It hasn't happened to me so far. But it has been happening to friends and acquaintances in Beijing over the past few weeks. Foreigners are being stopped by policemen, often in plainclothes, and asked for their identity documents. But everyone who's faced such identity checks says policemen were extremely courteous while they stopped people to check their identity papers.
You would think that's exactly what it should be - before a mega event like the Olympics. And that's what happens everywhere in the world before such events.
But no, there are people who never tire of China-baiting. So, one hears the old, familiar refrain. Didn't I tell you, for all its claims to opening up, China is still a half-closed, insular sort of a country? Worse, it's still pretty much a police state. See how they are imposing visa restrictions.
Well, a senior foreign ministry official has assured willing visitors that the visa restrictions are "not designed to deter visitors". The purpose of recent changes in China's visa policy, he has said, is to "guarantee the Beijing Olympics is held safely". Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang had earlier said that China didn't require finger-printing for foreign visitors. Foreigners who have visited the US after 9/11 know how troublesome, sometimes even insulting, finger-printing and other new checks at US airports can be, especially for Asian visitors.
So absolutely nothing objectionable in what China is doing, you'd think. Not just for foreigners living in Beijing or visitors to the Olympics, checks and restrictions are being issued in public places, such as airports and the Beijing subway, that might inconvenience the locals.
Of course, no one needs to be told why such checks and restrictions are necessary. One has only to think of the tragic events that bloodied Olympic arenas in the past.
China has even greater reasons to be extra-sensitive about security. It's no alarmist call but the fact is the world is more unsafe today than perhaps at any other time in modern history. Terrorists of all hues, invoking all kinds of causes, are lurking in every corner to try and strike. The strikes may or may not have anything to do with the people or governments of wherever they happen. And, in most cases, the victims have nothing to do with the causes in whose name the killers strike.
In Beijing's case, the unhappy experiences during the torch relay should naturally give the authorities more reason to be careful. It doesn't take a large number of people to organize a huge tragedy. A handful of people can do nasty things for propaganda value. And, the experiences during the torch relay suggest that there are people who care nothing for the success of the Beijing Olympics. In fact, they'd see the success of the Games as the failure of their "cause".
Far from barring genuine sport-lovers and other visitors, China, in fact, should have a stake in allowing all willing people in for the Games. It'd be the climax of a seven-year-long drama of hope, on which the curtain went up the moment Beijing was chosen as the venue of the 2008 Olympics.
So much has gone into its preparations. Beijing too has changed so rapidly and decked itself with so many new things, from shiny, modernist architecture like the National Theatre, the Bird's Nest, the Water Cube and the soon-to-be-completed CCTV Tower to the most exotic of restaurants. Every major newspaper, magazine or television channel in the world has already run stories on Beijing's brave new skyline and its haughty works of architecture. It should be in China's interest to let as many foreigners as possible come and marvel at them, as they also enjoy the Games. Also, when they come, they can rid themselves of a whole lot of misconceptions.
But the safety of visitors and Beijingers alike comes first. So when the policemen ask me for my papers, I'll feel good. I'll know that they are doing their job - for my safety as well as for the safety of the Olympics, the visitors and the people of Beijing.
(China Daily July 4, 2008)