When I was locked down in Beijing during SARS, I had to listen each night as my neighbor below me beat his wife. I still remember his child screaming "You killed her!" I couldn't intervene because, as a foreigner, I'd be the one arrested when the police arrived, for interfering. https://twitter.com/SP_PimpSmurf/status/1250453640550273024

Let me anticipate someone calling me a coward. Me and another American who lived in the compound, also former military, earnestly discussed what we should do. But we concluded that any intervention on our part would backfire, and possibly even get her killed for real.

The man might tell the police we were the ones who assaulted her. Or he might accuse of us of sleeping with his wife (why else would we care and interfere?), and hurt her even more severely. In any case, the police in China would never believe us - they would suspect us.