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Q: Foreiger on foreigner crime, how would the Police handle it?
We all know that the law is stacked on the Chinese person's side in the event of a legal matter... but what if it were foreigner on foreigner?
Would they side with the country China has better relations with? The nationality of the foreigner whose country is more powerful and rich?
Let's say two foreigners are at a bar (one American and one African), they get into a fight and both end up hurt... cops come and although they should follow the law with no-bias... most likely they will lean in preferential treatment of one over the other. What do you think?
Let's take another scenario where two foreigners are charging each other with destruction of property and theft. One foreigner comes from India, while the other comes from Canada. The Indian can speak no Chinese and the Canadian can speak Chinese well enough to twist facts around in Chinese and blame the Indian... What do you think would happen? Should the Indian pull out his wallet and start bribing cause he's already down a few pegs under Chinese eyes (can't speak Chinese, Indians are looked down on)?
So what do you think? And any real life examples?
10 years 1 week ago in Health & Safety - China
I ran into one incident where one foreigner was pissed at another and trashed his motorcycle while the other wasn't around. But they never brought it to the local Chinese police (probably because the guy who got his bike trashed didn't think they could do anything).
I almost got into a fight with another foreigner a few times but never came to blows. I never heard of foreigners getting the local police involved. Would it become a international matter lol?
If the law(whatever law) is fully applicable here then there is no chance of inclination towards someone on the basis of nationality. Normally the law is clear about each act of crime almost in every country irrespective of nationalities and deal with the crimes on the basis of the existing laws. If a law fails to comply with a specific act they look for the 'Precedence'.
If it is about law then there is no chance but if bribe works then American can be pissed over nothing and African can get away with anything(just an assumption).
Shining_brow:
You do realise we're talking about here in China, don't you??
thefidu881:
Yeah I do understand that. My point is generalized over any country. I mean there are laws regarding this EVERYWHERE (including China) the question is of its application without biasness. If bribe can work then it can mold the decision into any side irrespective of nationalities. It also depends on the severity of the acts(theft, fights, disputes, murders). I am talking of the laws not of the application or probability of applications.
You are right.To some extent it may effect the decisions anywhere in the world not only in China.
Robk:
Yeah I think we all know what Chinese are suppose to do and what they actually do. Like stop at a red light, or not cut in line... but they obviously do and many get away with it.
If it was a murder... of course the chances of getting out of it are much less (unless you have some major guanxi) or something. But on things like assault, theft etc... I think you could bend the "law" to your will providing you have the means and method.
thefidu881:
I would prefer to be on the losing side instead of getting into a conflict with any one, a peaceful life is worth couple hundred or thousand kuis. 
It's all about appearances. All things being equal, locals, police included, will be inclined to favour the most distinguished-looking fellow. That said, it's still possible for a 'lower-ranking nationality' foreigner to gain favour by speaking the language as you say. Points are also scored by keeping your cool. So even if you can't speak the language, if you just stay calm, keep your mouth shut and wait for an opportunity to communicate your side of the story, you may be able to counteract rumour-mongering by the opponent retroactively. The less emotion you show, the more locals will respect you, is my impression.
Foreigner vs. foreigner is best solved without police. Chances are there's no insurances to rely on either. Police wil screw both parties over with paperwork and additional fines as well as carefully inspect visa situations for the tiniest of indiscrepancies. It could go on your record and cause issues with visa renewal, too. Getting in trouble with another expat is nearly as troublesome as butting heads with a local, so just keep your nose clean as much as possible. And if something does happen, lie, cry and blame the other party. It's childish, but that's the best way to deal with an unfair system.
Robk:
Yeah I agree with you. I think if you brought out the smokes and baijiu and tried to buddy buddy them, you would get a lot further. You would just have to convince them somehow you are morally right and it is best to be on your side.
But after all my time here, I honestly think you could bribe the cops into making the other foreigner's life a living hell. I heard of this one prick. He was a DoS or something at a school... a real shit head. Anyway, when new foreigners would come... he would take them out ot the bar "to get to know China". Then he would purposely go up to some local Chinese men and tell them in Chinese that the new foreign guy said "Zhe ge wai guo ren, shuo... ni de ma cao zhu. (This foreigner said your mother fucks pigs". Obviously, the locals wouldn't be too happy to hear that and attack the foreigner while the DoS just laughed and walked away.
Talk about a sick bastard but he would always get out of it... and many times the new teacher wouldn't even know what he was doing.
Stiggs:
Yeah that guy sounds like an asshole.. if he did that to me there would very likely be some foreign on foreign violence for the police to deal with.
F on F.... would probably ask if there was a video...
coineineagh:
it does kinda sound like porn lingo, doesn't it? actually the term 'black on black crime' has been around before the porn industry made fun with it. i'd say the term betrays an old-fashioned attitude not unlike Chinese culture-centrism. As if black-on-black were somehow more wrong than other forms of crime. broke-on-broke crime would make more sense, but maybe that betrays my own opinion that poor people stealing from other poor people is more objectionable than the Robin Hood variety.
bike-gypsy:
I do like your posts, always welll thought out with your opinion. but this was a porn reference, and you somehow logically connected porn to robin hood. For that you are awesome.
coineineagh:
I just downloaded Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Believe it or not, it isn't porn.
I don't think there is any one answer to your question, it could go any number of ways depending on the discretion of the police involved and the circumstances, and just because one incident is handled in a certain way it doesn't mean it would be handled that way at another time or place.
I do think that the connections of whoever got the foreigners their visas might be a factor though. If one of the guys in the fight was say an engineer or executive at a major international company, and the other was a teacher at the local branch of Happy Yummy English it would probably swing against the teacher.
I think the usual policing procedure would happen. They will just ask the crowd what happened. Treating people who arrived after the incident as actual witnesses, then come to a decision based on this questionable method. No need for evidence, as long as the mob is happy.
In most cases I've seen, whether local or foreigners, the end result is usually an agreement to sort out things amicably, with the police as mediators. If there were no deaths or major injuries that require hospitalization then it is unlikely to go further than that. I've witnessed a few local and foreigner cases when I was in Shunde, Daliang (notorious area with gangsters and triads). Even then, no arrests were made. I think the police would try to settle the problems by asking both parties to trash it out rather than having to bring them back to the station and having all that paperwork to do. If it involves a foreigner the paperwork will get a lot more complicated, having to get embassies involved and all.
Same as they would between locals I would think. Here is one example: http://www.thenanfang.com/blog/foreign-english-teacher-in-gz-jailed-for-...
I am also not of the opinion that, during a dispute involving a foreigner vs local, the police will always side with the local. In fact if you ask a Chinese they will tell you the police would usually always side with the foreigner. However, nothing is certain in this country.
Iv always had good experiences with the police and during a minor car crash with a local, a very gray area fender bender too, the small town countryside cops sided with me. They were nothing but polite and professional.
