I don't think "what the f*ck?" is a good enough expression.

Why the hell aren't they dismantling all this stuff and selling the parts and/or metal scrap to make a profit? Then the heavy hand coupled with capitalism would thus make sense(cents?). Absolutely, without a doubt, this is the dumbest thing ever. We must be looking at M.I.T. graduates in that picture.

And they are effectively pushing more people to buy cars. Any wonder why automobiles have been the number one source of air pollutants in Shenzhen for the last 4 years?

It seems absolutely crazy. Having lived in Shenzhen I can also say that they are not very friendly to pedal powered bicycles either. It would have to be far more environmentally friendly to have people riding motorbikes rather than having lots of cars with just one driver.

The other tragedy is that in the future electric powered bicycles and other vehicles with a range of 30-50km are going to become a lot more popular around the world. I think that China could have become an industry leader in this sector - except that they seem to be killing the manufacturers home market.

Good riddance! Always hated the crappy, noisy, fucking-up-traffic, thieving, smoke belching little pieces of shit.

Was so happy when my city of residence banned them outright a couple years ago!! One of the smartest things this totalitarian form of government did!

Got strong feelings against this 'extermination' so 'scuse the long post...

I'd love a nice little Vespa in SZ - which would be great for work, shops & a little pootle out to the coast. I suspect however that bikes are not aspirational enough & would make the nice wide boulevards look too...Asian (think KL, Hanoi, HCM, Bangkok).

My sarcasm could be misdirected; I wasn't in SZ before 2003 but I can't fully accept that 'snatching/hand chopping' gangs were terrorising pedestrians and car drivers to such an extent. I haven't seen any well-heeled citizens with prosthetics; nor laobaixing for that matter. (I do however see plenty of people bearing scars of what could be nasty industrial accidents – but we don’t go there do we?) Any old China hands (!!) seen otherwise?

OK – it does (did) happen but I feel that the SZ Govt., in singling out the highly emotive issue of crime as the only reason for this, have 'missed' beaucoup Civilization Index points by not stating that they've killed 4 birds with one stone.
Crime, pollution, RTAs and ensuing traffic snarl-ups ......no-brainer, if you want to bolster a case and receive appreciative nods from your superiors?

A few stats to indicate significant improvements in these other areas might quieten a cynic like me....until I counter that the figures are massaged ;-) But this is another area where true regulation is missing – it’s either “let the market have free play” or “smash”. Purile!

Who wouldn’t be interested in a one-size-fits-all modern, low-emission, well-baffled (state-produced) 90cc scooter which couldn’t be taken off the forecourt without personal checks, licence, insurance and registration all paid up front at a high enough price to deter scumbags (e.g. the price of a large LCD telly)?

More amazing -no horrifying – is that so many are being trashed and not recycled, especially in this day & age. SZ authorities did something similar last year with scores of ‘illegal’ fishing boats – all that great timber – gone. (come to think of it – I think they were burnt - ouch!)

There are plenty of people along the Pearl River Delta able to strip these bikes.... I guess the plan is to crush them & sell them to a smelter? (nice bit of pocket money for the Tspt. Dept.)

It's hardly trailblazing to crush & burn without stripping out the copper, glass, batteries, foam, rubber & ABS plastic (which burn *real* nice!).

As an aside, the only bikes I've seen on the road, and I hesitate to use the term roadworthy, are those used by postmen & policemen (usually with drinking buddy in the sidecar...).

Private bikes are like hen's teeth in SZ proper. Most you see are rusting away in underground car parks. I recall one new-ish 125 parked at my college sometimes (it's right at the city limits) This year I saw a spanking new Yamaha(?) virago parked conspicuously in the OCT district - 25m from where 2 or 3 policemen usually *ahem* stand watchfully.

No plates on it naturally - so I guess *that* one was legal.

Why is it that high value vehicles are the only ones without plates here.....?

Bikes have a valuable role to play in developing nations and even congested (deteriorating?) cities like London. Why does SZ see more sense in single occupancy Beemers (7 series, of course), Range Rovers, Jags and Lexii (plural?).

Oh – and don’t start me on the “private taxis” ….. those mini-vans that mill about all askew in legitimate taxi ranks while the red taxis wait meekly at the back of the line? Why don’t the legit operating companies get aggrieved? Why aren’t they moved on? Gangster-run with big guanxi perhaps? I never use them.

As usual in this mad-cap place, there are more questions than answers.

Bulldozers, Tanks, motorcycles, people... What's he difference? Crush them all! Seriously, though, "What is good for the goose is good for the gander"
Crushing is the key word here. Crush, crush, crush. Does that not make you happy? Crush this, crush that, crush the problem and it goes away. NOT! As a matter of physics crushing matter does ot destroy it, in that matter canno be destroyed... only changed. Government crushes things only to see them change, bloom, blossum and reappear in beautiful and diverse ways. It's just another last ditch effort to save a dying form of government. Crush? How barbaric! and now how utterly stupid. Crush indeed! Have you ever tried compassionate renewal? I suppose that would symbolize the government losing control. Too late already. The government just crushed itself and now is changing into some beautiful whether it likes it or not. Crush?! I'm starting to like that sound. Crush, Crush, Crush.

I used to think this was over the top until I found out that a relative had gotten robbed TWICE by someone on a motorcycle, and ended up being dragged after the motorcycle the second time since her handbag was still caught on her arm.

The strap of the handbag eventually broke and freed her, but she was still pretty injured and traumatized by the whole thing.

Point is, with such horrible crimes I can see why the police have simply resorted to these tactics. BTW, it's not just pedestrians, people riding bicycles get robbed too (my relative was on a bike).

The reduction in pollution and noise is also a bonus, plus people in China tend to ride scooters/motorcycles like complete lunatics and ignore all traffic laws, so hopefully it'll make the streets slightly less psychotic.

That said, law-abiding people who didn't ride motorcycles like jerks or rob people kind of get screwed over here =(

So,,,um,,,a few people get their purses snatched by motorcycle riding thieves. Lets be generous and say a thousand people get their purses snatched.

So, the government steals 23 thousand (and counting) motorbikes, likely the owners only form of transportation, from mostly law abiding citizens and destroys them.

So, if you destroy every last motorbike will you not still have thieves? Will they not simply snatch purses on foot? Ah, I get it. Then we start confiscating tennis shoes.

At least it proves we don't have much to fear from a government THAT incapable of reasoning.

This makes absolutely no sense at all. Its as though they are saying robbery is OK, but riding a motorcycle is not. Taking away the motorcycle out of the equation is not going to stop the would be robber from robbing someone. They'll just use another method of transportation. The point is the more people riding bikes is better for the economy (some people cannot afford cars but can afford bikes and are able to transport themselves to jobs) and for the environment. Reducing peoples ability to have cheap transportation could result in more crime in the long run.

That's fine...guess they would rather have the street clogged with hundreds of thousands of cars to replace all the transport they have just stolen off the citizens...

i think the govt definitely can do better than to confiscate all these scrap metal: massive land pollution is one problem that China has been finding extremely difficult to combat—and they are here exacerbating it.

like one netizen pointed out, there can't be demand for these bikes as long as the supply is curbed.

but seriously, as with all problems in our country its really the system that has to be changed. the government can do much more like restricting sales instead of curbing bikes on roads- only that bike sales bring in revenue and Beijing will never do anything to curb profit.

It is very interesting that 580,000 useful and fuel-efficient motorcycles would be confiscated and crushed due to the use of a much, much smaller number of them by criminals.

The final outcome will be a situation similar to what we have here in the United States: Way too many cars parked bumper-to-bumper, barely able to move on our roads, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Meanwhile that great democratic HERO Putin is shown riding a Harley, but whith three wheels because apparently he can't ride a two wheeler. Big, tough KGB guy beating up peoples tied to chair and riding three wheel bike like old lady. Ha!

Well yah how ruthless and thoughless! ther should BUY OFF the bikes from legitimate owners!
Thats bullying! Now what r they gonna do with the trash? If the system cant stop robberies it aint the responsibility of legit bike owners who ride the streets!