A video circulating on social media shows a woman collecting her son's urine in a disposable cup at a Beijing branch of Sushiro, a well-known Japanese conveyor-belt sushi franchise. [Weibo]
A video circulating on social media shows a woman collecting her son's urine in a disposable cup at a Beijing branch of Sushiro, a well-known Japanese conveyor-belt sushi franchise. [Weibo]

A video of parents allowing their child to urinate into a cup at a well-known franchise restaurant in China, rather than taking him to the restroom, has sparked widespread criticism online.

According to Chinese media including Xiandai Kuaibao, the incident took place on Sept. 3 at a Beijing branch of Sushiro, a popular Japanese conveyor-belt sushi franchise.

A diner identified only as A, who was eating at a nearby table, noticed a woman at another table collecting her young son's urine in a disposable plastic cup. A filmed the scene on a mobile phone and posted the video to SNS.

"I heard the child tell his parents he needed to use the bathroom, but the parents had him stand on the chair and urinated into a cup," A said. "It was so disgusting that I completely lost my appetite."

A also complained that staff had walked past the table multiple times without intervening. "When I raised the issue, the staff only wiped down the table," A said.

A said the incident made it impossible to continue eating, and the restaurant reportedly refunded the entire meal.

As the video spread and the backlash grew, Sushiro's China headquarters said that after A raised the complaint, staff persuaded the parents to stop, moved them to another table, disinfected the original table and discarded all utensils and tableware used there.

A later received an apology message from the child's parents, according to reports.

A then filed a complaint with Beijing city authorities, arguing that restaurant staff had failed to stop the parents' behavior immediately.

City authorities declined to accept the complaint, however, saying their investigation found no legal basis to classify the restaurant's failure to stop a customer's inappropriate behavior as a violation.

Authorities explained that the child's parents had been sitting with their backs to the aisle, making their actions invisible from outside the table, and that partitions between seats had blocked staff from witnessing the incident.

Chinese internet users reacted with a range of opinions. "The parents bear greater responsibility," wrote one commenter. Others argued the restaurant should seek damages from the family since it too suffered harm. Some took a more measured view: "Emergencies can happen when raising children, but that doesn't mean you should handle it where people are eating."


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com