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Racial profiling at Shanghai's Tomorrow Square?

Racial profiling at Shanghai's Tomorrow SquareA guest at Tomorrow Square on People's Square has alerted us to this document entitled "Safety measures for the tenants of Tomorrow Square for the Olympic period" posted in the building. The document starts off quite innocently like this:

Recently, while the security situation has become of great concern both internationally and domestically, anti-China movements have become increasingly bold, with Tibetan and Uyghur separatist groups openly declaring war, proclaiming that they will use violent measures to achieve their purposes. The United Kingdom and the United States have already issued safety warnings to citizens travelling to China. With the 3.14 Tibet Riots, the 3.7 Southern Airlines terrorist act, the 5.5 bus explosion on line 842 in Shanghai, the 7.1 Zhabei police station attack and the appearance of numerous reactionary slogans everywhere, Tomorrow Square needs to tighten up its safety measures since it is a landmark building on People's Square located next to the Municipal Government building. This is to ensure the safety of the building and all its tenants and to prevent any unforeseen circumstances. It is with this in mind that we have established the following "Safety measures for the tenants of Tomorrow Square for the Olympic period" which will be enforced during the Olympic period (July 16th 2008 to October 31st 2008). These measures will be updated in accordance to any extraordinary event occurence or new safety warnings issued by government authorities.

We looked through the rest of the document and found most of the measures to be pretty standard ones like what you should do if you see a suspicious-looking package but the following two did strike us as being unnecessarily, erm, racist:

Whenever anyone that can be identified as "Tibetans", "Xinjiang Uyghurs" and "Qinghai Hualong Hui's" enters the building, please report them to the security department. Security guards will persuade them to leave the building, or follow them till they do so.

During the Olympic period, Tomorrow Square will reduce the number of exits and entrances according to the safety requirements. For now, we have provisionally decided to close the side door next to Starbucks in order to prevent Tibetan street hawkers and unauthorised individuals from entering the building. [Note: The term used to refer to 'unauthorised individuals', "社会闲杂人" could also be understood as "social undesirables" within the context.]

We doubt Tomorrow Square's security department received clearance from their corporate communications department before posting this up. Anyone seen similar "safety measures“ in your building?

Original document put up in Tomorrow Square.
Above: Photo of Tomorrow Square from It's Tony

Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]

  • oktay

    Tomorrow Square should bar nanheyangrouchuan for his inherent smell, unless he takes a bath in the Talas River



    http://www.sohbetmuhabbet.org

  • Execan

    Tomorrow Square should bar nanheyangrouchuan for his inherent smell, unless he takes a bath in the Talas River, LOL http://www.aysohbet.com

  • sevgisohbet

    Oh, wait... I think I may know... I'm gonna post an image over at http://www.sevgisohbet.com soon.

  • Tiako

    Guys, are the aggressive ad hominems truly necessary?



    Eastman--If a British soldier rapes an African, it isn't a sign of racism, it's a sign of being a nasty son of a bitch. More to the point, you haven't addressed China's racism, which is what the discussion is about.



    My opinion? Sure Chin has race problems now, but so does everywhere. It is just exacerbated because the government is unaccountable and can carry out whatever it wishes.

  • michaeldmanning

    Check it out... I've posted some images and commentary related to this racial profiling notice over on my site. Click here for the dirt on Qinghai's Hualong County Hui clique.

  • RUSHOUR1

    To nanheyangrouchuan



    "pig fucking China"?

    Seems you are the most qualified to tell, lol!

  • WatchBagDVD

    Can anyone help out with the "numerous reactionary slogans" that have reportedly appeared "everywhere"? Anyone aware of any examples? Anyone seen or heard of any?

  • nanheyangrouchuan

    China cut off contact with the world because it has always regarded itself superior to the rest of the world despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary.



    And the West has worked through its problems with ethnic relations in a much shorter time than dirty, stinking, pig fucking China that worships Nazi ideals.

  • booggerg

    It is quite humorous to have Westerners questions or criticize racism in China when they fail to realize that China has been an isolationist society up until 20 years ago. Whereas countries in the West has already seen the influx of multi-racial population and has already gone thru their HORRIBLE phase of racist society (or have they gone thru already?)

  • RUSHOUR1

    To Derek Sandhaus



    You are basolutely right. I'd have quoted the hundreds of Kenyan women raped by British soldiers around the foot of Mount Kenya. That would be more than telling.



    Thanks for reminding me of my mistake, in time for me not to have even quoted the Opium War.

  • Derek Sandhaus

    Not to be argumentative, but I think that citing a source from 1873 is a bit a stretch. Also, that excerpt was talking about Western racism (one hundred thirty-five years ago) and said nothing about China's views on race.

  • RUSHOUR1

    Westerners who think China is racist country read here:

    On June 5, 1873, in a letter to The Times, Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of Charles Darwin and a distinguished African explorer in his own right, outlined a new method to 'tame' and colonise what was then known as the Dark Continent.

    'My proposal is to make the encouragement of Chinese settlements of Africa a part of our national policy, in the belief that the Chinese immigrants would not only maintain their position, but that they would multiply and their descendants supplant the inferior Negro race,' wrote Galton.

    'I should expect that the African seaboard, now sparsely occupied by lazy, palavering savages, might in a few years be tenanted by industrious, order-loving Chinese, living either as a semidetached dependency of China, or else in perfect freedom under their own law.'

    'the history of the world tells the tale of the continual displacement of populations, each by a worthier successor, and humanity gains thereby'.



    A controversial figure, Galton was also the pioneer of eugenics, the theory that was used by Hitler to try to fulfil his mad dreams of a German Master Race.

  • RUSHOUR1

    To nanheyangrouchuan



    "China..What a worthless, ugly, dirty country"?

    Just relax, buddy. China is that dark only when I am behind you.

    How the lyric goes? "Oh boy, you have to carry that weight, for a long time", with or without a visa. lol!

  • THE_A_TEAM

    Then why are the homeland security folks and highway potrols insist on doing racial profiling, despite their repeated denial?



    Just for the record, I am not down with racial profiling, but smell profiling may work. Smell is a good indicator of one's health and mental state, as our gamey friend nanheyangrouchuan can testify, especially after a long internet session.

  • TheShangHighRoller

    Never mind that racial profiling doesn't work. They're barking up the wrong tree.



    If I were a refugee from Darfur looking for a chance to get back at the PRC for giving guns and moral support to the Sudanese government, this would be a prime opportunity. The genocide there is possible because of China. But the PRC is so concerned with their own restive minorities that they are overlooking a far bigger threat.



    I hope nothing happens. But this sort of heavy-handed stuff is for amateurs.

  • THE_A_TEAM

    Tomorrow Square should bar nanheyangrouchuan for his inherent smell, unless he takes a bath in the Talas River, LOL.

  • nanheyangrouchuan

    China is unearthing its old war with mulsims in order to "harmonize" them. Reference the battle of Talas River.



    @eastman. China already does those things and much more. What a worthless, ugly, dirty country.

  • michaeldmanning

    How did Hui Muslims from Qinghai's Hualong County get on the list? I spent a month in Hualong last winter, and there wasn't much evidence of anti-Han sentiment amongs the Huis, although there was considerable tension with the Tibetans.



    Oh, wait... I think I may know... I'm gonna post an image over at http://china.notspecial.org/ soon.

  • RUSHOUR1

    What a surprise! If finger printing and phone tabbing were granted, China would sure make a perfect America, lol!

  • moneyinabox

    Yeah, but he was in a Tibetan/Uyghur state-of-mind when he went berserk.

  • Micah Sittig

    The Zhabei police station attack was carried out by a man from... *drumroll* Beijing.

  • taihanasie

    An interesting find. It is odd too because most Tibetans don't look that dissimilar to ethnic Chinese. If a Tibetan put on cheap clothing from any Chinese market, who would know the difference?

  • Wee Ling Soh

    Just what we need, a little Olympics to bring out the best in China. Awesome.

  • nanheyangrouchuan

    There is no racism in China as long as everyone remembers their place.

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