A video of a woman being abducted at a hotel in Beijing has become a sensation. Not only because nobody came to help but also because the response of the hotel manager.
This has been a phenomenon on China for a long time, where bystanders saw something but they don’t help in fear of getting themselves in problem. In a way I understand that, but if one have helped, I think that more will help. Tha guy probably wouldn’t be able to get revenge on all those people. It was said they believed them to be a couple. Even if they were a couple, if a guy treats a girl like that in public, somebody need to speak up. I feel bad while seeing this kinds of things. Where is the world going? Should we just standby and see somebody get mistreated because we fear that we’ll also get in trouble?
On the video you can see the hotel security trying to ‘help’. But is that helping? I’ll say he is just standing by and trying to look like he is helping. The woman at the end did more than him the whole time. Beside is there only on guard at the hotel? Why didn’t others come to help?
The woman said she couldn’t even reach the hotel manager that day, but after the video got viral, he got more responsive. Speaking to reporters outside a Beijing courthouse where preliminary hearings are being held, the hotel manager had this to say: “I think it is hyped up. First, nobody died. Second there was no fire. Third, there was no rape.”
WTF? Should she have died before it’s serious? I really want to punch that manager now. The least he could do now is apologize for not stepping in, after all it happened in HIS hotel, where guests should feel save. First is she was abducted, she living could have been more painful than dead. Second there was no fire, lucky for you. Your hotel is save. Third there could have been rape, or she could have been sold into prostitution. What are you going to say then?
The news articles (1, 2) are in English.
Do you guys like shocking news from China? If you likes it, I plan on uploading once in a while if I come across something that’s shocking, sentimental or gets on my nerves.
Huh, I see. So the guy was a pimp and thought she was a prostitute. Since she wasn’t working for him, that meant she was competition. Hence he was trying to get rid of her (from the hotel at the very least).
I’m shocked …. How could they do anything …. I totally agree with you : where is the world going ?
Ughh…
Thanks for the news item.
That’s sad. I wouldn’t mind seeing posts like this occasionally, as long as the translation posts are more frequent since that’s why I read your blog. 😉
Dont worry. Translation is also my main focus. I’ll try to upload every week. Mostly on monday😄
one of my Chinese teacher said all od this unresponsive bystanders act was because people too afraid to help. the fear come from a court case several years ago when a male youngster sued by a granny after he helped her to hospital after she fall from bus in a bus station.
although the male only want to help, but the granny accused him as the person who responsible for her fall and want him to pay her medical bill.
the court ruling agreed with the granny and order the male to paid all the bill. I didn’t remember which year, but since then no Chinese willing to help stranger.
and some of conman also help fueled this trend, like conned passersby to give them meal or drinks and then accused the passerby for food poisoning , and other similar case.
its not they didn’t want to help, but they afraid if cases like that happens, so they choose to become bystanders.
Hey there,
I don’t comment often on your site, but I love all your translations and I can’t wait for you to update again. 🙂
I’m from Europe, so I have to say that I find news from China very interesting (because of the cultural differences), so I wouldn’t mind you occasionally writing something about China, since I usually don’t have the time/resources to search for it on the internet.
This is indeed a horrifying situation, but unfortunately, people standing nearby watching a crime happen is a common human phenomenon (I have a course at university right now about sociolinguistics and we happened to talk about this a couple of weeks ago) happening in all corners of the world. Scientists call it “The Bystander effect” – the more people are around when a crime happens, the less do people feel responsible to help the victim (after all, there are so many other people around who can help instead). (As a side-note: That’s why if anyone should find themselves in a similar situation, you should look the people in the eyes and address them directly; like for example: “You in that red shirt, please call the police.” It’s a lot more difficult for people to look away when they are directly addressed.)
I couldn’t find a better link, but this was the crime that started the research on this topic in the first place:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/bystander-effect
The hotel manager makes me speechless. What a worthless excuse for a human being. He should be ashamed of himself. I hope he gets fired and (ideally) prosecuted.
Have a nice day everyone!
sunny