Chinese tourists let their child urinate in Hong Kong street, spark diplomatic spat - Polidicks

[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/04/30/chinese-toddler-pees-in-hong-kong-street-stirs-online-firestorm/[/url] [quote]Most Americans may not know what it means to “take the piss,” a British phrase for saying or doing something mocking or contemptuous that’s aimed at aggravating somebody else. But in another former British colony the idiom may be rapidly acquiring a whole new level of aggression. A new, social media-fueled controversy is aggravating tensions between Hong Kong and China, which has ruled the territory since 1997. Footage emerged online last week of an incident in which a toddler -- the child of mainland Chinese tourists -- was seen urinating in a Hong Kong street. In the video, an angry, hectoring crowd in Mong Kok, a packed shopping district popular with Chinese tourists, surrounds the family, causing the child to cry. The parents try to grab the memory card of someone in the crowd who had filmed the child. People in the crowd shout at the family in Cantonese, as the parents respond in Mandarin. The mother was reportedly arrested for allegedly slapping someone. (You can watch one bystander's clip here.) The video went viral, playing to the longstanding frustrations of Hong Kong residents who resent the influx of mainlanders into their city. Hong Kong's commerce secretary used the occasion to urge residents to calmly teach their mainland brethren better manners, a statement that, while aimed at being conciliatory, smacked of condescension. ... The Global Times, a Beijing-based state newspaper, issued a stern editorial on the matter, condemning Hong Kong's coterie of "hooligans": This handful of radicals in Hong Kong remind us of the rampant skinheads and neo-Nazis in Europe. Xenophobia is the cult of these groups. Their opinions have an effect on public opinion, but their actions will usually make trouble for mainstream society. But it went on to add, perhaps more reasonably: Hong Kong returned to China not long ago, which means it is still a young member in this big Chinese family. It is unavoidable that some troublemakers will keep posing challenges to society. But it must be noted that these people cannot be dealt with at the cost of the harmony of the whole nation. Patriotism demands this massive country should have a certain tolerance for frictions within different groups. The concern in Hong Kong over the mainland "threat" isn't just about urine in the streets and baby formula off store shelves. Hong Kong residents are seeing an erosion of political freedoms as Beijing's authority tightens over the restless special administrative region. In February, a prominent journalist known for his work covering human rights and corruption was targeted in a mysterious knife attack. The violence raised fears of censorship and of darker forces from the mainland subduing Hong Kong's noisy public sphere.[/quote] [url]http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1494356/hongkongers-clash-mainland-parents-after-allow-two-year-old[/url] [quote]A dispute between mainland Chinese tourists and locals over a toddler urinating in a Hong Kong street has once again become a flash point in already tense cross-border relations. This time, the dispute ended in a scuffle that led to the arrest of a mainland couple, the parents of the toddler, and a massive online uproar in both Hong Kong and the mainland. Several video clips that have been widely circulated online did not capture the scenes of the toddler urinating, but show the young couple, carrying their two-year old boy, locked in a fierce quarrel with two local Hong Kong young men, as one of whom took photos of the scene at Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok. During the scuffle the couple snatched the memory card from the young man’s camera and tried to leave the scene. The young men stopped them from leaving and called the police. Surrounded by onlookers on the street, the woman desperately explained to the crowd that they had found a public toilet but saw there was a long queue, so had no other choice but to let their child to relieve himself on the street instead. “The kid was going to pee in his pants, what do you want me do?” the mother asked the young men. Her enraged husband repeatedly asked the two men: “Do you have a kid? Do your children take pees?” The two men held onto the pram to stop the couple from leaving, prompting the woman to hit one of the men on his arm. The video clips ended when a police officer arrived at the scene. The husband and wife, both two-way permit holders, were subsequently arrested on suspicion of theft and assault respectively during the incident, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong police told the South China Morning Post on Tuesday.[/quote]

I went to China once, this is common practice for toddlers. xD

[quote]But in another former British colony...[/quote] :v:

I once went to the opera house in Beijing. Saw a mom instructing her toddler to just pee right there on the floor. When he was done they just walked away. I think this is an overreaction considering how the Chinese treat their own cultural heritage sites without as much as batting an eye.

[QUOTE=Kayl;44709174]I went to China once, this is common practice for toddlers. xD[/QUOTE] This is also common everywhere East of the prime meridian, not so extreme though like pissing right in the open or on a floor

[QUOTE=LVL FACTORY;44711555]This is also common everywhere East of the prime meridian, not so extreme though like pissing right in the open or on a floor[/QUOTE] So everyone pisses on the floor in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia?

[QUOTE=Kagrs;44711317]I think this is an overreaction considering how the Chinese treat their own cultural heritage sites without as much as batting an eye.[/QUOTE] A lot of Hong Kongers express feelings of cultural superiority towards Mainland Chinese - it's just confirmation bias at work

[QUOTE=Saturn V;44711703]So everyone pisses on the floor in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia?[/QUOTE] In Australia we water trees. Pissing on the floor is considered disgusting; thought drunks sometimes piss in stairwells.

Fun fact: people literally squat and take shits in the streets and metro stations of China. My Chinese friend who went to visit family in Shanghai was absolutely horrified.

It's common sight here that parents let a toddler pee on the grass in the park. Not so much on a sidewalk, but on the grass or next to a tree? Nobody rises a brow. It just sounds like a catalyst for longer built up tension to me. [editline]3rd May 2014[/editline] I mean, it's not like the park isn't literally heaping with dog shit and overflowing with dog piss, who cares if a toddler adds to it here and there.

Well when I was going to an Iron Maiden gig last summer I had to take a piss real bad. Luckily there was a hill filled with trees next to the stadium. Had to Run to the Hills and take a piss.

[QUOTE=James*;44711735]A lot of Hong Kongers express feelings of cultural superiority towards Mainland Chinese - it's just confirmation bias at work[/QUOTE] And the mainland is trying to assimilate/integrate Hong Kong.

[QUOTE=deltasquid;44711943]Fun fact: people literally squat and take shits in the streets and metro stations of China. My Chinese friend who went to visit family in Shanghai was absolutely horrified.[/QUOTE] Many of the Chinese have absolutely no respect for anything. Not for their own country. Not for the environment. Not for anything. And they're supposed to become the most powerful economy on the planet. NOTE: I'm not saying that all Chinese people do this shit. But it's enough that it's a substantial amount. Look to videos of people throwing shit at zoo animals. It drives me mad.

[QUOTE=Saturn V;44711703]So everyone pisses on the floor in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia?[/QUOTE] I can assure you that the Dutch do not piss on the floor. We piss practically everywhere else but not on floors.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;44712896]And the mainland is trying to assimilate/integrate Hong Kong.[/QUOTE] And what do you mean by 'the mainland' Beijing might be trying to, but the average mainlander in Hong Kong is a tourist or a shopper and would be there whatever the CCP's intentions towards HK were. I don't think the average shopper is there with the intention of 'assimilating' Hong Kong, and I think this is a distinction a lot of HKers fail to make as well [editline]3rd May 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Grimhound;44712968]Look to videos of people throwing shit at zoo animals[/QUOTE] Well I thought you were just making racist generalizations but I see you've done some thorough research into the topic

[QUOTE=deltasquid;44711943]Fun fact: people literally squat and take shits in the streets and metro stations of China. My Chinese friend who went to visit family in Shanghai was absolutely horrified.[/QUOTE] I got this same exact information from an American bro who was working in China, he said much the same to me.

[QUOTE=James*;44713071]And what do you mean by 'the mainland' Beijing might be trying to, but the average mainlander in Hong Kong is a tourist or a shopper and would be there whatever the CCP's intentions towards HK were[/QUOTE] You assimilate an area by making "your people" the majority. People who have business interests in both Hong Kong and the mainland that would like to see less of a separation.

[QUOTE=James*;44713071]And what do you mean by 'the mainland' Beijing might be trying to, but the average mainlander in Hong Kong is a tourist or a shopper and would be there whatever the CCP's intentions towards HK were. I don't think the average shopper is there with the intention of 'assimilating' Hong Kong, and I think this is a distinction a lot of HKers fail to make as well[/QUOTE] The average shoppers may not be intentionally trying to assimilate/ integeate, but they are doing their part. 1.) Due to the influx of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, now 2/3 of Hong Kongers speaks Mandarin compare to 1/3 back in 1997. However, English skills have steadily declined since 1997. 2.) Some shops and restaurants have replaced traditional characters with simplified characters in their menu to accommodate the mainland visitors. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, we use traditional characters. 3.) As well as shoppers and tourists, another group of Mainlanders in Hong Kong are CCP officials working in Hong Kong. Until recently, they are only allowed to work for a limited amount of time in Hong Kong before they are sent back to the mainland. However, now, the CCP government introduced a program that allow CCP officials in Hong Kong to bring their family to Hong Kong and they all get to become Hong Kong citizen.

The Chinese are some of the worst tourists in the world, if not the worst.

Damn mainland Chinese ruining my streets. But they are actually really annoying, just loud and obnoxious as hell.

Okay I can take them poisoning our milk or brainwashing our kids but pissing on our streets is fucked up

Wow a toddler pissed in public. That's never happened EVER!

Yah both times in china I saw this happen repeatedly. The funniest was when this toddler pissed all over the first courtyard in the forbidden city.

This is fairly common, and kinda gross. I'm not sure if it's the fact that public toilets are unusual or something. I once was in a gigantic Chinese mall at Beijing, really modern an all. Walked through as usual and bam I see this scene unfolding: [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/3QBpFs4.png[/IMG] Looked more hilarious in real life (^that's supposed to be a trashcan^).

[QUOTE=download;44711738]In Australia we water trees. Pissing on the floor is considered disgusting; thought drunks sometimes piss in stairwells.[/QUOTE] I always help a mate out by pissing on their gardens

Eh they weren't just letting the kid take a piss in the middle of the street, the kid was taking a shit. And since I would consider Hong Kong a very easy place to find a toilet, there's really no reason at all for them to be taking a shit or even pissing on a populated street, this is just out right wrong and illegal. Hell they could've even found a alley to get the business done for good rather than doing it in the middle of a very populated street. Also isn't there a thing called diaper made for children to prevent these kind of situations? What isn't mentioned in the post was that at one point the parents even pushed their child to the people filming them telling them to take the child and tried to walk away. What the fuck like who on earth does this?

[QUOTE=Kingbob387;44716897]Eh they weren't just letting the kid take a piss in the middle of the street, the kid was taking a shit. And since I would consider Hong Kong a very easy place to find a toilet, there's really no reason at all for them to be taking a shit or even pissing on a populated street, this is just out right wrong and illegal. Hell they could've even found a ally to get the business done for good rather than doing it in the middle of a very populated street. Also isn't there a thing called diaper made for children to prevent these kind of situations? What isn't mentioned in the post was that at one point the parents even pushed their child to the people filming them telling them to take the child and tried to walk away. What the fuck like who on earth does this?[/QUOTE] QFT id at least find an alley or go behind some wall if a toilet absolutely couldn't wait....

[QUOTE=deltasquid;44711943]Fun fact: people literally squat and take shits in the streets and metro stations of China. My Chinese friend who went to visit family in Shanghai was absolutely horrified.[/QUOTE] It's a weird sight to behold either way. Some years ago I dropped by the Forbidden City, among other cultural highlights, only to find random people taking shits right in front of the very gates of these places. One mother was herding her child, who was actually wearing pants with a hole cut into the related area, around the vicinity of the Forbidden City gates and simply instructed him to take a shit right there. I don't think it's as much the Chinese not giving a fuck as the majority of Chinese simply being horribly uneducated/ignorant/unaware of their cultural heritage. The ones who are cursing up a storm are the ones with an education I assume, while millions upon millions of uneducated (illiterate even, which is crazy to imagine) simply don't know and haven't bothered to find out precisely why are all the foreign people lined up in front of these places.