Those that are opposed to greater police powers will often cite examples of other countries where greater police power means no freedom for the citizens of that country and that we have now started down a road towards a similar situation ourselves. China is a placard most frequently waved aloft during these debates. The western media still refer to China as if the country was still as controlled as Stalinist Russia or North Korea.
One of the main targets for criticism tends to be the local police forces, who are regularly portrayed as all being brutal torturers: hardeyed unforgiving fanatics intent on stamping out any perceived demonstrations of free thought or individual expression. Ideas such as this have resurfaced more regularly with the build-up to the Olympics and Steven Spielberg's recent resignation as artistic adviser, although this was apparently motivated by the conflict in Sudan. To the average person in China, such comments appear at best confusing and at worst insulting.
Although such timeless national cultural concepts as relationships or guanxi and face exist as much in policing as elsewhere in Chinese life, it is far from the corrupt totalitarian image beloved of western media. That's not say that local propaganda is completely true either, the truth, unsurprisingly, lies somewhere in between.
Local Chinese people do not live in constant fear of the police as foreign media reports would have us believe nor is there the widespread cynicism in the abilities of the police to protect the public and uphold the law that is seen at home. In China the police are still overwhelmingly respected and seen as a benevolent force.
There must be countless western politicians who are envious of working in similar conditions. They would argue that this level of social control and resulting social order is only achieved through what might be termed as excessive policing.
However this is far from the entire truth. China has long had a culture of civil obedience, it is a key part of Confucian thought that many occidentals find difficult to comprehend. It is yet another example of foreign correspondents not being able to fully understand different cultures and applying their own cultural norms to them.
Another aspect of this kind of thought manifests itself in the repeated use of accepted stereotypes. Consequently many articles about China tend to follow these stereotypes rather than challenge them as it is what is expected and anything contravening it would be seen as 'wrong'.
All of which is probably quite confusing to the average Chinese police officer who must wonder what he or she has ever done to invoke such wrath. To them, all they have done is try to serve their country and attempt to make it a better and safer place to live. On the whole they have succeeded, one only has to live in China for a short time before it becomes apparent how much safer it is to walk the city streets than it is in many western countries. While British cities become reminiscent of battle grounds on a weekly basis such scenes in China are non-existent.
Furthermore, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked 34 countries for drugs crimes committed per 100,000 people. China came 33rd with 3.9, this was substantially lower than the figures for the UK (214.3), Canada (285.5) and the USA (560.1).
All encounters I've had with police in China have been friendly, polite, courteous and, all in all, completely professional even when I have broken the law. This though has not been the case for my encounters with officers of the law in the UK and the USA where no offence was committed but where the police often view themselves as being above the law, and act accordingly.
All of which makes it obvious that the vast majority of those who write about China don't live in the country and have probably never been there, let alone understand its culture, or even attempt to. If they did then they would see that the average police officer in China is a normal hardworking person doing his or her best to fulfill or her duties to the best of his or her abilities and not a cloven-hoofed minion of some perceived devil state.
That is not to say that the police aren't reported on from both extremes of the spectrum. The recent snow storms that wreaked havoc on the country at the peak travelling time of the year saw it receive huge amounts of criticism for badly letting down its migrant workers in their efforts to get home for the Spring Festival as well as for blocking many from entering train stations for shelter.
Although not responsible for the response to the worst weather in half a century it was the police (and army) who had to implement it. Part of the government's strategy was to release propaganda videos of all the hard work being done by the police and army in service of the motherland to help alleviate the situation, to show that something was been done.
However, just because the coverage was propaganda doesn't mean that the work of the police should be dismissed. There are many members of the police force who worked over-time in appalling weather conditions to try to help as many people as they could travel home while at the same time having no opportunity to travel themselves. Meanwhile in the UK significant rail delays can occur, not as a result of a couple of feet of snow falling in a couple of days, but from the "wrong type of snow" falling on the lines.
Foreigners living in China are more likely to see the better side of policing in China. There are countless countries where one is expected to provide a gift to someone in a position of power to smooth your progress through the country, or in to and out of it. This simply doesn't happen in China, certainly not a on a day-to-day basis or while travelling through the country. Those who may have to maintain the correct level of guanxi may well question this interpretation. The first response of a police officer in China is still likely to be how they can help you while in China and to do so amicably. By law, foreigners in China are required to carry identification including proof of residence at all times. The police are well within their rights to stop anyone and ask for this. This may sound like it might impinge on one's sense of freedom, however it almost never happens.
This is in sharp contrast to Russia where the police often seek out foreigners, often hanging around tourist sights, to ask them for the documentation in order to find the slightest bureaucratic inconsistency which they can then use as leverage in negotiations to top up their take-home pay. As stated previously, China is a very safe place to live, however this safety rarely appears won at the expense of individual freedom. Indeed in some aspects, life in China can be seen to have much greater freedom than in the west. With regards to nightlife you are not told when to stop drinking by the government, but rather may cease when you choose.
Shops are open at much more reasonable hours than they are in the UK including all day Sunday (when most of the population isn't working) rather than for a short period of time, and generally there are no religious restrictions on any part of life as there are in other parts of the world. Nor are foreigners required to live in small enclaves subject to comparatively strict laws as they are in parts of the Middle East.
Overall the average policeman or woman in China is a diligent worker trying to do his or her best for the community, not some tool of the state whose sole purpose in life is to eliminate any challenge to the party. Rather they are attempting to, as in many countries, eliminate crime or at least reduce it as much as possible. Society does not generally fear the police but respect them, much more so than in many western countries. In fact a westerner living in China may well have more freedom than they do at home in some respects and certainly more than they would in some other countries. To those considering living and working in China and who are worried about safety and stability, the truth is they would be hard-pressed to find another place as safe and stable to live in and that being an Sinex-patriate doesn't equate to total submission before thought-police.
This article is provided by Shanghai Economist.
For more information, please visit their website: www.sh-economist.com.
It is common to see features in newspapers and magazines in the west about the Downfall of Society: ever-increasing problems caused by anti-social behaviour, drugs, religion and especially the threat of terrorism. An over-simple and much-vaunted solution to this has been an increase in police presence and powers. Such alterations are generally perceived as reducing human rights and so begins an endless debate of civil liberties versus an increase in security and stability.
