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Subscribe to RSSBEIJING – Passengers on flights around China recently have not always been flying the friendly skies.
Late last month, on Aug. 29, Fang Daguo, a senior Guangzhou government official from the southern province of Guangdong made news in China when he had a drunken altercation with a flight attendant on a plane going between Guangzhou and Hefei.
The attack only came to light after the flight attendant posted photos of her bruises and rips in her uniform on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo.
Just a few days later, on Sept. 2, a Swiss Air flight to Beijing was forced to return to Zurich after two Chinese men got into a scuffle. According to one account, a 57-year-old male passenger became infuriated when the 29-year-old man in the seat ahead of him reclined his chair and refused to put his seat upright for the meal. Infuriated and reportedly extremely intoxicated, the elder passenger slapped the younger man in the back of the head, sparking a brawl to ensue.
Security eventually stepped in and the older passenger was restrained with cable ties at the front of the plane, where he was said to have yelled for an hour.
The captain eventually turned the plane around and returned to Zurich.
Caught on tape
Then this week, news broke of another brawl that erupted on a Sept. 7 Sichuan Airlines flight from Saipan to Shanghai. The plane, carrying Chinese tourists back home from Saipan (the largest island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States) was quiet, until a scuffle broke out between two passengers allegedly over an empty seat both wanted.
A passenger sitting several rows in front of the two angry passengers shot the video above. It shows the two male passengers just as their argument came to blows. Soon after, friends of both of the passengers joined in the melee, as others can be heard calling on the men to stop fighting.
Later into the minute long video, flight attendants and security are seen breaking up the fight and restoring order on the plane.
A spokesman for the airline told local reporters that the captain considered turning the plane around and returning to Saipan, but decided to continue on to Shanghai once the two men had been separated and were on opposite ends of the plane.
The video of the brawl was posted by the passenger on Sept. 9 and quickly gathered steam online – it’s had nearly 2 million views already.
‘How shameful!’
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen scuffles and tensions get out of control in China’s rapidly expanding airline industry. Wronged passengers in China often find sympathy among the public, who like in the U.S., often have a low opinion of airlines.
But this time there is widespread approval and empathy among China’s netizens for the airlines’ handling of this rash of bad behavior on flights.
“How shameful! What will people think of the Chinese?” wrote one Weibo user.
“Some people have terrible character,” chimed in another, “they should be punished.”
Playing to the current political tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute, one user wrote: “Let’s send them to the Diaoyu Islands to expend some of their energy.”
Perhaps. Or maybe next time just sit in the seat you were assigned.
NBC News’ Johanna Armstrong and Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
hey, they DONT know karate.wtf?
If they caught a Chinese person peeing on the streets of China, it would probably make headlines in MSNBC and spun like it was some sort of social/political issue with China or the culture of the Chinese.. Stop the hate guys, America historically diverts negative attention to its political enemies to avoid the same type of attention to their own. So is it worst to fight on planes or bomb other countries with planes based on false pre-tense of war in the Middle East?
What??
Hello Gar, I understand that every time we comment on a Communist Chinese agent's blog, he gets 25 cents. Well, Gar, have a cup of coffee on me.
I personally like the stories of the Chinese being just as stupid as everyone else in the world. It shows a measure of freedom of the press. Of course if they were a protest for democracy on the plane, everyone on the plane would be executed so that the word would not get out.
I mean, what ever happened to the student protesters in Tianamen Square? Any of them alive or do you even know about the protest? Explain who "Tank Man" was and prove you are not a Chinese Agent.
Gar, you're delirious. I've taken well over 100 flights in China (on Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, Hainan, Shenzhen, etc), and I've seen residents of China smoking on airplanes, pushing, shoving, SCREAMING to be the first person to get off the plane, shoving elderly people back into their seat so they can cut in front of them, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and you know it. Let it go.
More specifically to your point, just last night I was on the telephone with someone I discovered was a CCP member (I live in Beijing). He, like every other CCP member I have talked to, was going on and on about shootings in the US, Iraq, Afghanistan, everything else you could possibly think of. When I mentioned the islands, when I mentioned Tiananmen, when I mentioned ANYthing else (which was all based in simple fact; I referenced the LIVE news broadcast I watched in 1989), he interrupted me every two seconds to say "stop talking about that". Literally wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. When I asked him why I wasn't allowed to talk about it, he said "we Chinese don't like to think about the sad things. We know a few students were shot in the square" (far from the truth....hundreds of thousands in every major city in China is the truth...). When I asked him why I wasn't allowed to talk about the "Sad things" but he could say whatever he waned about the US, he said "because you're just telling me propaganda, the truth is that the US is a terrible place where everyone kills each other". This is not an isolated incident, this is what I get from every idiotic uneducated CCP member (I'm sure there is a better way to phrase that, I mean to say that I hear this from each and every CCP member I know, and also that each and every CCP member is an idiot and is uneducated, whether I know them or not).
And to my friend MOSinEUR, word on the street is that they are paid 1/2 of 1 RMB (thus called a "wu mao", "wu" for the number 5, and "mao" in reference to the unit of currency for half an RMB. And that amounts to 7 cents. :)
I'm Chinese and I've been here in US for six years, an international student studying in ECE. First I just want to say is that our government doesn't give a @!$%# about your little comment in this little pathetic article. So they don't have to hire people to argue with you, at least not in here. Maybe, just maybe, the only websites they care about have a large amount of Chinese viewers? Of course there are some people get paid to delete some sensitive comments and stuff off the internet. And by the way, I think they get paid much better than 1/2 RMB, seriously "wu mao" can't even get you a popsicle in China.
I bet NSA or CIA or what-f-ever agencies are monitoring the web as well in US, aren't they? Hell, you could get into real trouble just by downloading a hacked version of software. Are you purchasing all your music/movie/software legitimately, good sir? If you do, I kinda feel sad for you, because back where I come from, we don't have to pay to get them, and I might get earlier than you do. See, there are some kind of sense of freedom.
It's a fact that our media tends to focus on the negative things happened in the west, whether influenced by government or not, it is correct I will admit that. Aren't this article doing the same? Aren't there some other more important events to worry about? Conflict between China and Japan about the island territory for instance? Nobody gives a @!$%# about some random fight in flight, yet you guys are giving so much @!$%# about it. What are you trying to prove? Chinese in general are less-evolved-bad-manner-rude-animals? You whites are superior, more civilized human being?
"Each and every CCP member is an idiot and is uneducated". I simply can't imagine how a nation operate with bunch of retards, yet it survived, and still growing. Oh we don't like to talk about sad things, but you do? Things get better. How about me talking some @!$%# eating a sack of baby dicks in your face? You specifically choose the one of the darkest moment in our history in that kind of attitude, that's very nice of your CCP friends responded to you in that polite manner. If it was me you were talking to, nigga I'm gonna beat the @!$%# of you like a real nigga.
Really, I feel sad about myself to write so much @!$%# in here, but your class here is too boring for me, sorry. Now back to downloading some love-action movie.
In case you aren't aware, news is news, no matter how big or small. You should know most people don't generalize entire populations based on what they see. Give people more credit. And furthermore, how dare you, a foreign person, insult another race. You are just as bad you yellow stinking buck tooth slit eyed chink.
Lizi, I know all about "back where you come from", I've been working at Peking University for three years now. And yes, I do purchase my music/video/etc. legally. I try very hard to educate students and others to do the same, but since your government has no morals, the trickle down effect has caused most young people not to care about the difference between right and wrong either (that's the "surviving, still growing nation" you refer to. We also have this fine video to attest to the great leadership of the CCP.
I am actually very glad you responded to my comment, and voiced your opinion, even with the untoward remarks. I cannot post comments on articles like this in China Daily, as they are never, ever, ever posted (though your wu maos are always welcome to use extremely offensive language in the way they refer to Americans, Koreans, Japanese people, well, really anyone else). Of course, it explicitly states in the CD comment guidelines that you cannot use offensive language; but when your media is bought and paid for by the CCP, who cares if everyone that isn't China gets called a bunch of c**ts (this happens almost every day).
"Sensitive comments"? I'll tell you what I tell every other communist. Please, don't explain to me the 800,000 reasons why something has been deemed sensitive. To call a person's opinion "sensitive" is uneducated. And then I ask them again not to tell me the reasons, because no matter what they're going to say, I don't care what it is. The opinions of any person are not "sensitive" unless you have something to hide.
Regarding paragraph 3 of yours....yes, this article is doing the same. You have been welcomed by MSN and me to voice your opinion. Why can't I do the same on a Chinese news site?
The only thing that you've said that really stabs my soul (because as I've told you, I welcome you to state your opinions, even if I don't agree with them), is that you feel "sad" for me because I'm not stealing from our music, video, and film artists. Whether or not you agree with their contractual negotiations for digital downloading, it is their business, not yours, and you can't have their work for free. Can I walk into a shop in Haidian tomorrow and just take things, because I'm taller and bigger than most of the people in Beijing? No, I can't, and I was raised better than to do things like that. I can't tell you what to do with your computer, but I can ask you to have a little class.
Andrew
I don't think this video has anything to do with the leadership of the CCP. I'm not saying it's great, but it fits the circumstances for now. You can't expect our government suddenly becomes as "civilized" and "democratic" as yours, not under this population. If they suddenly start to enforce the copyright laws and stuff strictly, people will still refuse to buy them and find another way. In fact, our government is paying much more attention about the copyright issues than before. For instance, I can't even watch a freaking Anime in most of famous Chinese websites now. Just before the video starts to play, a message will show up on the screen saying "the content is only permitted to play inside the mainland of China, we are deeply sorry." In that case, I will just have to go to your glorious and convenient website - YouTube to watch it (I really hate the English Dub though), and let's see how good your American websites protect your own virtual properties. I can just literarily Google any American TV shows I want to watch and I will be able to find it in some non-Chinese websites (well, neglect the crappy quality of the video and annoying commercials).
So you are like a professor or something in Peking University huh, that is actually very cool. I wonder whether all your foreign/Caucasian colleagues have similar feeling towards our government. Anyway, why the heck are you staying in China when you hate the system so much? Maybe you think you can be there to make a stand or change something? See, my friend, you are worse than brad-3666799, you are racist and you don't even know it. At least he is pretty honest, "You are just as bad you yellow stinking buck tooth slit eyed chink". Your so called CCP friends are so uneducated and idiotic, so different from you of course, a professor in a top notch university in China, knows them, calls them, and makes friends of them? Can you be a little bit more hypocritical than that? I know you believe yourself to be better, superior and more civilized, so you know them, as a weird interest, almost like observing some daily actions of lab rats.
You're welcomed too, to spread your opinion. The main reason I post the previous comment is pretty much because you were accusing the other guy to be a Chinese Agent. Seriously, you guys just can't live with the fact that some white people are friendly, and saying something positive about China. And here I repeat again, our government doesn't give a donkey sh-it about your opinion, but you are free to spread it. Oh by the way, since you are currently in mainland China, I'd suggest you take some special precautions, because you never know how much they know about you. I'm sure you don't want them to know about your comment in here, do you?
Yes I do feel "sad" for you. Because you are spending extra money with no extra results doesn't necessarily make you a better man. And yes, if you are the biggest and strongest guy in Beijing, you can literally walk in any store in Haidian district and take whatever you want, that's how the world runs, and it will happen in anywhere on earth. Speaking of which, didn't your country robbed us, like 100 years ago, along with other seven countries, when you guys were pretty strong? Yeah, that was a great demonstration of how it works. We paid our taxies. And now you guys are the strongest nation on earth, so something like this will never cease to happen: Oh we Americanos need oil, let's fudge the Middle East people, nobody gives a crap of their lives, right? So stop giving me crap like "I was raised better than to do things like that".
I can't expect you to understand the environment we are born and raised. I can't expect you to respect them, but I can ask you to think about the kids who lost their parents in US bombing, how about you teach them a little class, my friend?
LIZI
P.S. brad-3666799: I insulted you, in ya face, what you gonna do about it?
china sucks
I am truely amazed at the rhetoric being used by LIZI- ANDREW and BRAD. Why; LIZI, by his/her own words is a Chineese National that has come to the United States of America to get an Education. WHY? All of the superlatives, expletives, positive and negative comments cannot deter from the truth. LIZI you said that. We in the U.S. do try feverishly to protect the rights of each other. We try to give a standard of living that is equal to none COUNTRY WIDE. I have been to China, Japan, Thailand, Philipeans, etc. on several occasions and have gotten off of the main streets of city's and towns to experience the real way the people live. What is China really like; it all depends on what the Government will allow you to see and hear, and for that matter travel to. What you are allowed to read, see and listen to on STATE OPERATED TV and STATE OPERATED NEWS PAPER is the only choice you have. What you have and what you own are totaly two different sets of values. One is what you can steal and hide- the other is what the STATE offers you. : "The Lost Girls of CHINA" a very good documentary on the ONE CHILD law (and it had better be a boy) gives insight as to the real cultural differences in countries and politics when it come to human rights.
Reverting back to the first line of this comment; "Why are you in the U.S. getting your education?" Is our educational system that much better and have freedom of choice of subject matter or do you simply enjoy the OPPORTUNITY TO BE FREE? or are you a spy?
Flight Attendants should always carry pepper spray and should not hesitate to use it on disruptive or fighting passengers. The passengers who created the ruckus should be penalized for jeopardizing the safety of other passengers. They should be fined or be prohibited from riding on any airlines for at least a year.
I think you are onto something there. Flight attendants probably should have some sort of non-lethal weapon. Pepper spray in an enclosed cabin might cause problems for other passengers. How about tasers or stun guns?
pepper spray is a BAD idea in such tight quarters. Contact stun gun would be best
Mosineur, you keep going back to the point of "freedom and human rights". But why are you not addressing my point? How is the tendency to wage war not worst than China's issues? Ok, so if China has human rights, it would then be ok for them to invade countries based on false information on WMD? Again, I'm just trying to put the global issues into perspective here. How is killing others and inoncent lives not worst. Heck, just 50 years ago, this country had human rights issues of its own with the Civil Rights movement and the majority of US prisons are still Black despite proven that Caucasians actually commit more crimes. How about shining a light on that? Why are you hating other countries but ignoring everything that is going on here.
I'm willing to bet if China does everything the USA is doing, you'll have even greater problems with them. That's because you're not actually focused on the issue itself but just practicing blind patriotism. If China has human rights but have military bases all around your country, it would be better? lol Yet this is what the Chinese is facing and get criticized for being "aggressive".
You mentioned freedom of press, but is it really? Because it reads pretty biased and political to me which btw is the reason why the Chinese control their press as well. For example, why am I not reading more articles about Israelis mistreating the Palestinian? Why am I not reading articles about Japanese aggression in Asia by taking islands from China and Korea (do some research Diao Yu Island belongs to China)? Why is the protest in Yemen not talked about as much as the protest in Libya and other places that aren't allies?
Btw, I'm 100% American and just because I'm not drinking the koolaid does not make you more American than I am. Heck I can't even make a comment about our country without being bashed on now, this is how I know we're in trouble.
go ahead drink more koolaid its ok then go there spend the rest of your life there thats ok tooooo stop bashing us here in usa understand that ENDS
GAR---You may have caught me at a bad time. Sorry about that. Your comment about the prison population is of no merit. Check the statistics. they are out there. Please, to save yourself from embarrassment, don't state facts that have not been proven. California has 36 State of California Prisons. The population is amazingly very 1/3 1/3 1/3. The population excedes 200,000. The State system is truely trying to rehabilitate prisoners in the Inmate Work Program...teaching inmates how to weld, read blueprints, operate heavy machinery, AND GET AN EDUCATION..it is there all the inmate has to do is ...well, ...do it.
In China they are hell holes. Our Child labor laws and Juvenile Justice System has several volumns pertaining to the laws that govern their operations. China's is 7 pages long. I have read it...and quite honestly I like it. With out going into detail; A child is supposed to go to school. If he/she doesn't. They are punished one time by the school headmaster and a report given to the parent WITH CONSEQUENCES> The next time the child is PUBLICLY SCRUTENIZED. The THIRD TIME THE PARENT AND THE CHILD are PUBLICLY CRUTENIZED. If the behavior persists the child may be placed in a labor camp or placed into the RED GUARD.\
LIZI---is this why you came to America to get your education?
Why did I come here? Frankly it wasn't my choice, if I can choose, I wouldn't decide to come here. I might end up being very low in society or whatever, sure, but I will be much happier for sure. At least I will have friends and family that actually care for me. Here, think about your friend, they all seemed pretty nice and friendly right? But they are just being "civilized", deep down inside, they don't give a crap about you honestly-no matter the races.
For a common kid, you may not want to grow up in China, because it is kind of hard, parents will want you to learn playing piano, writing, competitive math; teachers will personally monitoring and pushing you doing your homework, having a decent grade, etc.
But it's nothing like you described, seriously, Red Guard? Hate to tell you this, but I don't think the rules you read were not true. I was in Chinese public school for about ten years(staring at six if you don't count kindergarten), so I think I just know a little better than you about our educational system. I have no idea where you read the rules you are talking about, but if I skip school for good, eventually nothing will happen, except your parents will be really sad, I even had some friends dropped out school just because they didn't want to study anymore. I think you need to get your facts right, and then you can correct other people's statics and tell them "save yourself from embarrassment".
Chinese are the rudest crudest of all nationalities when outside their home country....no concept of manners or private space or how to be considerate of those occupying the nearby space....a Chinese driving a car thinks they are the only vehicle on the road, a Chinese on a airplane thinks nothing of using the air sickness bag as a toilet, a Chinese in a hotel room spits and coughs and gags for hours every morning, a Chinese in a restaurant will shot and yell on a cell phone call. It never surprises me and never ceases to amaze me. They have a long way to go, before taking a role of world leader, trust me, working for pennies and copying somebody else's design only goes so far, and from what I can tell that jig is just about up.
You are totally ridiculous. You described people from MANY places. Besides the Chinese that act badly are uneducated peasants, not the higher classes.
Crass nouveaux riche parvenu losers.
I remember the time I was on a public transportation bus in Chongqing and an elderly Chinese woman boarded at the next stop and had nowhere to sit, forcing her to stand in the aisle. I noticed that not one of the Chinese passengers offered her a seat. I started to get up and offer my seat to the woman when my wife pulled me back into my seat and told me "We don't do that in China". I pulled my arm out of her hand and told her that I didn't give a damn which country I was in and that it would be a cold day in hell when I sat in a seat while an elderly man or woman was forced to stand. I stood up and offered the woman my seat but she was hesitant to take it. I then took her by the hand and led her to the seat. The other passengers looked at me like I had tried to rape a child but I ignored them. When the bus stopped at my desired location and I started to exit the woman touched my hand and said "xie xie" but she wouldn't look at me. I think she feared reprisals from the other passengers.
On another occasion I was exiting a bus and while on the bus steps leading to the sidewalk two men carrying a large box tried to go around me, forcing me to fall down on the sidewalk. I got up, grabbed the leading man's arm and jerked him away from his box and threw him on the sidewalk, saying "@!$%# you, @!$%#". The two men did nothing but my wife said "You don't do that in China. The police will put you in jail". I told her I didn't give a @!$%# and that was the end of that.
Most of my friends in China are polite, courteous and civil. They would give me the shirts off their backs without me having to ask if they thought I needed them. On the other hand, as in any country, many of them are rude and crude to the point of disgust.
I can see that happening. This being said, NYC isn't much better. Pregnant? Using a walker? Amputated legs? Trust me, nobody will offer you a seat.
oops, wrong area.
I like many things about China. This confuses my friends in America. I tell them they should travel outside of the country. I have been in Japan eight times and my next trip will be to China. I want to go to The Wudang Mountain and visit the Taoist shrine. Of course I am a fan of that film "Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon"
I met Li Gong once by accident when she was filming "Memoirs of a Geisha." She was paying for some family member at a hotel where I was working. My heart jumped out of my shirt and I could not help but ask her if I could have a photo with her. She was so nice and smiled. She seemed to be a little surprised that this Californian guy recognized her. And her husband at that time was the one who took the photo. It was and still is one of the greatest moments in my life.
I am also a fan of Wong Faye. I love her music and all of the films she has done. I even married a girl that looks similar to her.
I don't know why I'm telling you this. I guess it's because I have been exposed to a tiny bit of Chinese culture and it has helped me cope with the crazy capitalism that goes on here in America. It is some of that Chinese culture that has helped bring peace into my heart and head.
For some reason this makes me really warm inside, love you sir :)
Andrew, you are obviously a moron. Stop slandering the Chinese because you feel yourself as an incompetent fool.
I only ask myself, why so many bash the USA yet they come to live here, work here and have tons of babies ?
BTW, I like China been there but smells awful.
Everybody was kung fu fighting. Those cats were fast like lightning. In fact, it's a little bit frightening cause they did it with expert timing. It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew his part....
Boy, China is getting a lot of run today in the nutjob department. If the US isn't careful, we'll lose our Number # 1 status in that, too.
"Please turn off all electronic devices during takeoff, landing, and in-flight fights. Thank you for flying Chinese airlines."
Everybody was kung fu fighting
Those kids were fast as lightning
Infact it was a little bit frightening
But they fought with expert timing
They were funky Chimanen
From funky Chinatown
They were chopping them up
they were chopping them down....
The Chinese are no more than low class farmers dressed in Western attire! Why is this any surprise?? They were better off tending to their rice farms than emulating the White man!! They have zero class!!
i think more americans know martial arts than most chinese nowadays.. dont ask me how i know , cause i dont !!
@Sichuan , it think you are a bit too light hearted.. the world is great,just do what you can and leave the rest to the heavens, what goes around comes around.. i believe that, so enjoy the journey !!
i think all flight attendants should have M-16 's , blast the @!$%# out of rudely passengers or maybe even terrrorists..