•“The whole thing was what is commonly referred to as ‘one drop of poison spoils the wine.’ I’m a Nanyang native, and I saw the festival run quite smoothly over the first three days. But the authorities loosened their grip on security too soon on the last day, which caused chaos. On one hand, some local villagers showed poor behavior, while on the other, the local government lacked the experience and capability to handle large-scale events.”
•“There are good and bad people everywhere, whether it’s a village, city, province or country. No one is inherently good or evil solely based on their place of birth. It’s totally acceptable to condemn those who commit misconducts, but regional discrimination is never right.”
•“I understand that any form of regional discrimination is unfair, but as a native of Henan, I believe its bad reputation is partially due to the long-term negligence of local authorities. They always ignore petty theft and impose minimal punishment to those who steal things they consider valueless. This incident should serve as a lesson for them to reflect on their lax approach to managing public security.”
Source: Zhihu
Li Chunyong, associate professor at the People’s Public Security University of China: “The thefts occurred mainly in the surrounding area and campgrounds near the festival’s main venue. The key issue is the lack of patrolling security guards protecting the people and their property who could have stopped the crimes in time.”
Source: CNR.cn
Lü Dewen, sociology professor at Wuhan University: “It was the local government rather than villagers who should primarily take the blame. There were lots of loopholes in the organization and operation of this event. Even though the local authorities had mobilized over 40,000 volunteers in the city to help operate the event, they had completely neglected villagers, who constituted the local demographic majority. The local government neither informed villagers of any important matters concerning the event nor guided them to actively coordinate with the event’s organizers.”
Source: South Reviews
Ma Liang, public management professor at the Renmin University of China:“It was a pity that the festival was tarnished with unpleasantness. But we cannot smear an entire city or escalate the whole thing to the extent of regional discrimination just because of the uncivil behavior of a few people.”
Source: Dragon TV
A string of thefts during a four-day rock festival in Central China’s Henan Province has rekindled discussions on social media about prevailing discrimination against people from the region.
Police in the city of Nanyang received 73 reports of theft on the final day of the Central Plains Midi Music Festival, which saw more than 150,000 visitors from September 29-October 2.
According to reports, a livestreamer falsely stated that the event had ended and the site needed to be cleared. Nearby villagers then flocked to the area and raided the festival’s campgrounds. When the festivalgoers returned after the concerts ended, many found their personal belongings stolen, from bags and wallets to camping equipment and even an RV.
Police arrested the livestreamer, surnamed Chen, for spreading false information, and several villagers involved in the thefts. Festival organizers announced on October 5 that they had already returned 79 ID cards, three laptops and 17 mobile phones to their owners.
However, online criticism soon drifted into disparaging comments about people from Nanyang and Henan. The third most populated province in China, Henan has long been the target of regional discrimination.
Over the years, Henan has become associated with stereotypes that depict the region as impoverished and underdeveloped, and its residents as poorly educated, ill-mannered and lacking integrity. The province has also been plagued by a reputation for thievery. This incident has amplified existing provincial prejudices, prompting many netizens to denounce discriminatory comments. Many argue that smearing the reputation of Henan and its people solely based on the misconduct of a few is unfair. Some also pointed out the negligence of the festival organizers in providing security.
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