We know this is a little bit off topic – but the heavy handedness of Chinese authorities in dealing with Mexican passport holders really does beggar belief…
James Fallows reports the following for US publication The Atlantic
Flu news from China: Mexican citizens being detained
This is developing news here in Beijing about treatment of those who hold Mexican passports. It is based on first-hand reports from people I trust:
– A family of tourists — two parents; a son age 8; and daughters ages 6 and 4 — were staying in a five-star Beijing hotel. Like all foreigners in China, they had presented their passports for inspection on arrival. Their passports were from Mexico. At 4 am last night they heard a pounding on the door. Public-security officials asked them to come to the hospital for a few quick tests. In fact they were taken to a hospital and not allowed to leave. They received no drugs or treatment of any sort and were placed in a room where the beds and sheets still bore the marks of the previous ill and bleeding patients. They managed to contact Mexican officials by phone — which was the first the Mexican government had heard of their situation. There is no indication that they are sick. They were assured that they would be treated as well as "any Chinese citizen." (!) This evening, another family of three has been taken from a hotel because they are Mexican.
– As international flights arrive in Beijing, from any destination, passengers are being asked to show their passports before the plane comes to the terminal. Those with Mexican passports are not allowed to enter the city. They have been taken to a hotel for quarantine and are still there. Some 40 to 50 people are now being detained in this way. To be clear, this is not being applied to people who’ve recently been to Mexico, or who are showing signs of disease, or who have been exposed in some other way. It has been purely a matter of whether they are Mexican citizens.
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/flu_news_from_china_detention.php
and Reuters reports…
Mexico reacts angrily to China flu quarantine
Mexico accused China on Saturday of imposing a discriminatory quarantine in a Hong Kong hotel where a Mexican fell ill with the new swine flu virus, and it advised its citizens to stay away from the Asian nation.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa also condemned China and four Latin American countries for restricting flights from Mexico, the epicentre of an H1N1 flu outbreak that the World Health Organisation fears may become a global pandemic.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE54126S20090502?sp=true
