Sometimes I really envy the U.S. and the American government.
I mean, your policemen can defend themselves with a gun without having to worry about being fired or even prosecuted. Recently there's a case in China where a policeman was arresting a criminal in a rural village, and he was almost beaten to death by the criminal's family and relatives. The last thing he managed to do is to handcuff himself together with the criminal, before he lost consciousness.
Another case in Guangzhou, where a policeman shot dead an axe-wielding person in a densely populated shopping area, and he was criticized so heavily on the Chinese Internet such that his superiors, under public pressure, agreed to "look into the matter" and "give a satisfactory answer". Many Chinese people argued that he could have "lifted his gun an inch" and simply immobilise the person instead of shooting him dead.
Then look at what happens when the HK police uses tear-gases. The whole city went nuts and the Western media is all fired up. Many called it a potential "Tiananmen", many more are anticipating tanks rolling and are criticizing China based on speculation. Both the U.S. and the U.K. expressed "concern" and "urged" China to "behave".
Today thousands of national guards are out on duty to protect important facilities around the country. I hope one day when a riot takes place in my home country, and the armed police is deployed for the same purposes, people, both Chinese and outsiders, do not make a big fuss out of it, or wrongly accuse us for that matter.
I really, really hope that day will come when the U.S. and other western countries can reciprocate our actions and gestures when it comes to domestic affairs.
