No justice for foreigners

China is a rising economic power, without a doubt, but I've now seen for myself in a dramatic way that the level of corruption and fear that oozes through its society like an oil spill is creating a generation with a warped value system and sense of justice.

It's in the streets and I hear it from friends and from colleagues. The willingness and expectation to cheat foreigners is becoming prevalent. A friend and colleague told me some Chinese look down on others that don't take advantage of a foreigner's ignorance. She says many Chinese now expect to "earn" a few extra bucks from people who don't know any better. She says she is shamed by this and goes out of her way to help people.

This behaviour is spreading across China like an epidemic. It's not just petty dishonesty that is growing; it's the level of corruption and fear of speaking out that shocks me.

And I am not talking about corruption among high-ranking government officials. We have all heard the stories about Communist officials cheating farmers out of their homes and making millions of dollars only to send in troops to shoot at people opposing them. In fact, we hear stories like this so often I worry that they are losing their impact.

I'm talking about corruption that eats away at the roots of Chinese society. Recently, I had the displeasure to witness the depth of corruption and racist behaviour of Beijing's police first-hand.

Nightmare began with argument

It started with an argument I had with a cab driver. He was a brand-new cab driver in Beijing and I could tell he didn't know his way around town. When I told him my address he looked confused, so I asked him again whether he knew where he was going. He said yes. He ended up getting lost and so I asked him to turn off the meter. He would not.

When we finally got to my destination I paid him in full because I had no change, but asked him for some money back. He refused. I took the licence from his dashboard and threatened to report him. I imagine this is where our language barrier kicked in. He sprang at me and grabbed my throat. I managed to fight him off, without striking him, and leaped out of the car. He grabbed a mop that was sitting by the road and charged me with it raised over his head.

Several dozen people on the street crowded around us to watch. Once again, without striking him, I pushed him up against the wall and disarmed him. I threw his licence at him and attempted to flee but I was cornered by an angry mob. Thankfully, another foreigner with better language skills than mine saw the whole thing and came to my aid. The police were then called.

A man from the crowd came forward and made a deal with the cab driver: He would tell the police that I beat the driver senseless and they would split the money I would have to pay. He said this in front of me and the entire crowd. The cab driver then lay down on the sidewalk and pretended to be hurt. Even though every person in the crowd knew what was going on, not one helped me. I was arrested and taken to the police station at Fu Li Cheng.

Race an obvious issue

After hours of interviewing the driver, his lying witness, my witness and me, I was told I was going to have to compensate the driver for his injuries. Officer Liu, who was brought in to the station for his English skills, told me, and I'm quoting here: "We know you did not beat this man. We know you are telling the truth, but this is not about truth anymore, it's now a matter of money."

I was flabbergasted.

"Let me sum this up," I said. "I was cheated, then assaulted, then assaulted with a weapon, then this man lied to you about his injuries, and now you are extorting money from me?"

Officer Liu just stared blankly at me and told me I would not be leaving until I agreed to pay — and he would negotiate the best deal he could. He also threatened to keep my passport, a frightening threat since I was leaving for Canada the next morning for a two-week vacation.

After about six hours of this nightmare, I signed a confession I could not understand — it was written in Chinese — in which I apparently said I had beat the cab driver; I was made to pay him 200 kuai, or about $30 Cdn.

What was I going to do? They had threatened to keep my passport and not let me go home. They were going to throw me in jail, they said. They knew I was telling the truth. The crowd that saw the entire incident knew I was telling the truth. Sadly, not one person did the right thing. Over the course of the ordeal I figure more than 100 people had the chance to tell the truth, and not one did.

Officer Liu told me that if even one person, other than a foreigner, had stuck up for me, he would have let me go. I explained that my witness, a man from England, was not only from another country but a different continent. It didn't matter.

Race an obvious issue

Later, I wondered what would have happened if my witness had been black? Or what the outcome would have been had my witness been Japanese? Race was obviously an issue, so I wonder whether these factors would have given me more or less credibility.

I know you can't judge an entire nation on one experience, but this sort of thing is becoming more frequent. A cab driver recently tried to stab a friend of mine with a screwdriver and the police just laughed because he was able to fight him off.

After this ugly incident I am forced to re-evaluate my reasons for being here. There are days that I love living here. Honestly, China can be so wonderful. But I have now had to ask myself whether it's worth it. As time goes on, I am becoming philosophical about the ordeal and have pretty much decided to chalk it up to another weird but character-building experience, but I won't forget it.

And if you are thinking about visiting Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, neither should you.