In the aftermath of Mr. Pilot’s ban on foreign customers (if you missed this news, click here for the full story), the bar has released a statement outlining the reasons behind the decision.
Image via Chad Chamara
For those not in the loop, Mr. Pilot, a bar in Guangzhou’s popular Liede area, was forced to remove a sign from its door last week that read ‘Decline foreigners’ in English. The notice additionally stated ‘[We] politely refuse foreigners from entering’ in traditional Chinese characters.
Image via Chad Chamara
The incident caused considerable uproar amongst expats living on or near Xingsheng Lu, with one foreign resident even filing a complaint with the local government.
Below, we’ve included Mr. Pilot’s complete and unedited statement in regards to the foreigner ban:
“Five years has passed by since our grand opening, Mr. Pilot has been treating all the customers with fairness and kindness. We are trying to provide a safe and comfortable environment for all customers. But in the past two years, there were increasing numbers of incidents which foreign customers are breaking the law within the establishment, countless complains had been made regarding foreign customers harassing female customers within the establishment. Due to the increasing percentage of foreign customers breaking the law and our effort trying to protect other customer’s right to enjoy a safe environment, we made such a hard decision.
“On Dec 17th 2019, following the guideline of local authority, Mr. Pilot has restored the right for foreign customers to enter the premises. we apologize for all the people that were affected by this incident, and we sincerely apologize for all the people that felt discriminated against, that was not our intention.
“Providing a safe and comfortable environment is our priority, we will continue to strengthen our internal management and our fight against sex trafficking, gambling and drugs, anyone who violate the law will be sent to local police regardless of their nationality.
“We wish to give an explanation to all parties by using this announcement, and we wish all the law-abiding citizens, Chinese or non-Chinese, understand our situation. As a commercial establishment that opens to the public, refusing a paying customer to enter our premises is the hardest decision we’ve ever made. And the decision was purely made based on protect our customers’ rights to enjoy a safe and comfortable environment. After this incident, we realized this matter was poorly handled on our part. After this incident, we hope all parties who are involved can have a better understanding of each other. Let all communities to manage and supervise our-self and each-other, let’s all learn from this mistake, grow from this mistake and working together as a whole to make a better and safer Guangzhou for all.”
The above statement was provided directly to That’s by Mr. Pilot.
[Cover image via Chad Chamara]
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