The story of a stolen bike that has been found and returned has triggered a fierce round of public discussion in China. Kawahara Keiichiro, a 28-year-old volunteer who tours around the world on a bicycle, retrieved his bike on Monday, three days after his sole means of transportation was stolen in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
Besides the dedication of local police, the involvement of netizens through social media was a huge help in quickly finding the bike.
This is supposed to be a cheerful result, however, the Wuhan police, who took charge of the case, became a target of criticism after getting the bike back as they were blamed for giving special attention to a foreigner.
The reaction of Chinese people to this incident is rather self-contradictory. Initially, after losing the bike, Kawahara's friend posted the incident on Sina Weibo. The post unexpectedly became a sensation on the Internet. Over 50,000 responses called on Web users to help find the bike. "It's a matter of China's face," one post read, followed by many similar messages. An overwhelming number of posts expressed clear displeasure at the theft.
It seems that no matter what the fate of this bike would be, it would stir certain sentiment among Chinese, since it belonged to a foreigner.
It was only a commonplace incident, but Chinese people made it a vital matter that concerns the country's international image. However, after the face of China was successfully safeguarded, complaints emanated that special care was given to a foreigner, which is inappropriate. Why can most stolen belongings of local people not be retrieved in the same speedy manner?
A simple bike has seemingly reflected an embarrassing situation, namely that Chinese still cannot view foreigners equally. People are still too sensitive to foreign evaluations of the country and confined to an inferior mentality.
The local police of Wuhan made a statement on Tuesday that they did not give special attention to the case. This is a comprehensive matter. Since the bike owner has enjoyed VIP treatment from nearly the whole country during this incident, is it fair to solely blame the police?