(To see photos of the North Korean consulate and some other unnamed consulate paid for with American tax dollars, go to my blog.)
****
I woke up early this morning and decided to go off and take some pictures before breakfast. The air was chilly but the sky was clear and it was a beautiful day in Shenyang so I walked along singing "Here comes the sun." And it's all right.
But it wasn't.
I took pictures of some spring cherry blossoms and some shops and alleyways and the North Korean consulate and the Russian consulate next door to it. Good. Now I'll have more scenic photos to e-mail back home. And then I took a photo of the American consulate. And then all hell broke loose.
"Halt!" a rent-a-soldier type in a green uniform screamed at me in Chinese. I tried to ignore him and keep walking but by then I was surrounded by five or six more green rent-a-soldiers, all yelling, pointing at my camera and pointing at me. OMG. This can't be happening!
The soldiers kept yelling stuff like "Stop right there!" and "Hand over your camera!" and "I think we got us a terrorist spy here, caught in the act!" and "20 years in the gulag for her!" At least that seemed to be the gist of what they were saying in VERY expressive Chinese.
I'm screwed. I'm screwed. I'm screwed.
"English? Does anybody here speak English?" I blubbered. "I'm an American and this is MY consulate," I cried, trying to sound brave -- but it came out more like a whine as I took turns pointing at the consulate and pointing at me. Then the soldiers all went into a huddle to discuss strategy and while they weren't looking, I seriously actually considered swallowing my camera's memory card, but as quickly and surreptitiously as James Bond I managed to pocket the card instead. Hey, I gots photos of my grandchild on this card! My mission? To protect baby Mena's image at all costs!
Then the Shenyang police arrived. I wonder if Chinese jails have orange jumpsuits. Orange isn't a good color for me....
Then the head rent-a-soldier borrowed a policeman's cell phone and called up someone at the consulate. "What should we do with this grandmother ring leader terrorist criminal?" I think he said in Chinese.
"Send her to Guantanamo," must have been the reply. But cooler heads prevailed and the police officer in charge took a more realistic view of things apparently. I guess he knew what real criminals looked like and, frankly, I didn't fit the profile -- not many job opportunities for senior-citizen crooks.
"Where is your passport?" he asked.
"Back at the hotel." So they frog-marched me off to a patrol car and then to my hotel, and it was all totally embarrassing to have the entire staff of the hotel see me dragged through the front door in chains.... Well maybe not in chains. But it was still very embarrassing. And how was I going to explain to my children that they can't even let me out of their sight for one moment before I'm causing international incidents. I can just hear Ashley now. "What are we going to do with you, silly Mommy...."
Anyway, the nice police officer put me on the phone to someone at the consulate with a Chinese accent but at least he spoke English. "Are you a professional journalist?" he grilled me.
"Nope. I honestly can't say that I am. At least nobody's ever paid me so far..." But then it was my turn to ask questions. "Is it illegal to take photos of the consulate?" I asked. "Do I need a lawyer? What are they charging me with? What's your name?"
Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore.
You didn't go to any police station, just the hotel to show them your passport, which you should have been carrying with you in the first place. What would happen if you had an accident and needed help, how they going to know who you are?
These are not rent a cops, they are the front line of defense, to keep unauthorized Chinese from attempting to enter the grounds. Inside the compound as your entering the building will you encounter the Marines doing metal and bag searches.
The guards were just doing their job of inquiring who you are and your reason of being in that particular neighborhood. Which can happen in any city around the world.
Did you make it to your train to the border, Or still stuck in Shengyang without a paddle up a deep creek?
by
Stanimal (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 395 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 6:50:45 AM
Yes Jane should have been carrying her passport, but you guys obviously didn't see the humor in the article; or the underlying message that things are seriously wrong with our government. I have traveled all over the place and know how to keep out of trouble when not on US soil. The US embassy used to be a safe place for a blundering US citizen. It USED to be a beacon for freedom. US Embassies around the world now look like embattled encampments, and very scary places to approach.
by
Cynthia Pierson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 8:37:18 AM
When were American Embassies a beacon of freedom, they're frequently attacked in many countries of the world because they represent oppression and have done for many years. Guards are never required around beacons of freedom, nor politicians for that matter.
by
douglas kay (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 83 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 10:25:40 AM
Good point, Douglas, but I do remember when the American Embassy (which is supposed to be considered US soil) was often used as a sanctuary for people who were in political danger from their own governments. Ancient history.
by
Cynthia Pierson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 11:58:13 AM
Typical F in American innit, goes around foreign countries shouting I'm an American as though that is some special status, completely ignores the laws of that country and when challenged assumes the authority are rented and therefore have no authority over an AMERICAN. Every American is assumed to be CIA unless proven otherwise is now the norm in democracies throughout the world, whether Americans recognise them as democracies is beside the point.
Take my advice when you travel abroad all you Americans, keep your mouth shut unless you KNOW what you're talking about and above all recognise most foreigners are far better educated than most Americans that is why the great fear of immigrants coming to America is so rife.
by
douglas kay (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 83 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 10:13:23 AM
For those scolding Jane, appears the gallows have risen up early this morning in town square. Sheesh. I thought her article was entertaining and the point wasn't asking for your condolences of her frightful event. Hell, cameras are confiscated right here in America. WAKE THE HELL UP!
The truth of the matter is: WHY THE HELL ARE CHINESE GUARDING AN AMERICAN BUILDING? That alone pisses me off. Give the jobs to Americans. Our Corporate King just cannot allow Americans to earn some bucks. They must keep we ppl as slaves in order to control the masses of us.
I am glad your alright Jane. The outcome could have been way worse. We will be Chimerica soon enough.
by
shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 240 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 10:56:28 AM
Thanks, Shirley. I thought I was the only one who "got" it. I hardly think that Jane was trying to make some sort of statement or violate Chinese laws by taking a picture of the American Embassy!
by
Cynthia Pierson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 11:51:58 AM
Those people who for some reason thnk that ' Americans never know what they are doing in foreign countries' should put their shoes into their mouths. Americans are by far the best tourists, easy to work with and more or less self-controlled. I am talking about real tourists, normal citizens, not the CIA or some other spooks. And yes, why the Hell cannot a person photograph an embassy? Even in the former Soviet Union people could make photoes of embassies and even KGB- Hq. Jane was right: they intimidated her for no reason.
by
Mark Sashine (46 articles, 19 quicklinks, 234 diaries, 3348 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 12:55:07 PM
You speak as a tourist from the USA, who appeared to be well educated until now.
I have met 1000s of citizens of the USA in many european nations, including my own, since the mid 1960s. A very small percentage, which has got lower since the late 1990s, have been very well mannered, educated and wise, the rest could do with going back to 1st school and trying again. This includes several of the various USA Olympic Teams on their way to the 2004 Olympic games who stayed in the same hotel as I did in Prague.
I was taught at an early age to 'engage brain before opening mouth' advice I would recommend to anyone alongside 'know thine enemies'.
Your standing up for these 'tourists' is rather silly and detracts from your, sometimes, good articles and comments.
Yes I did get that Jane was being flippant, but hardly 'intimidated'.
by
sliphoch (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 20 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 2:15:34 PM
has to stand for your own people if they are wrongly smeared. I AM very educated, so really it does not matter for me if you recognize it or not. And I WILL open my mouth whenever I want, thank you very much. In the European tour reports the worst tourists are considered Israelis. Japanese are after them. CP Snow, a very famous English writer says that ' Americans are very well- behaving people on the foreign soil' and that is true ( I do not mean the military). US people are really rathey down- to Earth when it comes to the moving on the foreign territories and NONE of the US people would develop Borat or something like that. It does not mean that the US goons do not behave badly. Yes, they do. And that is inexcusable. But the simple act of making a photo and the reaction to it tells a lot. You were taught what? It does look that you were taught wrongly. We here are not that bad, surely very similar to all the others.
And one more thing: English are notorious for snottiness, arrogance and extreme shallowness which they abundantly demonstrated from Churchill to Blair and Prince Charles. That surely does not mean that an average Englishman is not well- mannered ( and BTW, CP Snow says exactly that) but it tells us that when it comes to bad manners English upper class tops the scale.
With that adjourn
by
Mark Sashine (46 articles, 19 quicklinks, 234 diaries, 3348 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 4:35:03 PM
She's blowing the incident out of proportion and making it sound like the Chinese authorities are at fault, not her for forgetting her passport in the first place. What I get from the last article is more "China Baiting" from Americans who want to blame China for their self created problems.
If you don't have your ID on you in the U.S., the police have the right to take you to a police station to find out who you are by fingerprints. That's why RFID is such a hot issue now, identification over privacy.
It sounds like Jane decided to tag along on a trip she has been with other people who, already had their visas in order long before they arrived in China. And thought that she could get one arranged expeditiously for her, being an "American". Jane has purposefully neglected to provide ALL the info surrounding this trip of hers, and revels snippets at her whim.
Most Americans that hold passports are generous tourists when abroad, but you can sure identify one in the shopping areas by how loud they are exclaiming how "Cheap" everything is when in China. As for being Americans being informed, Why did they accept Bu$h as the president, knowing the public dirt about him?
All U.S. embassies have a country's native military force out front since many of the people using them are natives of a particular country. If Jane had her passport and a Chinese phrase book with her, the whole circumstance would have been avoided. Marines guard the embassies buildings and leave the perimeter wall to locals who have a better communication capacity.
I have a problem with the Chinese who think they can walk to the front of a line for transportation tickets and have been in several scuffles with them, where we both must go to the police station to solve the issue. When the police hear my reason for my actions, its the other person who has received a ticket, and I'm allowed to go on my way. I have NEVER claimed to have been ARRESTED though, just questioned, like Jane was with her error of having no ID on her at the time.
Unlike Jane, I would have realized long ago that I was NOT going to receive a visa and would have never thought about TRYING to enter a country illegally, especially a dictatorship like N.Korea. I would NEVER go to a foreign country without a PHRASEBOOK either.
We have been hearing about this story for a week now, and Jane is STILL in Shengyang, rather than enjoying the sights of China. Which only leaves me to think that she has a lot of money to burn and much time on her hands to hang out. These are two luxuries I DON"T have.
The guards were just doing what they were ordered to do, Jane happened to be doing something that raised suspicion, and they just wanted to know who she was and why was she doing it. Taking pictures of an embassy may sound innocent, but "Terrorism" against embassies has changed the thought process of authorities observing people photographing them.
I have been blogging to Jane with phonic Chinese to help her with food and words of advice for an alternate plan, which she obviously doesn't value, as she's still in Shengyang. Which I don't understand it being mainly an industrial city. Imagine as a tourist spending a week in Cleavland, OH. or Hoboken, N.J..
Peace Out
by
Stanimal (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 395 comments)
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 5:45:51 PM
