I have a hard time believing foreign tourists need special police in Hangzhou, of all places!
I have been to both Paris and Hangzhou, and Hangzhou is far safer than Paris.
you felt safe in China because you are Chinese, even you don't speak the local dialect, locals' bad guys dare not to mess with you because they suspect you do speak local dialect, or you are local. The foreigners are clearly standing out, making them more vulnerable.
It is not about overall safety that Hangzhou is better than Paris, it is about foreigners. In that situation, a Japanese may be safer than an European if he does not open his mouth and dress like local. Another example is one of my Chinese friends got mugged by some South or Eastern Europeans in a western European city which at the time had the reputation of being safer than Beijing. Those muggers pretended to be undercover police. I myself encountered the same people pretending to be asking the way, but they immediately walked away after hearing me telling them details of the surroundings.
Even for a Chinese, if one is visually standing out of the locals, it can be dangerous. I was once taken by a black TAXI in Tianjin, the driver drove around for a few blocks and told me I have arrived and left me in the dark. I was able to call another TAXI, what if I was a Foreigner?
