A foreigner was recently stopped outside the gates of Peking University because he did not possess the proper identification or paperwork to enter the university. The angry foreigner proceeded to use profanities to insult and abuse the university security officer. The security guard replied to the man that, “swearing is a sign of uneducated behavior.” The video of the interaction between the man and the guards soon went viral on the internet. After the video went viral, Xiao Zhang, one of the main security officers in the incident was criticized by the chief of the security guards, who said that this kind of interaction was no good.

A Viral Video: Foreigner Curses, Security Guards Call Him Uneducated

In the video, there is a clear shot of a foreign man wearing sunglasses, dressed in a shirt and trousers and carrying a briefcase. The foreigner is speaking with uniformed security guards. He attempts to use his shaky Chinese to persuade them to let him in the gate, saying, “I want to tell them, but you will not let me attend the meeting.” The security guard, to the side, attempts to use gestures to give the man directions. “I’m not not letting you attend; I’m telling you that the Guanghua New Building is 50 meters to the left of the East Gate.”

Finally, when the security guards would still not let him enter the school gates, the foreign man shook his head and turned to walk away. Before he left, he pointed his finger at the security guard that he had just spoken with and said to his female companion, “Just f*cking go.” The security officer standing behind the man said to him that, “Profanity is not proper speech, and it shows one’s uneducated manner.”

This less than a minute section of the video has gained much attention online. Many Netizens have upvoted and “liked,” posts about the security guard. At the same time, many have criticized the actions of the foreign man.

Viral Video Criticized by Leadership, “This Kind of Thing is No Good.”

Yesterday afternoon, the East Gate security guard from the viral video, Xiao Zhang, was interviewed by reporters. Still wearing his uniform, Xiao Zhang has slightly tan skin and was wearing a pair of black cloth shoes. Xiao Zhang happened to be working the shift at the East Gate again with another colleague. At his post, he checked identification of students and other entering the university and opened the larger gate for cars and other vehicles. A large part of his job seemed to be continually blocking waves of cyclists and telling them to “get off your bike before entering the school gate.”

Xiao Zhang also stopped a male student who had attempted to enter the gate using someone else’s ID card. After his counterpart gave had actual cardholder a call, and the student was able to produce an ID number of his own, they let him pass through the gates. “A lot of things have happened on campus, there have been tests and activities. The rules have become stricter,” Xiao Zhang told reporters. Xiao Zhang had a smile on his face throughout the many tasks and issues he faced on at his guard post. When reporters mentioned the viral video, Xiao Zhang said that he had already forgotten the specific time at which the event took place but that it had been roughly four or five days earlier. 

“Originally I forgot about the whole thing, but this morning my captain criticized me over it and then I remembered,” said Xiao Zhang. His superiors had found out about the incident from the online viral video and criticized him for the way he had spoken back, saying that “this kind of thing is no good.”

As Xiao Zhang remebers it, that day, a foreign man and his Chinese female counterpart were together, were trying to go the wrong way to their destination and enter the East Gate of the university. They were stopped from entering. The man had no Peking University documents and his attitude was not cooperative. “In the beginning they did not say what they were doing, later they said they were going to Guanghua New Building to attend a meeting. I told him that this was not the correct gate.” Following this exchange, the scene from the video began.

Xiao Zhang has worked as a security guard at Peking University for four and a half years. He said that these kinds of incidents do occasionally happen, but he already knows not to take it to heart. “It’s all done according to the established standards, as long as he left my gate, it wouldn’t matter to me,” said Xiao Zhang.

Netizens Admire Quality of Security

Netizens have voiced approval of Xiao Zhang’s response to the aggressive foreign man and criticized the heads of the Peking University security force for reprimanding him.

A chief of the Peking University security bureau told reporters that there is a code of conduct in place for the behavior of university security guards but did not discuss the specifics. However, Netizens believe that Xiao Zhang’s reply correctly embodies and reflects the qualities and values needed to be a security guard at a top ranking institution.