Violent Attack Targets Foreigner

My colleague just forwarded me this article from City Weekend....

Yet another attack on a foreigner (and a Chinese man who was with the foreigner)

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/expat-...

City Weekend has learned of a rather shocking attack that occurred over the weekend near Sanlitun. The victim of the crime contacted us in the hope that he can keep the expat community better informed as to what is happening in Beijing.

On Friday night (Aug. 10th), around 8pm, a foreign man was walking with his Chinese boss from the SOHO Nexus building towards the Sanlitun SOHO building. As they approached the intersection of Baijiazhuang Lu, four Chinese men appeared from nowhere and began attacking them. From his account, three of them were beating him while one went after his boss.

He was thrown to the ground, beaten in the face and kicked repeatedly, all while yelling for them to stop. There were other people in the area at the time, but none stepped in to offer assistance. At some point during the attack, he managed to break free, only to be struck from behind. A few moments later the assailants suddenly stopped, and ran off.

The most chilling part of the story is what happened next. As they ran away, one of the men shouted (in English), "Get the f*ck out of our country! We don't want your kind here!" He suffered a mild concussion and some other minor injuries as a result of the attack.

According to the expat, this was not an attempted robbery and the men did not seem at all intoxicated. He had never seen them before, meaning there was no way this was some sort of retaliation for a perceived wrong. It was a genuinely random attack, specifically targeted at a foreigner.

The reason he came forward with his story was because he feels as though he's likely not the first person this has happened to. He wants people to understand that when they see a fight happening, it's not always a drunken brawl. Sometimes people genuinely need help and he hopes in the future that bystanders, foreign and Chinese alike, will at least consider stepping in.

I am posting this because it is Friday again and most of us will be going out tonight. I urge you all to exercise extreme caution, especially if you aren't with a group. Be safe out there kiddos!