Um, really? Update on SCMP story II
A second update on the South China Morning Post story that claims Beijing is “secretly” trying to ban blacks and Mongolians from bars during the Olympics.
I hit some Sanlitun bars last night and made some phone calls today, and this is what I found:
- An owner said police met with Sanlitun bar reps and told them to monitor black patrons. He said the police told the reps that drug dealers are predominantly black in the area. He said the police did not ask bar owners to ban blacks.
- Several Sanlitun area bar owners said they had not been told by police to ban blacks or Mongolians.
- I also spoke to several people in the restaurant business and they told me they have not heard of police telling city eateries to ban people.
- Most interesting, two people working at one bar had different perspectives on the terminology used by the police. One said the police used “black” in reference to skin color; while the other said it was used in terms of bad elements (the Chinese character for “black” is part of a phrase used to describe criminals).
I will provide more info as it becomes available.
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It appears that Tom Miller of the SCMP made a schmuck outa himself.
Literal translation of triads is “Black Association”.
[...] Not entirely accurate it seems. Beijing Boyce Um, really? Update on SCMP story II [...]
[...] loved SCMP and wanted to show his support of the story. So he went personally calling, visiting and chatting with a fair number of bar owners in the area, but apparently managed to miss Tom’s sources. [...]
We are going to see more of this, not less. I count Tom Miller as a fairly China-savvy member of the press corps. But with this town about to be crawling with journalists who are not, rumors will turn to news and superficial impressions will turn into reality.
And, of course, our fair city will be viewed through thousands – nay, millions, of culturally-biased lenses.
Result? China will end these games with a bigger “perception problem” than ever before.
[...] Mongolians from bars During Olympics, based on one anonymous source. The stories was subsequently debunked, but still managed to catch some fire among some media and [...]