Streetsblog New York City

While New York City awaits an explanation (or apology) from Celerant CEO Ian Goldman whose SUV was used to run over a man's bicycle on the Upper West Side on November 22, this story from Beijing comes across the Streetsblog transom:

A "foreign auntie" in Beijing, as the Nanfang Daily described her, used her bicycle to prevent the driver of a white sedan from driving in a bicycles-only lane. It was October 20 at about 8:50 am and the Chinese driver, a man named Niu, got out of his car, grabbed the bike and threw it to the ground. The woman stood her ground and eventually the driver merged back back into the automobile lane.

But that wasn't the end of it. A bystander snapped photos of the incident and the story, along with Niu's license plate number, was posted by a popular blogger under the title, "A foreigner helps the Chinese to improve their civic quality."

As word of the bullying behavior spread across the Chinese blogosphere, Niu was besieged with criticism, so much so, that it began to cause problems for his family and he was forced to change his home phone number. China Daily reports:

The much-read posting, written by popular blogger Mo Jie, also called on netizens to denounce the driver. "We must get him to realize that his behaviour is smearing the country's image and the face of Beijing," said the posting.

Netizens quickly answered the calls to name the driver, posting his home phone number and other personal information on the Internet. Some netizens said the foreign woman worked for an American company near the scene, but no further information about her was revealed.

"The incident shows two things," says one of the blog articles. "It shows the Chinese are self-reflecting people and readily accept positive criticism. It also shows the terrifying power of the Internet, its power to mobilize people and bare secrets."

Three weeks later, in response to the widespread condemnation generated by the original blog posting, Niu appeared on a popular Beijing television program to apologize publicly. "I must say sorry to the foreign lady. I acted too rashly at that time. I shouldn't have thrown her bicycle to the ground."