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Q: Taken by the police
Hi there,
A bit of a story here to tell and I would like some suggestions what I should do in this case.
Yesterday I went to a hotel called "The Peninsula" to do a massage that I usually do at the hotel, I also use the hotel for other services as living, shopping and dining. After a shower and a rest I was led into the usual room with the massage therapist and he told me to sit down then he went outside the room. In comes three people that say that they come from the hotel, they just say that a crime has been comitted and that I am held accountable for this crime even though they don't have any evidence.
They told me that I had to go down to the police station and I was promised a translator but no one came with me. In the police station they started to scream at me that I should respect China and the Chinese people. I told them that I didnt do anything wrong and that I couldnt cooperate more than I was already doing. After a few hours a guy from the hotel comes and I know him and he speaks English. But he was told by the police that I he could not talk to me and that I could not talk to him. So he was taken inside a room with a lot of police and I really do not know what happened in there. Outside the police station the police just smoked and pointed and laughed at me.
After a few more hours I was subjected to more humiliation, after a while the translator that could not talk to me comes in to the room again and now he could talk to me and I ask him what I can do right now. He tells this to the police and some security manager and they say that I have to pay 15 000 to make it go away right now. I told them that I could not get the money now but the latest at Monday. They did not agree to this and decided to bring some special police with guns that took a few more hours.
When these police officers came they forced me into a small room without cameras where they wanted to me to sign a paper in chinese, which I of course refused to do. Then they told me to write in my own words what happened and sign that paper, so I wrote that a crime has been comitted but I do not know what crime and what I am being charged with. I also wrote that in this I am innocent and that no evidence is saying that I have done anything wrong. After that I sign the paper and they take it away from me, when they come back with the paper a thing has been added which says that if I do not pay them 15 000 before Tuesday, I am to abide the law of China. Then they let me go.
They have a copy of my passport and they know where I live. They have my telephone number as well. The Swedish embassy does not do anything in this subject, they say that I should get a chinese lawyer and fight this in China but that sounds pretty stupid if you ask me. What they are also saying is that I could go to the police station with someone working for the embassy and talk to them.
What is your opinions in this matter? I have until Monday to make any moves regarding this. So please help me with some relevant tips and if you have any questions then please ask them I am desperate for help!
Best Regards,
Fredrik Appelgren
11 years 30 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - Beijing
So what where you accused of?
as for Swedish embassy help
just tell them you are Julian Assange and want to go to Sweden
and I cant believe they let you go if you haven't paid yet
I was charged with many different things, fraud and theft were two of them. There is no evidence at all for anything, I think there has been a crime but there is nothing to say that I had something to do with it.
The Swedish embassy clearly told me that they do not want to get mixed up and that they would go to the Police and talk to them on Monday with me, and that would be the only thing they would do. As for lawyer I have to fix that myself, same with all the other things.
That is what is strange, if they had proper evidence, would they then release me?
It probably is fraud on the behalf of the police, even the embassy says that, but how do I fight this now?
Do you mean the Peninsula that HK hotel? Well sounds really weird. I think firstly you should get legal assistance and get someone who can record that people or even yourself record the conversations you have with your phone or have the line open so someone else records it.
Ask chinese people, there are some TV shows interested in your case, they would happily wire you and see uncover those people who want to scam u. Anyway if this is real and there's policemen in that perhaps they already are looking what you do with your computer. So, bad idea.
Good luck man. Let us know what happens on monday. I doubt they will re-appear.
Have you commited a crime,your vague on an explanation.I would know myself if i had done anything wrong.Evidence,proof of crime sound's like your,up to no good here
I am very sorry for the bad explanation. I have never commited a crime, not here, not in any country I have been in.
What I mean is that they have no evidence that I have done anything to anyone, I was taken in to the police in a strange way and I do not understand how they can take me when no proof of crime has been presented to me. Instead, several times they say 15 000 and then it goes away. That is what I meant.
I have lived in China for quite some time with my boyfriend, I am here legally and have a legit visa. I would never commit a crime that could challenge my relationship with him or his family or challenge my life in China. I do not know if I can put it better than that.
paulmartin:
So they are saying,your a prostitute,does your visa allow you too work,z visa,and what are you doing giving massage,if you\ve been here years you know it\s not an expert job,well it could be?
why didn't you take the next flight back to your home country. why didn't you contact your embassy right away? to be honest. your story smells. either this is complete BS or you are omitting something. get the next plane out of this shAthole. go to your embassy and don't leave. contact the bbc or nytimes. why come to us??????????
why would you use the hotel for living?
and you went there to "do a massage"
how the puck shops at a hotel?
and you are fredrick with a boyfriend? and his family is ok with that?
too much BS too many small chinglish errors
Hugh.G.Rection:
Crimo, I understand what you're implying but in his post he implies he is Swedish, this would account for the 'chinglish' errors. He could be legit.
During my stay in China I have been living in hotels and hostels, therefore using this place for living, isnt that what you do in a hotel?
When i do not live in that particulary hotel I still go there to take massages and use their saunas.
His family is ok with him having a boyfriend, they are progressive and I already been welcomed into the whole family which means grandfather, sisters, cousins etc etc.
When I contacted the Swedish embassy, the only thing they would do is to go with me there on Monday to talk with the Police. Why didnt I take the first flight back? Well, I live here, my fucking life is here, should I just take all my stuff and say goodbye to boyfriend and friends and leave China within the hour? That was not an option!
I already contacted the news correspondents of England and America. But to put more tension on this, is that really worth it?
crimochina:
ok you have ben in china for a while and all your stuff is here but you are living in hostels and hotels. no logical connection
crimochina:
why not sweden?????????????????? you contacted the news agencies in usa and uk????/ but not your home country?????????
Frederik, were you taken to a genuine police station? i.e. did you see it from the outside? If there is any doubt go back and check it is a police station.
If push comes to shove refuse to pay, and make it clear you are NEVER going to pay. Then they have to press charges and so your Embassy then HAS to get involved and in pressing charges they have to bring some evidence.
However, before you do so I would check into whether being gay, or taking part in gay activities is a criminal act in China, (I genuinely don't know that), as that could be a related issue. Secondly, if that person you were offering a massage to is willing to say you were soliciting sex then you are in a world of pain if you don't pay.
bat22:
embassyes never get involved all they will do is come and see u once a week to make sure u are ok thats it so dont look for your embassey for help their is nothing they can or will do
I am sorry but I cannot use the comment field, I do not know if you know about the media in Sweden, but it does not really work in that way and they do not have any real power.
So just because I can live in hotels and hostels when living in China, that makes my life and me as a person "shady"? I choose to live in hotels for months at a time, it is my money and Ill do whatever I want with it. If i use huge amounts of money to live in hotels rather than an apartment then that is my choice!
The police station was genuine, I know where it is and we have been checking up on the station. the only thing I have taken apart of is being with my boyfriend, not openly in public of course. It is not criminal to take part in gay activities however.
Hugh.G.Rection:
So paulmartin what exactly has he been charged with and how do you know he's guilty?
Sounds like they're trying to cheat you because you're gay and involved with a Chinaman. You need to get as many friends and family together, a decent translator, contact newspapers, keep lines open with your embassy, have a lawyer on stand-by and see what the police try to do with it on Monday. If you can think of any way that they could actually pin some kind of crime on you to protect themselves, you might want to think seriously about getting out of the country.
I have decided to go there with the embassy on Monday to try and see where that gets me.
its a scam dude. dont pay and dont worry. you did the right thing going to the embassy. wtf are they going to do? even if you have committed a crime, if you're sure they don't know or have proof just refuse to pay no matter what. sooner or later things will get too hot for the police and they'll give up.
think about it. if they wanted you to pay they wouldnt have let you go. I'm assuming of course you didnt pay. you're either bullshitting or they are. If they were serious they wouldn't have let you go. fuck em and good luck. let us know what happens.
Ps. where are you? what city?
I am in Beijing, I do understand that some of you or all of you do not trust me but I am very thankful for the tips you have given to me, regardless of your opinions.
I have decided to fight this and not actually leave the country since I have not commited a crime. I will tell you guys what will happen after the embassy and after we go to the police on Monday.
It would be very helpful if some of you have any media contacts, if that is the case then please send them to me through the mail service on this site.
Honestly, I think they are trying to scam you. If you were indeed being charged with a bone fide "15,000 RMB Crime" they would not have let you go until you paid or at the very least formally charged you with something before "negotiating" a certain "fine" to be paid.
The first thing you need to do is what you have already said you would do, go to the Station with a representative of your Embassy and find out EXACTLY what you are being charged with. The second thing you need to do his hire legal representation (though personally, i think that your lawyer should go with you to the Station as well).
One thing you need to be aware of, and that is about the massage. I dont know what kind of massage you usually have in this place, whether a genuine massage or a "more intimate" kind. If it was the latter, know that it is a crime in the PRC, one that is rarely enforced mind you but, you never know when they need to fill out a "quota". What i am trying to say is that no matter which kind of massage you order, you need to be very careful as some masseuse may lie and say that you solicited sex even though you only asked for a regular massage. Especially until the national Holiday is over.
Best of luck and let us know how it all comes out!
Thank you very much for that response, however I must say that the Peninsula do not offer those services, people have tried to do that and they have been blacklisted in the Hotel.
So no sexual services has been bought, the sexual services I get, I get at home with my partner 
Is being gay in China the crime? I thought there were no (offical) gays in China.
i think its BS if the fine was legit what is stopping them from holding you in the police station untill then? kind of like bail money, well what they where hopping for is a sucker would sign a document he doesnt understand so dont sign anything, they are just trying to scare you, im sure if they where doing things the legit way you would stay in that police station or in a prison untill they decide what to do
I hope you don't have to pay them anything.
A little off topic but, Have you seen 'East Palace West Palace'? You may enjoy it. I like the directors movies. This movie got him in trouble.
Being gay is technically illegal in China.
If I were you I'd contact a swedish newspaper and give them a heads up.
Someone you have been speaking to has ratted you out.
The question is who do you consider are your friends? And were you the one giving the massage or where you receiving?
There seems to be some confusion based on the previous answers. If you are gay and have found a mate I suggest you make exit plans.
I was the one getting the massage, they have international massage service at the hotel by ESPA. Many of my friends and business contacts staying at the hotel has been using the spa as well. No sexual services has been given or taken by me or anyone else going to the spa.
Me and my boyfriend will leave china to work in another country and finish our PhDs but he cannot leave at the moment since he has to do his English test in china, etc etc.
