Why do I get the impression that this guy was really, really, really lucky? Certainly more lucky than I'd imagine him being if he did a similar thing in the USA next to some FBI/CIA buildings.
I second the thought that the "newness" of the crime, the fact that he's a foreigner, and that he was very friendly and open when they questioned him was the saving grace. I've never been in really serious trouble with the police in China, but by-and-large they tend to be quite nice (assuming you're cooperating and plead idiocy).
Northern/Beijing police are also famous for their sense of humour.
He's lucky it was in China and not in the US and that he was not a chinese. I've had friends doing a strip tease in front of a group of cops, other smoke weed not far from a police station, and a lot of other stupid crap. The fact that you're a foreigner they will allow a lot of things.
Actually I had my fair share of police encounters in France as well and it never went bad. The last I remember was asking cops to take me in their cars to a club (I was completely drunk), they told me they were not a taxi company. I then told them they had to take me because I was inebriated, they just laughed at me and left.
In 2 weeks in the US I got arrested twice. Once for eating a sandwich 5meters from people drinking alcohol in the street. Then the second time, while I was going to court for that stupid shit I got arrested for going through the subway gate twice in less than 15 minutes even though I had an unlimited pass.
/rant over. Cops are cool in a lot of places. Not in the US.
> whats wrong with going twice through the subway gate?
They told me I was cheating the system. When really I was confused about what subway to take so I went back and asked the girl in the booth for help.
> ...
because I knew the people walking 5 meters ahead of me so I stopped to watch them getting arrested, and stayed 5 minutes around, so eventually they came towards me and my friends and arrested us also. We were so shocked we didn't ask why. Kept us an hour in the cold looking through our stuff etc... Tossed my sandwich to the ground (and I told them that it was littering) and finally convoked us to the court for "drinking in the streets".
I had the same thought. Not so much that he'd be treated worse in the US, but that the Chinese police seemed perfectly reasonable given the newness/strangeness of the "offense".
I was also pleasantly surprised he got the copter and camera back at the end.
I've been nabbed by police in China for walking in the wrong area with a camera. It's not the end of the world when it happens, they just have to make sure you're not some smart-ass intelligence agent trying to pull one over them. They're generally quite nice and just doing their job. I suspect the US and UK would be less lenient. China's actually surprisingly relaxed as long as you're a little bit adaptable.
