Ten people identified as “Chinese nationals” by Sina were involved in a brawl outside an Apple store in New Haven, USA on September 22. Three people were arrested, one of whom was sent to hospital but is okay.

Since the iPhone was released on Friday, police have been repeatedly called in by store managers complaining of unruly behavior, reports NBCDFW. New Haven police spokesman Officer David Hartman described the situation:

There seem to be two groups, rival groups, mainly of Chinese people who are coming in from New York on a daily basis and are trying to buy as many phones as the store will allow to sell any one person. These rival groups have been challenging each other over their places in line. At times, these challenges have resulted in violence.

A grandson and nephew to two of the people taken away protested against the arrests, saying, ”We do nothing!”

The iPhone’s price varies based on model, but reports indicate it is worth three to four times its original value when resold on the Chinese market. Reuters reports of many opportunists exploiting the delayed launch of the new Apple product in China.

The demand for the iPhone 6 has led to many smuggling attempts at China’s borders. In the three days since the phone’s launch, 600 iPhone 6′s have been seized at the Huanggang and Futian crossing in Shenzhen.

Mass numbers of Chinese are also said to have been the source of conflict in line-ups for the iPhone 6 in Japan, also leading to police involvement.

However, it looks like the wait in China may finally be over. Tencent is reported as saying the iPhone 6 is in the final stages of approval, and should be available “very soon”.

Photo: Sina Video

China’s ambassador to Tanzania Lu Youqing has unleashed a torrent of criticism at his own people in a rant during an interview. Lu said his job is much harder than other ambassadors because Chinese people give him a “headache”, they lack respect of the law, and promote disunity among Tanzanians.

Lu is presiding over a great expansion in trade between the two countries, which has seen an influx of Chinese people in the country. China is now Tanzania’s second largest trading partner with US$3.69 billion in trade last year. Still, Lu can’t stop complaining about Chinese people. In an interview with Southern Metropolis, he said:

There are about 70 embassies in Tanzania. No embassy of another country is like ours. All day (we’re) worried about consul problems involving Chinese nationals. No other country’s citizens are like our citizens who incessantly complain about unfair treatment, like during luggage searches at airport customs, being stopped by police in traffic… these incidences give me a headache.

Our personal bad habits have followed us! After coming to Africa, number one, there will definitely be internal strife and disunification in which a lot of people will have problems. A person on their own, or a company–that won’t be a problem. But if there are several (Chinese) people, or several (Chinese) companies, then they will steal from each other. A contractor will often fight with his own people, traders will try to poach from each other, and slander each other. It’s gotten to the point where Chinese companies here in Tanzania will search out a government representative to bribe and get them to stand for their interests. In 2012, two Chinese companies ruined a Tanzania transport department head and deputy department head. They provoked infighting between the two government officials, and in the end the president of Tanzania dismissed them both.

Secondly, they lack awareness of the law. We can’t reasonably insist that everybody be so, and also this is just a small minority of people, naturally. For example, ivory smuggling, rhinoceros horn smuggling, illegal mines; the local laws forbid the transporting of prohibited items out of the country. Each time Tanzania announces they are going to capture ivory smugglers, we (at the embassy) get nervous. However, it always turns out the same way. The governor of the province of Dar es Salaam told me he once saw a police officer bar the path of a Chinese motorist. The governor did not consider this to be a friendly way to treat Chinese nationals, and so he had a complaint made against the police officer. The police officer reported to his superior that there was a car that contained ivory; however, the Chinese motorist denied this. During an extensive search, the hood of the car was opened, and placed upon the engine was an amount of ivory. After this, the governor had less to say in support of Chinese people.

At the airport, Chinese nationals often have their luggage searched. In regards to this, I sought out the director for the Tanzania customs. He agreed that he didn’t want to have to do this, especially as it resulted in more work for his department. Our embassy staff was very nervous. Then he let me see a series of photographs: they were all of ivory smugglers. One woman even tried to smuggle ivory in her bra. Tanzania custom agents are no fools; if they find one person who doesn’t have any, or two, or ten, they will still search a Chinese person. As well, all of the people who get investigated have a speech to tell me: “Ambassador, we have helped them so much; how can they treat us like this in return?” They don’t have even a single bit of awareness of the law.

Remember, everybody: Lu is only complaining about a minority of Chinese nationals misbehaving in Tanzania. He isn’t an expat living in China complaining about a Bad China Day.

[h/t Quartz]

Photos: Sina

Well, that escalated quickly:

Called a “luoguan” (裸官) in Chinese, a naked official is a government official who has sent his wife and children to live and study abroad, thus being a man that is “naked” without his family.

Naked officials were told to bring their families home, quit their jobs, or be demoted.

READ: Hundreds of “Naked Officials” Punished in Guangdong

In return, around 200 Guangdong officials have asked their families to return to China, Xinhua reports. Another 866 had agreed to accept demotion, including nine at a mayoral level.

And we can’t stress this enough: being a naked official is not, strictly speaking, in violation of any laws or regulations. Instead, as the BBC reports, China’s communist leaders want to stamp out the practice because they believe it is linked to corruption because naked officials are able to send any money obtained illegally abroad.

READ: Guangdong Official Sacked Over Nude Photos Published by Mistress 

Instead, the problem of naked officials isn’t one of breaking the law, but of public image. Yang Jianwei, vice president of the Guangdong Provincial CPC Party School, told the People’s Daily, “Naked officials are not necessarily problematic officials. But when you are holding a high post in the country alone by yourself, how can you make the people believe that you’ll dedicate all you have to serve them?”

We’re not sure how to solve the problem of a demonstrated lack of faith in leaders they had no influence in selecting, but if the laws aren’t changed to make the practice of being a naked official illegal, then we’d suggest perhaps changing the negative connotations of the word “naked”.

If a 70′s country song can’t do it, then maybe organizing public bicycle rides of a nude nature may change the public’s negative stance towards nakedness.

More stories on things Guangdong officials aren’t able to do:

• No More First Class Flights for Guangdong Officials
• No More Clubbing for Guangzhou Officials
• Guangdong Officials Banned from Using Triad Nomenclature
• In Trying to Clean Up the Environment, Guangdong Cracks Down on Officials
• Guangdong Opens an Anti-Corruption Education Camp for Officials
• Guangdong Officials Asked to Return Their Cheap Social Housing Apartments
• Local Officials Ask to “Borrow” Orphans to Make Themselves Look Good
• Deputy Mayor of Dongguan Under Investigation
• What’s Up with Guangdong’s Dirty Officials? Another Embroiled in a Scandal 

Photo: centurytrek

A sketch of Guo You (Keith) Ru during his first court appearance

A 21 year-old Shenzhen native who was studying in Ottawa, Canada was murdered December 6 by his roommate, who was an overseas Chinese, according to Shenzhen Evening News (via Shenzhen Daily).

The gruesome murder was carried out with a sharp instrument but not a knife, according to Canadian police. The killer made his first court appearance December 7.

The 25-year-old killer, identified as Guo You (Keith) Ru, was arrested by Canadian police and charged with second-degree murder, the paper said, citing Ottawa media reports.

“He wore black clothes and was smiling through most of the court hearing. However, he was dazed and looked tired,” Canadian media reported.

The parents of the dead student, Xiaole, are set to fly to Ottawa from Hong Kong. Xiaole had been a student at Carleton University since 2009 studying civil engineering.

Xiaole, who attended Yantian Foreign Languages School and Shenzhen Senior High School, said at a class reunion last year that he planned to work in Canada for several years after graduation before starting his own business back home.

This is the second brutal murder of a Chinese student in Canada this year after Jun Lin, 33, was killed, dismembered and had his bodt parts sent to political parties by a former porn actor.