Last time i checked, i wasn't a government or party official, so i think anacapamalibu is right on this one.

Last time I checked, my Party friend wasn't a foreigner.

http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E9%BB%91...BD%A6%E7%89%8C

According to this, in addition to foreign-owned vehicles, black plates were/are issued to classified government agencies.

Thank you.

Yes, a very small number of black plates are issued to China's
equivalent of the Secret Service.

China standard government/military plates are black lettering/white base.
http://mobilspec.com/wp-content/uplo...Hongqi-HQE.jpg

Maybe Ptravel 's friend is in the secret police.

Actually, that's possible.

In the State of California, certain members of the court system, police
officers and their families have special privileges regarding their personal
plates. When running their plates the address of the court or law enforcement location comes up. In essence, no traffic tickets.

For a dude who doesn't live in China (and I would bet, hasn't), you're really quite the opinionated expert on all things in the country. Yes, yes, yes we know you have friends in the Secret Service, have been to China a bajillion times and your wife is Chinese, so no need to repeat it (again).

Yes China is far more safe than most US cities (personal safety wise, maybe not foodwise!). But I think to say that violence is really only due to drastically increased unemployment or underemployment is naive. There's the whole "foreigner" sentiment that I have noted as a visitor (as a tourist and for business) and as a resident (I lived in Beijing for about 2 years and in Dalian for a few months). I have definitely heard people say things about me in Chinese thinking I would not understand. Not always negative, but sometimes it was. I have definitely seen plenty of stares, some of them hostile enough when walking with Chinese girls (not necessarily hand in hand)Of course this should not take away from all of the positive experiences I have had and will continue to have in the country, but I am just trying to illustrate a point.

I would not underestimate the one child policy and it creating spoiled brats. I also would not underestimate the yawning wealth gap in the country. I would not underestimate how challenging life must be for single Chinese guys who may or may not be employed and know (or soon find out) that the decks are stacked against them since there is a HUGE gender gap. Something like 120 boys being born for ever 100 girls? I would most certainly say that the one child policy plays an enormous role in this phenomenon. So on top of that, these guys move to the city (if they're not already there) to make a buck (or 5 mil) and they find that they can't really afford a house/apt or a car (and never might) which reduces their chances with a fair number of the wimminfolk even more. And that goes for plenty of guys who have steady or even good jobs.

However, we cannot forget that hundreds of millions of people have entered or joined the middle class in the last decade or two. I've heard plenty of stories and have even dated a few - heh. No not all went to Beijing U or Tsinghua etc...

About sons of generals, I think you're being naive since this guy was pretty high up. I don't have anything to counter with it since I don't know (and don't think there are any precedents) but I am sure it would depend on the foreigner's status in society and perhaps in his/her own country as well as the reaction of the public (maybe internet pressure on the message boards if netizens cared, or if it was allowed) and the status of said general.

Foreigners are nowhere near as special or as cool/priviledged as they were 10 to 20 years ago. Times have changed.

Talking about foreigners getting beaten up, here's an oldie and a goodie. Good thing I wasn't in Sanlitun that night or it could have been me (I'm of Indian origin).

I would almost say it's time to close and lock this thread. Begins to look like a mooncake left over after Full Moon Day.

The word nuisance comes to mind.

At best..tolerated..if making a short visit to place orders.

Here's a somewhat on point case involving a young Canadian model that
was murdered in Shanghai 3 years ago. It was speculated that the
actual assailant was from a rich family and a migrant worker took the wrap.

B.C. model's killer sentenced to die in China

Updated Fri. Mar. 13 2009 10:12 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A Chinese court sentenced a 19-year-old man to death Friday for murdering a Canadian model in Shanghai last year.

Diana O'Brien, a 22-year-old model from Salt Spring Island, B.C., was found stabbed to death last July on the staircase of the apartment building where she was staying.

In November, Chen Jun pleaded guilty to murdering O'Brien after trying to rob her.

In a written ruling Friday, Shanghai's Intermediary Court did not order Jun to be immediately executed. Instead, the court offered Chen a two-year probationary reprieve.

"He has two years to show good behaviour and if he proves this his sentence could be lowered to a life sentence to be served in jail or even lighter depending on his performance," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao reported Friday.

Since punishments in China are often measured by social impact, Chen was expected to receive a harsher sentence because he murdered a foreigner and it happened right before the Olympics.

"In both cases it had the potential to embarrass China's government so many people expected a harsher sentence -- an immediate execution," Chao said.


Updated Tue. Nov. 18 2008 6:17 AM ET

Whereas you're simply insulting and rude, which is about what I'd expect from someone who uses the word, "dude." And I don't have friends in the Secret Service. I have a friend who is a highly-placed party official who is driven around in a car with a black plate and who, most definitely, is not a foreigner.

Where did I use the word, "only"?

And that translates to hostility and violence in your mind? I have heard people do the same in France (I speak French). Do you think the French are hostile and violent towards Americans?

I've seen plenty of stares, usually in those locations that don't see a lot of westerners, and often because my wife and I make a rather odd-looking couple.

And what point is that?

Nor would I. However, the context in which the one-child policy was raised by anacapmalibu was this:

"Its about a general trend of increased violence in China as a result of
their one child policy and an expotential increase in wealth that has
spawned a new generation of spoiled brats."

It is ludicrous to assert that the one child policy is the cause of increased violence in China.

Nor would I, which is exacerbated, in part, by a dramatic rise in unemployment over the past ten years.

I don't doubt that they resent young western ex pats who are in China for business and cruise the Sanlitun bars looking to hook up with Chinese girls. And the experience of those who frequent Sanlitun for this purpose says absolutely nothing about the vast majority of the country. When I'm in China, I have nothing to do with the ex pat community (and, indeed, don't even know any ex parts). I visit friends and family and spend time in residential areas, particularly in Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, that rarely, if ever, see a western face. I don't go clubbing and, needless to say, I'm not looking to hook up with young Chinese girls. Of course, rather than wonder why my experience is so different from yours, you'd rather simply rudely discount it.

A problem that is more significant in rural areas than urban but, yes, a problem.

So you're saying that young single Chinese guys don't like it when young single ex pats go cruising for girls. Gee, what a shock. And from that you extrapolate to all of China?

Ah, got it -- young single Chinese guys don't like it when YOU go cruising for Chinese girls.

Naive about what? I don't doubt that it happened. It has absolutely nothing to do with the assertion in the title of this thread that, "foreigners ge[t] beat up."

Did I miss something? Where in the article did it say that the beating victims were foreign?

I never said that foreigners are cool or privileged. I said that the government would not tolerate routine attacks on foreigners. And if you think it would, then you are the one who is naive.

Or, you could simply avoid bar crawls through Sanlitun to find Chinese girls. I've only ever driven by Sanlitun and have never had any interest in, or reason for, going there. Sanlitun is as typical of China as Fremont Street in Las Vegas is typical of the U.S.

At any rate, you can respond or not, as you choose, as it's off to my ignore list for you.

Not ludicrous if you are a female in China.

• China�s one-child policy causes more violence against women and girls than any other policy on earth, than any official policy in the history of the world.

• Today in China, 200,000 children a year, usually from poor families, are seized or sold as child brides.Similarly, sex trafficking is exploding to �service� the overwhelming male population. .

• The World Health Organization says the country has the highest female suicide rate of any country in the world, with approximately 500 Chinese women ending their lives each day.

• The Government of China routinely compels women to abort their unauthorized unborn children and that the Chinese men and women are often forcibly sterilized

• It is also not widely known that sterilization is sometimes employed not only as a preventive measure, but also as a punishment

• So-called family planning centers actually contain cells, detention centers with prison bars, to hold those who have resisted abortion or sterilization.

I don't have any government friends - nor do I want any. The majority that I have met have spent 5000rmb+ for dinner and drove away in black Audis that they didn't pay for. We had dinner with 4 guys somewhere high up in the finance department. The bill was something ridiculous and the head guy pulled out the biggest stack of red 100's I've ever seen. It must've been 50,000 or something. He thought that my country was cheap because Joe Biden came here and spent 100 rmb on lunch.

Foreigners aren't cool here at all. If you want that appeal, go to Taiwan. All the girls love you because you are a foreigner and everyone else wants to be friends with you to show off. And if you're Japanese everyone will love you AND respect you.

I have no intention of addressing these allegations, some of which are either false or exaggerated, other than to say, even if true, none of them have anything to do with YOUR allegation that the one child policy is the major contributor to violence against foreigners in China.

It is clear from your posts, and not just to this thread, that you have a problem with the PRC that seems more political than anything. It's fine if you have a personal agenda -- most people do -- but to keep dragging it into unrelated threads is disingenuous, to say the least.