Editor's note: The following article is translated and edited from a news report that appeared on the Chinese web portal 163.com. The original text is a transcript of a TV news segment in which the reporter Kang Kai investigates a claim from one Mr. Zhang, who reports that he was a victim of an entrapment scheme involving a Xi'an "massage" parlor and certain members of the Xi'an police. Mr. Zhang was fined 3,000 RMB with no paperwork, but the sex workers involved were not penalized or shut down, prompting him to express his suspicions to the media. Similar transactions were observed by Kang Kai and his news team, providing further evidence that the police involved are in illegal relations with dirty massage parlors. (Note: the following does not represent the full transcript of the news segment but has been edited for length and clarity).

Kang Kai (reporting): While the dark corners of Xi'an city are no stranger to small-scale prostitution, who would have suspected that money exchanged goes not just to the matrons but also into the pockets of police officials? Shocking news indeed. Listen to a recording from our source, a one Mr. Zhang:

Mr. Zhang (voice on telephone):  ... she called me over while I was walking down the street, calling for me to come inside. She said she could give me a massage, give me a "health treatment". I said I didn't need one. She said I could "stay the night" for 300 RMB. I said I don't have money for that. She asked how long I wanted to pay for. I said it doesn't matter because I don't have the money, just 200 RMB. She said that would do it, we could go outside. So I went out with her, walked for a little bit, maybe 50 metres to the side of the gas station and that's where he caught me.

Kang Kai (on telephone): Who caught you?

Mr. Zhang (voice on telephone): An officer in plainclothes. He didn't have a uniform, said he was from the Hansenzhai police station and this was a stakeout point to catch customers.

Kang Kai (reporting): The "massage" parlor Mr. Zhang refers to is on Huaqing East Road in Xi'an city. Currently our van is parked across the street and we have a clear view of the shop approximately 70 metres away. It is currently 9:50pm and the shop has been open for about 50 minutes. The shop is completely closed during the day. Right now there's a woman in green sitting on the stoop fiddling with her cell phone, and we can also see a woman sitting inside, also on her cell phone. Whether this massage parlor does the kind of business referred to by our informant Mr. Zhang is what we're here to find out tonight.

Narrator: Currently we see a man in a black t-shirt enter the premises. In the two hours we've been here, this tiny shop has had a steady stream of customers. Every 10 minutes or so we've seen a new male customer enter and quickly leave again.

Reporter goes undercover, poses as customer

To investigate exactly what kind of "business" goes on in the shop, we decided to send a reporter inside, disguised as a customer.

Reporter: Can you do foot washing in here?

Massage girl: Nope, no washing.

Reporter: What, why not?

Massage girl: No water.

Reporter: No water.... what about massages?

Massage girl: We can do massages.

Reporter: So you can do massages, but without water to wash feet.

Massage girl: The water's stopped.

Reporter: How much for a massage?

Massage girl: 40 for a regular massage, 50 for back-hitting massage.

Narrator: After a few moments of conversation, our reporter is led past a partition into a darkened room with a sofa, and begins receiving a massage.

Reporter: So how can you do foot massages in here without water?

Massage girl: Foot massages, yeah yeah, but how come you don't want one?

Reporter: No, see; I came in here because of the sign about foot-washing out front.

Massage girl: You ought to know about this stuff; I can tell you get it.

Reporter: I don't get it.

Narrator: Upon seeing our reporter fail to connect the dots, the girl's speech became less and less subtle.

Massage girl: You've got that itch that's hard to scratch, right? Handsome guy like you, can't even get you do to do the "health treatment", what's up with that?

Reporter: Huh? What "health treatment", exactly?

Massage girl: You don't know? You don't know about that? We could get two people to give you the whole deal for a million RMB.

Narrator: When our reporter asked about safety concerns, the employees assured him that their business was doing fine and that everything is quite safe. After 10 minutes of the most cursory of massages, our reporter pays and leaves.

Back to Kang Kai at the stake-out

Kang Kai (reporting): So we're seeing a man in a white t-shirt and black shorts enter the shop, and a van nearby shows signs of movement inside. Slowly the van moves up the entrance of the shop and stops... The driver exits first, police stick in his hands. Then two more exit the vehicle and the three of them enter the shop. It appears one of them is wearing a police uniform and at least one is in plainclothes.

Kang Kai (reporting): It's been two minutes now... the man in the black t-shirt has left, now there's a woman in black being taken into the car. Now it appears the man in the white t-shirt is being taken in custody... now they drive off and the shop has closed.

Massage girl returns in 15 minutes, apparently never taken to the police station

Kang Kai (reporting): It is now 10:10pm and the shop is still closed. The man in officer's uniform has just left on a motorcycle, and not one minute later the light is back on in the massage parlor. A woman arrives at the entrance... somehow the same woman in black has miraculously appeared back at the shop after only 15 minutes as if nothing ever happened. Now she sits back at the sofa and continues fiddling with her phone and chatting with her co-workers.

Kang Kai (reporting): We drove from here to the Hansenzhai police station at the speed limit, to see if the woman in black really could have made it there and back in 15 minutes. It took us about 19 minutes to complete the trip, but that was without stopping. We concluded the woman was never really taken to the police station.

Lawyer: Police could be involved in illegal activity

Kang Kai (reporting): What kind of law enforcement is this? We took our concerns to Shaanxi attorney Chen Zhenxue.

Kang Kai: Now that you've seen our video recording, what's your impression of the events depicted?

Chen Zhenxue: So, first of all, if this is really the police at work, then this is some seriously illegal behavior. Of course, from a law enforcement perspective, catching prostitution customers is going to involve some element of entrapment, but you've got to punish both the customer and the prostitutes themselves, including the proprietors of the establishment, and you've got to do the appropriate paperwork. You can't just fine someone thousands of RMB and not have any receipt to show for it; that makes me think that the police are involved in some seriously illegal business... The relevant authorities should thoroughly investigate this matter and follow up with investigations on all parties involved.

Check out the video here (in Chinese only)

Source: Guangming (Beijing)
 

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