UNDERSTAND SPOKEN CHINESE COMMANDS WHEN A COP IS POINTING A GUN AT YOU

Recent news that the police presence around the country will be increased in cities like Guangzhou as well as be equipped with firearms is reassuring to an anxious public. If you weren’t scared before, you’ll be scared now—if you’re a criminal, that is.

Now that there are more guns on the streets of China, we can expect police to use these firearms in a greater capacity than they did when firing warning shots to break up a brawl in Guangzhou. But the question remains: what do you do if a police officer points a gun at you and issues you commands in Chinese?

It could be that this police officer speaks excellent English, and will use this as an opportunity to practice his rusty English skills. However, we still think that there as a resident in a locality where police have guns, the onus is upon you to understand what they are saying.

We can only hope that such an occasion will never come to pass, but if you ever get into such a predicament, we’d suggest you to follow their commands. Based upon our observations of years of Western TV police dramas, here are the phrases that you would hear when a police officer is pointing a gun at you:

1. 不许动 (Bù xǔ dòng): “Don’t move!” The equivalent to our “Freeze!” which doesn’t have the same connotation in Chinese.

2. 你被捕了 (Nǐ bèi bǔ le): “You’re under arrest.” If this is preceded by #1, make #1 the overriding command instead of this one.

3. 把手放在头上 (Bǎ shǒu fàng zài tóu shàng): “Put your hands on your head.” A tailor may also tell you this when measuring your waist.

4. 转身，退后 (Zhuǎnshēn, tuì hòu): “Turn around, walk backwards.” This phrase can also come in handy if the person on the other line has gotten lost and can’t tell where they are.

5. 把身份证拿出来 (Bǎ shēnfèn zhèng ná chūlái): “Take out your identification.” While your visa may have gotten you out of trouble before, it doesn’t always mean it will.

Bonus: 这不是我的事 (Zhè bùshì wǒ de shì): “I don’t care.” Only relevant if you’re being chased by a one-armed man and you want to tell Chinese Tommy Lee Jones that you didn’t kill your wife.

Chinese cops should be fans of Law & Order—there must be a Chinese Lennie Brisco somewhere. But we didn’t include “Why do they always run?” because it isn’t technically a command.

We don’t have a translation for Miranda rights.

thenanfang