Anger at the police

Some latent public anger against police is bubbling up in China.

The latest incident occurred last Friday in Shenzhen, and the repercussions still are rippling.

According to both Chinese and foreign news accounts, motorcyclist Li Guochao was killed on Friday after a fled a checkpoint. Li was driving an unlicensed cycle. One of the employees at the checkpoint – apparently not a police officer but a civilian municipal worker – tossed a walkie talkie at him as he sped away.

The walkie talkie hit Li in the head, and he promptly ran into a telephone pole, dying hours later in the hospital.

According to news wire accounts here and here, hundreds of people gathered outside a police station and threw rocks. Someone set a police car ablaze. Thousands looked on.

The police later offered Li’s family a cash payment of about $29,000 to resolve the matter, according to state media.

This incident follows another on July 1 in which a 28-year-old accused bicycle thief went into a Shanghai police precinct on a stabbing spree, killing six officers and wounding four others. The man, Yang Jia, later became a bit of an internet sensation when some citizens suggested his rage at police may have been understandable.

Yang had been picked up over the alleged theft of a bicycle last year, and one report said police beat him.

When Yang appealed his death sentence three weeks ago, supporters showed up outside the courthouse wearing T-shirts with his likeness. Police dispersed them. Yang’s death sentence was upheld.

But there is also a case that may uphold the opposite view – that the public sympathizes with police when powerful people try to get away with bad behavior or even crime.

In a case last month, six police officers beat to death Lin Songling outside a bar in Harbin in northeastern China. At first, it seemed like a possible case of police abuse. But later reports suggested Lin had repeatedly hit police first, including throwing a concrete block at one, saying he was well-connected to party officials in Harbin. This story says two officers may yet be charged in the death. But in the court of public opinion, the verdict was mixed. Maybe Lin wasn’t so well-connected, and maybe police did overstep their authority.

Comments

[V. Higgins]

I know this isn't related but I've been following your blog for a while. One of my Chinese friends here in the States was watching 60 Minutes the other night and there was a section on American E-Waste going to China and basically ruining people's health as they work with the toxic waste. Do you know of any occurances/news reports of this apart from the 60 Minutes report?

[Tim J]

You can start out by reading here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/tim_johnson/story/13778.html It's a story I did a little more than two years ago from the same city in China, Yigui, that I called the electronic waste capital of the world. Like the 60 Minutes reporter, we were also hassled by the thugs in charge of the waste business, then turned over to police. I was forced to write a "self-criticism" for showing up in the city without asking explicit permission from the Foreign Ministry -- an "only in China" experience.

[Tim J]

Pardon me, I wrote Yigui. The city in Guangdong is actually Guiyu, not Yigui.