American's Roguery Gets Warning for Insulting Chinese Woman

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

American's Roguery Gets Warning for Insulting Chinese Woman

US citizen Mark Alan Forshee was given a legal warning by Shenzhen police for insulting a woman, Guo Shaofei, on a bus in Shenzhen on March 9.

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US citizen Mark Alan Forshee was given a legal warning by Shenzhen police for insulting a woman, Guo Shaofei, on a bus in Shenzhen on March 9.

American's roguery, a question of law

Mark's behavior had infringed upon Ms Guo's right of the person and right of personality according to the Article 101, Article 120 of the General Principles of the Civil Law of PRC.
Article 101: Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of reputation. The personality of citizens shall be protected by law, and the use of insults, libel or other means to damage the reputation of citizens or legal persons shall be prohibited.

Article 120: If a citizen's right of personal name, portrait, reputation or honor is infringed upon, he shall have the right to demand that the infringement be stopped, reputation rehabilitated and apology made, with all ill effects eliminated. He may also demand compensation for losses.

"I completely accept the punitive decision... (I) express my deepest apologies to Miss Guo and hope that she can forgive me," Forshee, 29, said in a statement provided yesterday by his lawyer Jack Chen, from the Guangdong-based Gain Law Firm.

Forshee is a psychologist and is studying in Shenzhen for his thesis and research work.

Police said on March 9, Forshee, holding a beer can in one hand, pulled Guo's shirt with one of his fingers to look at her breasts while on a bus in Shenzhen.

The woman was badly shocked.

Forshee was then surrounded and stopped by passengers when he tried to get off the bus. He was later taken to a nearby police station.

Xiao Baohong, one of the passengers, said Forshee was rude and insolent during the whole process.

"He did not even take off his headphones until he hit a passenger who tried to stop him from getting off the bus," Xiao recalled.

Afterwards, Forshee made an ''apology'' rather mockingly to the woman, who felt more indignant.

Forshee's actions caused fury among people from all over the country after his moves was reported in newspapers and the Internet.

But his attorney Chen said it was his job to offer legal service no matter what he did. Some even criticised Chen for defending the ''hooligan.''

The punishment was made in accordance to China's Regulations on Punishments in Public Order and Security Administration after a police investigation of the incident.

Chen said it was a fair punishment.

Forshee's father told China Daily he was "sad and sorry that there was this problem." "Mark loves China," he said, adding that it was the second time his son has visited the country.

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