Shanghai Woman and Laowai Swindle 360 Million RMB

Shanghai Woman and Laowai Swindle 360 Million RMB
Dec 06, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Miss Zheng is a 40 year-old Shanghai woman with an elegant sense of conduct; she can speak fluent English, has a good command of economic law and is specialized in the financial investment of stocks and bonds. Zheng lives in a grand mansion worth millions of RMB located in palatial Huaqiaocheng, Chunshuian. Zheng would often spend money gambling in Macao casinos as though she were pouring money; wherever she goes, luxury cars would come to pick her up and take her away.

Robert from Germany is Zheng’s partner and claims to be a descendant of the Rogers’ of Germany; he is worth several hundred millions of Euros in assets. Zheng has used aliases like Lin Yi, Huang Xiaomei, Li Jumei, Jiang Linyi. Along with Robert, she had entered the social circles of the wealthy in Shenzhen in an unending cycle; they would use up the money of the circle of people in their present company, and then would expand their operation to a new circle of people in order to pay back debts incurred from the previous circle.

It was up until May of 2011 when they were both exposed in a case involving jewelry when Shenzhen police finally discovered that Zheng was in the possession of 5 household permits; however, it was in fact the Shanghai police that captured the suspects online. At present, the two have been detained by police while prosecutors have begun court proceedings against them.

The Shenzhen prosecuting office accuses Zheng of committing contract fraud to a total sum of 360 million RMB. Among her 8 victims include a high official of a national enterprise, a civilian investor, and a famous celebrity in the Taiwan business world.

Source: iFeng

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Keywords: cheating contract fraud rich swindled Shanghai Woman and Laowai Swindle 360 Million RMB

24 Comments

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beijinger333

I believe laowai has a negative connotation. When I started working for a Chinese company last year, one of the employees referred to me as laowai. The manager promptly said not to call me that and that she should instead use waiguo pengyou. The way the manager corrected her is what really clued me in that laowai is definitely a negatively charged word. In reference to the other comments here, just because someone is uneducated, doesn't give them a pass to be ignorant.

Dec 12, 2013 21:41 Report Abuse

Guest2239322

We understand that Guest2331884 is Polish and polish hates Nazis because German Nazis killed and burned a lot of polish. Finbar is dutch since he gaves examples of foreigners such as americans and dutch. And Dr Monkey is racist since he still uses the term Nigger. If we came to the subject, you can see how china is corrupted. It does not make sense so many people are so rich and so many people are so poor at the same place.

Dec 09, 2013 09:37 Report Abuse

DrMonkey

Nigger was a standard term too.

Dec 09, 2013 08:30 Report Abuse

DrMonkey

Hey, back in the days, in Southern USA, they would have said the same thing about the term 'nigger' : you have poor education, you don't understand, it's how we do it here, etc. I do not use racial slur ever myself. 'chink', 'nigger', yup, it's offensive and I understand very well why. Here, I mention the term 'nigger' to make understand how it is perceived by those who receive it. Is it forbidden to feel offended by 'laowai' ? I'm at the receiving end, on a daily basis, for years on, despite I speak decent Mandarin and live with locals, work with locals. For me, when people says 'Ho, look at the foreigner', I feel it's like 'Ho, look at the dog/cat/animal'. I makes me feel I'm not a person, I'm something. After years living at the same place, I'm always 'the foreigner', nothing else. So I feel offended by being called 'laowai' and I make my point understood with a parallel : 'nigger'. China have been closed. Past tense. It's open now, time to change and to be a bit considerate with others.

Dec 10, 2013 05:15 Report Abuse

coineineagh

I just realized that i've overlooked an important factor in this article. laowai was deliberately left untranslated here. either the article writer thought it would be cute for expats to read the word shouted at them everyday in the streets, or it was put in there to convey all the value judgements, characterizations and other baggage that comes with this particular word. the former would indicate a stupid error in judgement that i've seen locals make all the time. the latter would indicate subtle/cowardly discrimination. either way, i'm now convinced that it was written by a chinese national, despite there being only a few language errors.

Dec 08, 2013 17:33 Report Abuse

Finbar

Funny how everyone seems focused on the poorly phrased title of the topic rather than the obscene amount of money some people got swindled out of. I agree with some others, and don't particularly enjoy getting called laowai myself (which happens all the time), but it's something you just have to get used to when you live in a country where people can't tell whether you're American, Dutch, or whatever. I frequently find myself referring to other people as that black/white/Asian person, when I'm unsure where they're from, and don't mean that in any bad way, either. Anyway, back on topic, I'm impressed with the amounts of money mentioned in the article. I used to enjoy myself well enough in Shanghai on a couple thousand kuai budget, I don't think I'd ever manage to spend 360 million kuai in a decade. I'd be quite willing to try, though...

Dec 08, 2013 13:33 Report Abuse

seansarto

The article is rather scant in it's details.

Dec 13, 2013 07:19 Report Abuse

Percivile

Why don't you chinks change this headline? Are you having trouble seeing it through your slotted eyes?

Dec 08, 2013 03:59 Report Abuse

coineineagh

I'll concede that I don't know enough about the term. I didn't learn about it until I surfed the Shanghai Expat board last year, after which I started recognizing "lao WAI" on the streets, in between the WAAAs & Hao Gaos. To be honest, I don't feel much better knowing that the term is derogatory. My wife never uses it herself, but she said it's not meant as an insult when people say it. It definitely doesn't compare to 'za zong'. If I ever catch a stranger calling my child breedbastard, I'll follow them home spewing English & mispronounced Chinese insults all the way. And if anyone tries to protect him/her, I'll make sure I squeeze in "Wo de haizi bu shi za zong", to make sure any 'rescuers' know exactly why they're defending their countryman.

Dec 07, 2013 17:50 Report Abuse

Mateusz

I think part of the problem with understanding is that it's highly contextual. You gave a good example there. When a word's meaning is in transition, not everyone might understand the full meaning when they use it. Of course, some might understand, but also not want to admit it. If they throw out the term when they get mad, or they have a friend who uses it, they might want to downplay the offensiveness. To save face, they might try to explain that no offense was meant, rather than admit lack of civility. In a relatively short time, "queer" changed to mean "Odd" (with nothing to do with sexuality), "Derogatory term for homosexuals" to "Academic term for homosexuals". Depending on the context, it could be used as an insult, or reference to academic studies ("Queer Theory" or "Queer Studies"). "Jap", like "Chink", started out just as a shortening of a longer term, just like how "Australian" becomes "Aussie" or "British" becomes "Brit", and people still use it without meaning to insult, but out of ignorance.

Dec 08, 2013 08:18 Report Abuse

coineineagh

Well, I think that you're touching on the subject of stigmatism. In the Netherlands, the regular term for foreigner (buitenlander) had become so heavily charged with negative stigmas, that it was cosidered no longer PC, and newspapers had to use a more official term (allochtoon). But this new term is also becoming non-PC quickly, and the media is again becoming cautious. Laowai simply means foreigner, but if you're living in the city and hear hordes of locals parrot the phrase with disdain, I can imagine why you feel it's impolite. Long story short: Maybe you're all right about it. I work in a smaller city, and although I don't like it when people point and stare, I don't feel much different whther the local is saying waiguoren or laowai. But it's up to the government to decide whether a term is impolite or not, and I seriously doubt they will give that much consideration towards political correctness. But in the end, the best way to get your point across is staying calm and polite, rather than sarcastically reacting with other discriminatory terms.

Dec 08, 2013 13:13 Report Abuse

Mateusz

Seriously... who writes these articles? Would "German Man and Chink Swindle 360 Million RMB"? be considered acceptable?

Dec 06, 2013 19:53 Report Abuse

coineineagh

Laowai isn't nearly as derogatory as chink, you know. It's an informal term, like 'brother' for a black man. Heavily context-dependant. In this context, laowai seems fine. I'd say 'Shanghai Woman' has just as much negative connotations in China. They have a bad rep in the country, and referring to her as "Shanghai woman' instead of 'Chinese woman' just adds to that.

Dec 07, 2013 10:43 Report Abuse

Guest2331884

To be fair, maybe write "Nazi and Chink" or Cracker Kraut and Chink. Cracker Kraut sounds like Krakau in Poland, maybe that's where the real crackers come from? How about Kracker Kraut Kink (KKK)

Dec 07, 2013 13:03 Report Abuse

coineineagh

Nazi and.... chink? A racial-superiority extremist .... and a partner of another race? Why don't we call them colonial oppressor and Red Army Guard while we're at it?

Dec 07, 2013 14:17 Report Abuse

Mateusz

How is it not nearly as derogatory? Can you quantify the derogatoriness of both words? If, in this context, "laowai" seems fine, then why doesn't "chink" seem fine, in this context? And when people of certain physical features are harassed in the West with shouts of "Ni hao, Shanghai woman!" or "Hey, Shanghai woman! Get out of my country!"... then it's equivalent.

Dec 07, 2013 14:20 Report Abuse

coineineagh

Because people on the streets here address me with 'laowai', and I can see from their demeanor that it wasn't meant to offend. It's true that Chinese are blind to their own inconsiderate nature, but nevertheless the term is not innately charged with negative racial connotations. 'Chink' on the other hand, is only used when insult is intended.

Dec 07, 2013 14:25 Report Abuse

Mateusz

I'll be honest... it's hard to tell if you are honestly ignorant, or just trolling. So, congrats. Good job if you are a troll.

Dec 07, 2013 21:01 Report Abuse

coineineagh

Whether laowai is truly derogatory? Everyone I ask assures me that it's merely an informal term, and can only become derogatory with negative tone and context. Online translators confirm it. It doesn't compare to chink, nazi or kracker, which couldn't possibly be anything but negative. In my opinion, anyone who brings up such terms in a discussion loses credibility.

Dec 08, 2013 00:38 Report Abuse

Percivile

Okay, would "Business mogul and brother swindle 360 million" be acceptable?

Dec 08, 2013 03:57 Report Abuse

Mateusz

So, if "everyone I ask" assures me that "Chink" is just an informal term, and doesn't compare to laowai, Nazi, or cracker (however you want to spell, or misspell, it), then it must be so? I've seen/heard people use "chink" in a way they thought was just an informal term, and if asked, would say they were in no way being racist. Anyone trying to defend the use of a racial slur by telling targets of that slur to just take it loses credibility. "Laowai" is a racist term, used in racist contexts, to insult a race.

Dec 08, 2013 07:47 Report Abuse

coineineagh

The situation matters. Some people think they're being cool by using racist terms, and hope it will get them friends. But they'd never tell a n*gg*r joke in the presence of a black person, and wouldn't call any asian a chink to their faces. Some American men also have an awful habit of talking about women with huge disdain (drank a beer with 3 of them recently), but in the presence of any woman they become paragons of virtue. I don't approve of it, but what can you do? I'm just saying this to clarify that your examples don't compare, because they probably weren't public statements. This article was published on an expat site, so the audience was definitely going to be diverse. I doubt any insult was intended when the writer used this term. If it has truly become so loaded with negative stigmas, maybe he/she didn't know that.

Dec 08, 2013 13:24 Report Abuse

lightend

wa guo ren, wa jia ren and wa guo pengyou are fine. Laowai is derogatory, especially if it is said by someone who is educated. (farmers as uneducated so know no better). ever notice on the spring festival concerts how they never say laowai???? because its offensive.

Dec 10, 2013 03:56 Report Abuse

seansarto

I have to agree with Mateusz, that primarily "laowai" is used with offensive connotation. If any person in the USA made such obvious gestures as pointing out a "black man" or a "Chinese man", (with those simple terms), who was simply going about their own business in ANY public setting on the basis of their appearances alone, it would be highly offensive, uncouth and shamed if not outright prosecuted as a violation of civil conduct. Simply the gesture of isolating another human being in a public sphere by using such pronounced and unabashed measures as "Look there's a Chinese man!",(usually followed by snickering), is resoundingly haughty and demeaning. It exhibits nothing more than a person's complete lack of discretion in their intelligence and because their observations are so obvious they appear foolish, at the very least, and provocatively threatening at the very most, (harassment). It is the epitome of a "not one of us" segregation ideology being psychologically and socially reinforced in a civil society. It is the most primitive form of profiling and such a stigma is usually reserved only for criminal elements. "Foreigner", "Wai gou ren", is more appropriate term and it needs not be used in any context where that dynamic is obvious...(For example: there is no reason, nor excuse, in my rationale for a Chinese person standing behind a foreigner in a grocery line to make a scene with their child about the "laowai" that only serves to emphasizes the "strangeness" or "otherness" of another human being in that child's mind when that foreigner is behaving in a manner no different then their own prior to being alienated in the public setting...The hypocrisy of course being this sort of stigmatization is occurring in a "laowai" supermarket franchise.)..and if China is ever to reform it's immigration laws to the point that foreigners become fully integrated in their society, than even the term "wai gou ren" will have to be used with more discretion.

Dec 13, 2013 07:49 Report Abuse