Beijing Boyce

An update on my earlier post about the South China Morning Post claim that Beijing secretly plans to ban blacks and Mongolians from bars during the Olympics. Unfortunately, duty called this afternoon, so I didn’t have much time for this issue, but here is where things stand:

- The owners of five bars in and around Sanlitun told me that the police did not ask them to undertake any such ban during the Olympics (these bars tend to be frequented by residents rather than tourists). Several other people, including in the restaurant and the wine business, also told me they were unaware of any such police action.

- Three reporters from the international media contacted me and said they had called numerous bars and, like me, found no one to confirm the SCMP claim.

- The bar owner I noted who said the police told him a few months ago to not serve blacks clarified that this did not seem to be part of any official policy.

- The only way I can see the SCMP story as plausible is if the newspaper is talking about an isolated bar area, such as that neon-lit strip on Sanlitun North or the clubs on Workers Stadium West. Even then, this is yet to be confirmed by anyone I have talked to.

If I hear any more information, I will pass it on.

Tom Miller of the South China Morning Post reported today that bars in central Beijing have been instructed to not serve blacks or Mongolians during the Olympics:

Beijing authorities are secretly planning to ban black people and others it considers social undesirables from entering the city’s bars during the Olympic Games, a move that would contradict the official slogan, “One World, One Dream”.

Bar owners near the Workers’ Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises….

Security officials are targeting Sanlitun, which Olympic organisers expect to be a key destination for foreign tourists looking for a party during the Games.

The pledges that Sanlitun bar owners had been instructed to sign agreed to stop a variety of activities in their establishments, including dancing and serving customers with black skin, they said.

The owners of five bars that cater to an international clientele in the Sanlitun area separately told me today that they had not been contacted by police recently about enforcing such a ban or signing a related pledge, though one said he had been asked several months ago to not serve blacks. I will pass on more information as it becomes available.

Note: Miller also writes, “A few months ago, police launched a violent sting on black men drinking in the Sanlitun bar district…” I think he is confusing this raid in April with this one last September.

Those hoping for a last slice at the Workers Stadium branch of Kro’s Nest will be disappointed - the popular pizza joint has been shut a few days ahead of its originally planned July 20 close. Kro says the venue will reopen on August 24 and that his new Nest will open on July 24. I’ll have more details on the latter soon.