Your sick neighbor

               Let’s say you have a neighbor.  You’ve known him for years.  He is very hardworking, conscientious, thrifty and talented.  In fact, he’s made most of the stuff in your house, including your favorite cell phone.  You don’t see eye to eye on politics.  You think he is a bit too authoritarian with his kids, but you have to admit that they are always well-behaved, greet you with smiles and offer to help take in your groceries if they see you have a big load.

               He has a pretty thick accent and you don’t always understand what he says.  He seems to love America though.  He always wears a New York Yankees baseball cap and has a shirt  with funny sayings written in a kind of broken English.  He owns a Ford and a Chevy.  His kids love Disney and you can hear “It’s a small world after all” coming from the smallest girl’s bedroom at all hours of the day and night.

His wife has made you her specialty dish.  She calls it “Phoenix claw”, but you think it looks more like chicken feet.  Because she is always so friendly and helpful, you nibble one in front of her.  You tell her that you like it, but then regret it because you’re afraid she might bring you another plate in the future.  Still, you want to make an effort, because she’s your neighbor after all.

Let’s say one day you hear this neighbor is sick.  In fact, he has pneumonia and it’s pretty serious.  He tells his kids not to go out because he’s not sure if they have been infected too, and he doesn’t want to spread the infection to the rest of the neighborhood.  What do you do?  Do you recall how he had once been ill a few years ago, call him up and say, “Hey, sick man, what are doing getting sick again?”  “Have you been leaking biological weapons from a lab in your basement?”  Would you tell him, “What are doing keeping your kids locked up?  This is a free country.  You can’t do that.”

Of course, you realize I am talking about China and COVID-19.  I have been living more than 6 months in China.  Whatever your notions of the Chinese communist party and its reputation, you should understand that the people I know and see everyday are living their lives in much the same way I see people in America living their lives.  The people are going about earning a living, raising their kids, enjoying their hobbies, just like people in America.

They drive Fords and Chevys.  They wear “NY Yankees” baseball caps and “LA Laker” jerseys. They love to listen to Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber.  They are intensely capitalistic and work hard to earn their money.  They want to practice English with me.  They help me with my pitiful Mandarin.  They’re friendly.   

Some in the Western press have been behaving like bad neighbors.   The Wall Street Journal published February 3^rd an opinion piece by Walter Russell Mead entitled “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia”. The “sick man of Asia” has its origins during the final days of the Qing Empire in the late 19^th century, when China was beset by internal rebellions and invasions by western nations, including the United States.  Is this how you would treat your hardworking neighbor who has just fallen ill?  Wouldn’t you want to ask his wife if you could bring over a lasagna?

NPR (National Public Radio) reporters Emily Feng and Amy Cheng’s February 21, 2020 story on National Public Radio, “Restrictions and Rewards: How China is Locking Down Half a Billion Citizens” further promotes the police state image of China during the COVID-19 crisis.  Doesn’t this title conjure up a nation of people wearing prison garb, going about their business in gray, concrete blocks? 

I have been one of those living in “lock down”.  Is it inconvenient?  Sure.  Do I feel unsafe, threatened, scared?  No.  China is coping with this lethal infectious disease that is spread by respiratory droplets to the best of its ability.  I wear my surgical mask when I leave my apartment.  I have walked out, forgetting to put it on.  Does something terrible happen?  Do armed men grab me and take me to jail?   No.  I remember to get it and put it on.  COVID-19 has galvanized us here.  We are working together with a kind of patriotic zeal to combat the spread of the illness.  We are washing our hands and avoiding unnecessary contact with others. There is even a water truck that comes around and sprays the streets while piping out the tune “It’s a small world after all” while they work.  What an appropriate song.

How you would treat your sick neighbor?  How would you like to be treated when you are sick?  Words matter.  When you insult someone, you hurt them.  It may be one’s right to say what they want, but when people spread racism, it brings all of us down. 

Confucius, the ancient Chinese teacher and philosopher that still informs Chinese thought today, taught the importance of social harmony; the importance of each person in society fulfilling their obligations to others.  In the west, with our tradition of personal freedom, we seem to have lost sight of our responsibilities to the rest of society.  We are free to write racist blogs.  We are free to refuse vaccines, thereby allowing the spread of lethal diseases like measles.  Your Chinese neighbors may think such behavior is quite strange, even dangerous.  Do they say to us, “What’s the matter with you?  Why are you so stupid?  Why are you letting measles come back?”  No, your neighbors are too polite.  They want to get well, get back to work and start building your latest cellular phone.  Let’s show them some love and respect.