An Expat's Month in Jail

[Randy W]

in the Wall Street Journal

A Bar Tussle Ends in a Beijing Jail: A Young Expat’s Story

Late that Thursday evening, he and his friend were taken on a drive. Noak assumed he was moving closer to freedom.

Instead the car entered gates surrounded by tall walls topped by barbed wire.

 

“Until then I had almost been laughing at how silly it all was,” Noak said. Now, “fear was coupled with a sense of: How has it gotten this far?”

 

The two friends were issued coarse gray pants and jackets. They were given a thick comforter each and taken through a series of locked doors. Then they were separated.

 

Noak was taken to a cell with six beds, all occupied. Two men were sitting up, one Nigerian and one Chinese, part of a system where the inmates divided up two-hour shifts of “watch duty,” a way to maintain order and perhaps also a result of there not being enough beds. Guards made sure those on watch didn’t drop off via periodic checks.

 

The Nigerian said he had been there 15 months. He told Noak to take over for the Chinese inmate, who immediately went to sleep on the floor.

 

and the Shanghaiist:

 

Bar scuffle ends in Beijing jail for young Swede, incredible account of his ordeal emerges

 

 

The young Swede is not the first foreigner to end up behind bars in China. In 2011 an American told of his experience in a Shanghai jail after overstaying his tourist visa and leading the authorities on a cat-and-mouse chase around the city. Two years ago a New Zealander released a video describing the brutal treatment and violence he suffered while in a Chinese prison.

 

[Guest SloppyZhou_]

Rich expats who move to China and live in compounds continue to learn that it's better to leave their privilege back at the compound before they go out on the streets of China.

[tsap seui]

NO matter who you are or where you are....John Q Law has a long arm. You do stupid, you will GET stupid. And so it goes.

 

[warpedbored]

Too many Americans who go abroad forget that the bill of rights does not go with them. They shouldn't expect preferential treatment just because they are US citizens.

[amberjack1234]

Too many Americans who go abroad forget that the bill of rights does not go with them. They shouldn't expect preferential treatment just because they are US citizens.

You are exactly right Carl. China use to coddle American tourist but with China's wealth growing every day and power on the world platform that is changing now and probably will continue to grow as time go on.