just by going to Carrefour, you're making a statement to say that you don't agree with the protesters, and they can very well take that to mean that you don't agree with China. From here on out, there is no need to put yourself into this situation. Also, if you feel that you want to go ahead and become involved in protests of a political nature, keep in mind that you're directly violating the Conditions of Participation that you signed at the beginning of the year, specifically by getting involved in political events. We'll call you all individually, so if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. We're just trying to make sure that everyone is and feels safe and that people are not put into avoidable situations.
Last night, a Zhuzhou volunteer walked into Carrefour despite the fact that there was a sizable protest going on outside. This volunteer chose not to become verbally or physically involved in the protest, but like I said before, choosing to shop at Carrefour while protests are going on is making a statement in and of itself. When the volunteer finished shopping and tried to leave the store, the protesters did not let him leave at first and a mob mentality quickly ensued. The volunteer was forced to run through the crowd to safety while a couple people threw punches at him and others were chanting and verbally threatening him. The volunteer managed to jump into a taxi and close the door, but the mob surrounded the taxi, trying to break in, tip the taxi over, and smash the windows. The police were finally able to get the volunteer to a safe place and the situation was settled, for the time being.
This situation is no joke at all. The volunteer told me that he felt extremely unsafe, and he even feared for his life at points. When I spoke with the US Embassy about this (which I suggest everyone sign up for, http://beijing.usembassy-china.org.cn/ipr.html), they said that this incident was the first violent one in recent news involving an American citizen. However, they said that they didn't know if it would be the last and that they urged me to talk with you all about how important it is to avoid Carrefour and protests. [Another colleague] also gave the same advice. From here on out, there is no reason that any of you should be going to Carrefour or be involved in any sort of protests. If you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, or if you see a large group of protesters and mobs of people, avoid the situation entirely. Also, please keep close communication with your fellow volunteers, so that in case you come across a place that you feel is not safe, let others know about it so they can avoid it.
Once again, [we] will call every one of you individually and talk about this more. Please be respectful of our advice, and try not to put yourself into a potentially dangerous situation.
Take care
Editor's Note: Above picture is of Carrefour in Hefei (from ESWN) and not from Carrefour Zhuzhou. All names and references to the organisation in question have been removed to protect all involved.
UPDATE: The volunteer teacher who informed us of the above incident has just sent us another email, clarifying that the email he originally sent us was written at 3am, only a few hours after the incident happened, and thus "factually inaccurate in many ways". Here's more:
One i know of is the line "The situation in central china is becoming much worse very quickly. He has been cut up pretty badly by the glass and the people trying to grab him."i did not see his injuries myself and it was only from a secondary source and while his hands were cut and bruised, it does not seem nearly as bad as my email to the consul indicated. regardless the situation is still important.
My concern is that the factual inaccuracies may reflect poorly on the validity of the event itself, and i should have spoken more generally, as is the tone of the description in the later official bulletin.
We think the whole incident is no less shocking, and our original word of caution to readers still stands: Stay away from large crowd gatherings.
UPDATE 2: Oiwan Lam of Global Voices Online directs us to this thread on a BBS:
关于昨晚家乐福发生的冲突
CONCERNING YESTERDAY'S CLASH AT CARREFOUR请问有在现场的人出来说说吗？ 那中学生应该没事吧？
比较担心那老外， 他被几百人K了后还能起床吗？
Was anyone there live at the incident to tell us what happened? Is the middle school student alright? I am more concerned for the laowai. After being attacked by several hundred people, can he still get out of bed?网友最新回复：昨天被打的外国人是我们学校的外教别个是美国的,周末到家乐福买东西,结果被打得上不了课了.今天的课全改自习了.作孽呢?他平时蛮好的一个人很活泼,估计以后都不敢来中国教书了.呵呵.多讲道理,少动手.今天接教育局通知:所有学生都被戒严了,不允许出校门,要家长来接才可以哦.
Response from Netizen 1: Yesterday the foreigner who was attacked was a foreign teacher from the US who works at our school. He was buying something at Carrefour, but ended up getting beaten so badly he was unable to teach today. All our classes today were changed to self-revision. He is a nice guy and normally quite active. I guess he will never dare come to teach in China again. Hehe. Talk more reason and use less brute force. Today, the Ministry of Education imposed a curfew on all students. Students now can't leave school unless their parents come pick them up.网友回复：这名外教叫[****].美国人,在[*****]任教,教初一年级.现在已经回到长沙的保护区了.你可以打听一下初一年级的学生,他们的课都自习了.大家都知道.
Response from Netizen 2: The name of this teacher is [removed to protect his identity], from the US, and teaching Secondary 1 students at the [school which shall remain unnamed for now]. You can ask all the Sec 1 students, now all their classes have been changed to self-revision. Everyone knows that.
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yes! yes! yes! kill the frenchman kill the americanman! kill the foriegn devil man! take them by the neck and break the face. out of my country and stop stealing the china woman! liberate china from western evil fuck boy!
Do Chinese people realize if they keep this up they're putting their precious Olympics at risk? It's really perverse--push things far enough and maybe there will be a large-scale boycotting of the Olympics and a worldwide anti-China backlash. The way these people are behaving, it's almost like they *want* that to happen...would that be a satisfying outcome?
This is an example of very poor reporting just due to the fact that this is absolutely not a picture off the Zhuzhou Carrefour or the crowd that was involved in the stated incident. I recommend people take some responsibility with their reporting and not capitalize on shock value or reader's impressionability. This in no way reflects my opinions regarding the incident or the situation facing China and its foreigners. It's a comment regarding our responsibility to shed light on the facts of such situations, not to add bias which is continuing to demoralize media on both sides.
The government's usual tactic in dealing with these kinds of protest: fan the flames of nationalist feeling at home to make a point to the international community, next try and ride the wave as it builds into something tsunmai-like, and finally panic when things get out of hand and they realize the mob could turn on them.
One wonders if the whole cycle is intentional, the govt's way of slyly proving to the world and it's more restless citizens that, hey, see, the Chinese aren't ready for democracy, or more social, press freedoms etc, cos look, they're a bunch of hysterical children who smash up stores and teachers.
Then again, they could just be sh£tting themselves that the mob is one day going to be dragging them from their office and lynching them in the street, i.e. a justifiable use of mob rule!
@ bobo88 -- so where is this photo from then?
This whole thing reminds me of 2002 in USA during the anti-french nonsense regarding the Iraq war. Some thugs went and burned down a laundry place because it was called "French Laundry" (a common name). The thugs were too stupid to realize it wasn't French owned. Actually, it was owned by Chinese immigrants, how's that for irony?
I felt their anger because i am also a chinese.
But no matters what, it is not right to hurt the innoucent ! i hope the forigner guy is okay.
Alcoca
Can you shut the FUCK UP ! You are so fucken annoying !
And stop your stupid fucken racist insults.
One world, one dream!
PLEASE IGNORE TOMMYLEE2
BY ENGAGING HIM, YOU ONLY ENCOURAGE HIM.
calliper
I am simply requesting him to stop racist insulting.
What the fuck is wrong with that ?
Explain !
look, this is why the government need tighter control of the press and such. one need to bear in mind that china is a developing country with millions of uneducated population. for those ppl, they are easily misled and used by the west ugly agenda.
the west agenda is far more beyond average chinese.
Anger vs anger only escalates. thats what calipers is trying to say. Unfortunately on an online site, all addressing idiots achieves is it draws more attention to the idiotic posts and sometimes emboldens them to post more. If you are a reasonable individual, don't let them pull you under. Its just not worth it.
Dan Wash
Oh man..you are turning off all my fav topics !!
I am scrificing my time here to educating this bunch of racist scum, in return, you are getting the audience, hence, the hit rates, therefore the revenue from the advertisment.
agenda is kill the china! all china must bow to west? never not again! china can say no! glorious party told china to say no 1996 the time! now china say no to you and you and you fuck.
Wow. Dugg.
Alcoac-You are so bogus, definiyely not from China. Do you cop a woodie when you write this crap? I bet you do... Dirty words are a big turn on for a juvenile.
You hit it right on the nose WBDVD. I wont be surprised if this gets attention in the US media, and it doesnt look good that mobs of Chinese are attacking people, during a protest or not, because they are white. This sort of thing will have huge repercussions on China, Olympics aside.
little me, "the below average looking female spiece"
This is not right to attack the forigner isn't it ! i agreed and hope the injured person is well recovered.
It has not escalated here in GZ yet. But, have been getting lectures from taxi drivers about how bad the French and Carrefour are...
Behavioral Contagion is an ugly thing. Crowds behaving badly as one when emotions run high.
It appears that the he protesters have become what they came to complain about, aye?
Looks like the Chinese cannot attack the morality of the French anymore, without of course being complete hypocrites. How is this not worse than the guy trying to tear the torch away from jin jing? She may have been in a wheelchair, but by the sounds of it, if the mob got its way this poor guy would be in a wheelchair, or even a coffin, by the time they had their way with him.
If you're keeping score what are the totals right now please...
Yes, the guy that got attacked is to be sympathized... and the mob should be evacuated...
But I think there is something to say here, of course, the poor guy has his human right to go shopping, and say,
hey i am just trying to get some shampoo, no offense to Chinese people!!!
but he should have known that he was taking risk to do the whole thing at this time and place.
You can say, "hey I dont like gay people", you dont do it in a GAY parade;
You can say, "hey I think we should teach Sadam a lesson", but dont do in a anti-War protest
So please dont condemn the Chinese for this inccidence. He put himself on the risk!!!
"So please dont condemn the Chinese for this inccidence. He put himself on the risk!!!"
You know, I heard something very similar when I had my laptop stolen from a long distance bus (Linyi to Yantai). I was told that the person shouldn't have stolen the laptop, but it was my fault for bringing it with me. This was echoed by the Chinese teachers I worked with when I got back. I was also asked "How could you be so careless?" and "You should take better care of your things."
So, from my understanding. You buy a ticket, get on a bus, take some caffeine pills and wrap your arms around your things because you have no idea when someone is going to rip you off. Same situation for this guy, it appears.
He should have shopped at the Japanese owned Mykal or DaShang, they aren't being protested ... despite telling the Chinese Olympic Committee that their blue track-suited guards will not be allowed in Japan and the torches starting place pulling out because they don't want the protests and they are openly supporting the D.L. and the people out West.
or
Maybe he should have shopped at the American owned Wal-Mart, they aren't being protested ... despite that the American owned CNN is one of the most hated western news media outlets in China now and Wal-Mart is the definition of American big business.
For the good of public safety, it's quite obvious that municipal governments should start designating "No Foreigner Zones". After all, it's THEIR fault if they wander into them!
Sorry, need to make one correction to my last post. I typed that DaShang is Japanese owned in mistake. I meant to type JustCo in it's place. My bad.
Sure you can find extreme groups like of white supremists in any country that would behave this way, but in China -- it's the common folk? Well, they have SOME NERVE being offended by the CNN commentor then.
"but he should have known that he was taking risk to do the whole thing at this time and place.
You can say, "hey I dont like gay people", you dont do it in a GAY parade;
So please dont condemn the Chinese for this inccidence. He put himself on the risk!!!"
So, wouldnt you say that Jing was "taking a risk" when she carried the torch during the paris rally, where it was known well in advance that there would be huge anti-china protests? And yet when someone tried to take the torch away from her, an entire country bonded together and started condemning everything French. Can you seriously not see the hypocrisy in that?
Dorothy finally realized that she's not in Kansas anymore.
"Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men..."
Nationalism like this is inevitable when a country is criticised from outside. However, it also inspires questions...
winterfalling
If I were you i would give that poor gal "littleme" a break !
She did not and is not having a very good life and might see the world differently as compared to a normal human being.
she is basically a sad persion with full of hatreds towards everything not only chinese !!
I've spent sometime finding these out, you can
read my findings from this link.
http://shanghaiist.com/2008/04/20/buy_your_own_i_love_tibet_tshirt.php
Hey People , the reasonable ones of course
I am a chinese and here are how i see it
a)what the chinese people did as reported on this articale is wrong! they should not attacking the innoucent!
b)what the protestors did to the wheelchair girl at france during the torch rally is wrong. No matter for whatever reasons, they should not pushing the handicapped gal.
some chinese commenting on a) is not fair, it is not right blaming the victem, here the injured forigner for his careless wondering around the area, instead condeming the anger chinese protestors for their stupid act for attacking the innoucent !
being a rational person this is how i see it, but i am seeing some double standard being applied here by quite alot of you when applying to the case of a chinese handicapped girl being attacked at france during a torch rally.
there are so many ppls here gave no sorrow for the poor gal "Jin Jing" but instead they critising the chinese gov't, the chinese olyimpic rally body guard, and supporting the Tibet movement.
This type of DOUBLE STANDARD thinking should account for a major force of the hatred between the WEST and EAST.
The rational bunch, give it a deep think through please !
Reminds me what my people made with Jews, also known as Night of the Broken Glass, happened in 1938
I don't like the french either (Hey, I'm German^^) but what happens right now is totally wrong.
Where is the armed police then? Or does Beijing like what the mob is doing? Can't understand them...
zideshow
I am surprised there isn't any police but again there can't have police covering everywhere.
I do have some doubt about the factual of this incident! I am not saying there won't be, but for this made, looks like to me is a made up.
From the protesting at the other throughout china, the poice oftenly condem the protestors and alot of the activist being arrested by the undercover police. it is clear that the chinese government does not want to see the movement carry on expanding.
But, surprise surprise, the chinese gov. made every effort to carry shitloads of police to tibet, in order to be everywhere!
Sad time for china, glad to be home during this period... Who knows what happens next...
It is time to seriously consider my plan for the PERMANENT DECONSTRUCTION OF CHINA!
The first subject to deal with is China's non-conventional arsenal. Well, the answer is simpler than you think. China is bordered by two nuclear powers, Russia and India. It would not be impossible for these two countries to divide China's fixed, mobile and submarine nuclear missiles and secure them within their own borders. The Russians have a far more advanced missile system and far greater numbers of warheads, the Indians would benefit from an increase in warheads and possibly make some technical improvements to their arsenal, but the balance of nuclear power would be maintained and no new nuclear powers would be created. Other neighbors such as central Asian nations, S. Korea and Japan as well as the UN would be invited as official observers and to provide additional security.
Next, what to do about China's conventional military forces? Well, there would be new countries formed from the remains of China, and those with coastal exposure (which would constitute the majority of what is left of China) would have the option of keeping a fairly divided number of naval assets. New countries that did not have coastal exposure would receive a portion of equally divided air and land military assets. Territories that would be returned to their rightful governments (think: "Inner Mongolia") would have the option of taking said military assets or selling them.
We'll get back to the orderly breakup of the newly independent states.
Now in the midst of this restructuring of Asia lies a wild card: the ex-patriot population.
Some came to China because of their job (and the subsequent lifestyle of a minor diety), some came for the cultural experience, some to chase girls and drink, some came to put "China" on their resume and some are wanted for some fairly serious crimes back home.
The expat population has come to have an impact, both good and bad, on the local population where they live, especially in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Well, in order to facilitate a proper reconstruction the influence of this population will have to be removed. Asia and the international community simply cannot allow crimminals, perverts, substance abusers and self-serving demigods to influence the new governments or the newly liberated society.
Now, internationally recognized aid groups and the media will certainly have their place as objective observers AND facilitators for the new liberated press in each new nation. However, those who are not part of this group (executives, teachers, entrepreneurs, lounge-abouts) WERE in China doing business and/or working with/for China, which no longer exists. To best benefit the new nations and respect their individual sovereignty, all of those parties associated with commerce and education will have to leave and return to the new countries and negotiate new contracts and licenses. There should be no carryovers or special arrangements made. The large populations of each country (representing potential customers and workers) as well as each country's need for developmental assistance will ensure their return. Former citizens of China with foreign spouses and their children will be provided with legal entry into their foreign spouses' home country as political refugees.
Companies that were formerly within China should be associated with their corporate headquarters to determine whether they are foreign in domestic in each new country. The foreign or domestic status of China SOEs will also fall within these guidelines. Formerly Chinese private companies and SOEs with assets outside of their new countries will have to negotiate with the hosting country(ies) regarding the sale of those assets or maintaining them as a foreign entity.
Regarding fugitives, other nations who suspect that someone of interest was residing in China will be given full access to "sweep" individuals from these new countries and from existing countries that have absorbed territories from what was known as China. These properly authorized and diplomatically recognized representatives will only need to provide an official arrest warrant and matching passport information to confirm the identification of the suspects. Any issues of dual citizenship/dual arrest warrants will need to be settled at the diplomatic level between the two relevant nations. The Reconstruction Authority (consisting of the US and the neighbors of the country formerly known as China as well as invited observers and monitors).
Territorial division will be the thorniest issue, however, the Reconstruction Authority can look back at history as well as relying on current political, cultural and economic boundaries for guidelines. Special exception will be given to areas of the former China that are environmental unsustainable. Residents of these areas will be given the opportunity to emigrate as environmental refugees to nations that will accept them or to remain on their homelands and fend for themselves. The world and these people need to recognize that the world cannot and should not expend valuable resources supporting people who choose to live in wastelands that lack sufficient food and water.
The Hui people of Ningxia and Gansu provinces come to mind.
I see the rest of the partitioning occuring along the following lines:
Xinjiang is officially recognized as E. Turkestan and can be recognized as an independent nation or enter into reunification
Inner Mongolia is returned to Mongolia.
Tibet is liberated.
Taiwan is welcomed back into the UN, Fujian province, being culturally related to Taiwan is allowed to enter into unification negotiations with Taipei.
Hong Kong and Macau would be allowed to decide their own fate as independent city states, forming a "supercity" or entering into negotiations with mainland provinces.
The remaining provinces and metropolitan areas (such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chongqing) would be allowed to negotiate their own political arrangements, with conventional military and other former PRC assets divided among them equally (with the exception of naval assets for nations without coastlines).
All new nations would have to accept democratic governments, with the Aligned Asian Democracies providing guidance and consultation. These new nations would have to sign non-aggression pacts to politically recognize that there is no "mandate of heaven" to forcefully unite all of them as in the past.
To give these new nations a financial boost, the foreign debt formerly held by China would be divided up according to each new nation's population. Likewise, the newly reunited Mongolia, Tibet and any country that united with E. Turkestan would also receive a percentage of China's former debt in proportional to the repatriated population.
@winterfalling
My friend, please don't blame the guy for thinking that your peaceful-garden-variety-Chinese-protest won't magically turn into an angry-mob-out-to-cause-bodily-injury-to-perceived-Frenchmen.
Maybe he just believed in the level-headedness of the Chinese. Naive? I don't know.
Actually, I think you can. Although I doubt if the gays would mob you and, erm, screw you. They'll probably just throw your way some invectives.
My friend, you do realize that your post implies that Chinese demonstrations are inherently volatile and dangerous events, and that foreigners should assume that such "demonstrations" can ultimately cause them bodily harm, or maybe even death. Stretching it a bit further, you might as well say that foreigners should assume that Chinese persons are a dangerous bunch especially when found in groups. I don't think anyone would want to believe this. Everyone would prefer to believe in the inherent good in people no matter how naive it sounds. So please don't tell us that the person put himself at risk. After all, like you said, he was just buying some shampoo.
zideshow
"But, surprise surprise, the chinese gov. made every effort to carry shitloads of police to tibet, in order to be everywhere!
Sad time for china, glad to be home during this period... Who knows what happens next...
"
now your claim is being unfair, tell me how should i answer you ?
From the Tibet footage, we saw alot of innoucent passingby got attack by the riots ! I saw a passingby knock down by a fly kick of a riot...that scence fucken scares me !!
if you ask me if that scense/footage is real as it was reported by chinese media. i think this one is.
let me try find it and upload it here
I have to correct an inaccurate statement by Michael Michael above - there were no "Anti-French" riots in the United States. Not one. The French Laundry is a very famous, very expensive Napa Valley restaurant in California (where I live). It was not attacked, burned or threatened in any way. The biggest problem with French Laundry is getting a reservation and affording the bill at the end of the night.
"You did it too!" is not the best argument in any case, but particularly when it does not relate to reality.
there u go some clip about the tibet
http://news.oeeee.com/a/20080324/529668.html
i only watched the first few mins !
not sure if the high kick footage is there !