When the story initially broke December 2 on Weibo, the version of events indicated a middle-aged Chinese woman had accused a foreigner, presumably from the UK, of hitting and severely injuring her with his bike. He, and eye-witnesses at the time, denied this — stating that she simply fell to the ground after he passed.
The altercation happened in Beijing’s Chaoyang District. The ensuing argument between the woman and the young foreign man continued for some time, resulting in the man’s jacket being torn and the woman clearly illustrating her injuries were not serious as she tried to maintain her grip on his scooter and get the crowd on her side.
Bystanders and rubberneckers swelled things in the area to a stand-still. From chinaSMACK:
The unnamed foreigner in question, the damage to his coat clearly visibleAfterward, this woman obstinately clung to the man’s scooter refusing to let go. The accident caused a traffic jam at the scene for over an hour, with the woman limping and twitching multiple times, insisting that she was knocked over by the foreign young man and that he should be held responsible, forcing the foreign young man into tears.
Not long after the incident occurred, the police arrived on the scene and both parties proceeded to Meitan General Hospital. After being examined by doctors and X-rayed, it was diagnosed that the woman was not injured at all. The woman then once again collapsed to the ground screaming that she was in pain/discomfort. Finally, after negotiations between the two, the foreign young man had no choice but to compensate 1800 yuan in “medical expenses†before the woman would drop the matter and leave.
While originally popular opinion seemed to side with the foreigner obviously being scammed by a woman, multiplereports (and here, and here) since have adjusted their stance and now state the woman was telling the truth and the foreigner actually did hit the woman with his scooter unregistered, red-light-running motorbike.
While it certainly doesn’t prove things one way or the other, a lot of the revised reports have centered on a video that shows the foreigner cursing the woman out something fierce:
Whether at fault or not, the incident once again illustrates how vitally important it is to try and keep your cool in these types of situations. While the more recent updates are shakily resting on after the fact “independent eye-witness accounts”, it appears that the biggest sway in public opinion came from the surfacing of the video that has a foreigner calling a Chinese woman a “dumb cunt” and “fuck your [various family members]”. Justified (under the presumption that he was being extorted and also that he was violently attacked) or not, once you start shouting strong curses in Chinese to a Chinese in front of a crowd of Chinese, you’ve lost.
UPDATE [December 6, 2013]:Sinopathic has a new post featuring pretty concrete video evidence (embedded below) that the foreigner was completely responsible for the accident and did indeed hit the woman with his bike.
Wrong. The lesson here is, if somebody is trying to extort money from you in this way, you do the same thing you would do if on fire. Stop, Drop, and Roll on the ground together with the liar in fake agony.
Look at that ‘concrete video evidence’ carefully. I see a child dressed in white on that motorbike, and you see him/her falling off at the moment the bike hits the pedestrian. It’s a different video from a different accident, used to incriminate the guy. There were 2 people on that bike, in typical Chinese style.
Pretty sure that’s his girlfriend, who was with him on the bike and was later interviewed about the accident (admitting that they hit the woman). You can clearly see them hit the woman, he gets off, and she stays sitting on the bike.
Yes, I later noticed the 3rd person dressed lighter than him. She(?) sat at the back and stayed on the bike. I’m talking about the child holding onto the driver, hugging him(?) from the front. It’s clear the child (dressed in white) is thrown forward at the moment of impact. The fact was obscured by a red circle in state media, but it’s clear to see in this embedded video. If I’m right, this video is from a different crash, used to incriminate the foreigner in reaction to his insult video.
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Wrong. The lesson here is, if somebody is trying to extort money from you in this way, you do the same thing you would do if on fire. Stop, Drop, and Roll on the ground together with the liar in fake agony.
Things will probably just cancel out.
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Look at that ‘concrete video evidence’ carefully. I see a child dressed in white on that motorbike, and you see him/her falling off at the moment the bike hits the pedestrian. It’s a different video from a different accident, used to incriminate the guy. There were 2 people on that bike, in typical Chinese style.
Pretty sure that’s his girlfriend, who was with him on the bike and was later interviewed about the accident (admitting that they hit the woman). You can clearly see them hit the woman, he gets off, and she stays sitting on the bike.
Yes, I later noticed the 3rd person dressed lighter than him. She(?) sat at the back and stayed on the bike. I’m talking about the child holding onto the driver, hugging him(?) from the front. It’s clear the child (dressed in white) is thrown forward at the moment of impact. The fact was obscured by a red circle in state media, but it’s clear to see in this embedded video. If I’m right, this video is from a different crash, used to incriminate the foreigner in reaction to his insult video.