IF IT had happened to an ordinary Chinese, probably no one would have noticed. But when police beat up Yan Zhengxue, they made a big mistake.
For Mr Yan, as it turned out, is a member of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, and he, unlike most ordinary Chinese people, is in a position to make a huge stink about police brutality.
The incident happened on July 2, when Mr Yan - an artist of some renown who is head of the painters' federation of Shugjiang, Zhejiang province and chief of the Bohemian artists' colony near the Yuanmingyuan Park in Beijing - was taking a bus to Beijing University.
The door of the bus closed before Mr Yan could get off. He called out to the driver several times to stop and let him off, but his pleas were of no avail.
An argument ensued, during which Mr Yan, in his late 40s, says he accidentally knocked over the ticket collector's folder of tickets and money.
''There is 1,000 yuan [HK$1,340] there, and you must compensate for every cent lost,'' the conductor yelled. Mr Yan, who did not touch the money, tried to get off at the next stop, but was prevented from doing so.