Recently I was sitting in a tea shop in China chatting with locals in English when in walked a policeman unknown to my new friends who sat down with us. Nobody turned a hair and the conversation continued unabated. A small incident to be sure but one that does not indicate a climate of fear.

martyn, calvia, spain

The article fails to indicate whether Ms. McCartney had followed the rules - gotten a proper visa for living in China and whether she had registered her address with the local police station as is the rule in China (and other countries). My guess is she did not follow the rules. Why complain?

K. Hanson, Shanghai, China

Jane, Read this with great interest. But I maintain that if you had registered at the police station within 24 hours of arriving from abroad, this wouldn't have happened. This is mandatory for all foreigners residing in Beijing. PC Wang had no official record of you, so eviction was inevitable.

Michael Timperley, Beijing, China

Adam, Madrid, Spain
Empty cans/vessel makes the loudest noise. What else can i say about all these calls for boycott, cancel the Olympics etc by fanatic westerners. Be realistic, be practical be sporting be true. Will the stadium be empty? You bet it will be full.
One world one dream it is.

Lim , Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Cancel the Olympics. This is not what they are about. Madrid or Athens can hold them now. Lets do the right thing and leave Beijing with its its empty stadiums to its empty promises.

Adam, madrid, Spain

Beijing taking the Olympics as a chance for real opening up and welcoming the world was always a bit much to hope for. Despite all the trimmings, Maoism lives to this day, but it is a fascinating and warming country to live and work in.

sam, Shanghai,

Ms. Macartney, why are you surprised? You live in Red China even if Mao is no longer around. You have just been reminded of that fact of life. Are you really that naive?

John, Citrus Heights CA, USA

It is obviously sad. However The root of the problem appears to be that Mrs Wang no longer trust you, even though she may not show it. In this case it's just unfortunately you pose a higher risk factor than she can bear --- and you will want to thank all those protester for that.

jc, FL, USA

Do what I did, leave, get your sanity back and move somewhere like Sydney. It may not do anything for your career but trust me, the view is a lot nicer!

CS, Sydney, Australia

To Jane:

As a Chinese international student, I found most of your reports deeply anti-China and offensive. Chinese people are not living everyday of their lives in fear. There are absurd situations, but I feel safe and relaxed through 22 years of my life in China. Please stop your cold-war talking.

Xun, Oxford, UK

So Ms. Macartney lived in an illegally subletted apartment and now is disgruntled because illegal sublets are being closed down?

Ms. Macartney needs to grow up. A routine housing bylaw enforcement is neither political nor newsworthy. Good riddance to illegal aliens and melodramatic storytellers.

Mr. Li, Hangzhou, China