A drunken foreigner was caught sexually assaulting a Chinese woman in Beijing near the Xuanwumen subway station. Pedestrians stopped him and it ended in a fight. This video shows the initial confrontation with the foreigner and then jumps to the moment when the police arrived, by which point the foreigner was passed out in the street. The Beijing Public Security Bureau later posted an announcement saying that the foreigner is in custody and under investigation. He is a British citizen and holds a travel visa. The video spread quickly on Sina Weibo. A week later, Beijing announced it would begin a 100-day crackdown on foreigners residing and working illegally in the capital.
Selected comments from SinaWeibo:
Inevitably, a large number of the comments were hateful:
北京人不知道的北京事儿: Brothers in Beijing, remember the face of this foreigner! Let’s beat him whenever we see him!!!
大樱桃巧克力： Today most foreigners in China are just hooligans, if they were better they wouldn’t come to China to make a living.
毛病蛋蛋: Beat him to death, thanks Bro!
Many comments discussed China’s own social and moral issues:
传媒邵鹏飞1985: Not bad, this time we didn’t just stand around and watch.
艾雪儿0124: Beijing, you gave a good fight! But if this had happened in the Northeast [Manchuria], we’d have wasted the guy.
穆健玮: Why do foreigners in China dare to do whatever they want in public? It’s because they know the Chinese government and law executives don’t protect civilians. It makes me angry! Thanks to this veteran’s fists and sense of justice,
fanco: China’s police never do anything but watch.
Some commenters felt the case was receiving too much attention:
大记者张斌: This is just a single case. It doesn’t represent something larger. Sure, chew the guy out, but then leave the judgement to the courts.