No place for bias against non-locals

A man waits for subway trains in Beijing on Nov 14, 2014. [Photo/IC]

ON SUNDAY, Beijing subway officials apologized after one of its employees was filmed while she appeared to insult a passenger during the rush hour on Thursday. Beijing News commented on Monday:

Although the video is somewhat noisy, we can identify some of the insults directed at the passenger. Although the passenger cursed the female employee, she should not have responded in the way she did.

The reason why the behavior of the subway employee provoked so much public anger was because of the prejudice she displayed toward people from outside the city.

Beijing is a city with high-quality resources and every year a large number of people from outside the city come to Beijing. Today, non-local residents already make up 40 percent of the population in Beijing.

The Beijing subway perhaps serves the largest concentration of people from out of town. Subway employees are supposed to have the awareness of being equitable and inclusive. But instead of setting an example, this particular employee displayed discrimination in a disgraceful manner.

Everyone should have the opportunity to move freely and choose where to survive. And the non-local population in Beijing should also be able to enjoy the city's resources.