Even Chinese people who carry poignant memories of the Japanese atrocities during World War II were surprised by the goodwill and support shown by Japan toward China in the battle against the COVID-19 outbreak.
Early this month, images of ancient poetry printed on packages donated by Japan went viral on Chinese social media. One of the poems printed on donated supplies was written about 1,300 years ago by a Japanese prince. It read: “Even though the landscapes are diverse, we share the wind and moon under the same sky.” The heart-warming message was sent to Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak, together with masks and infrared thermometers.
Packages of medical supplies from Maizuru in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture featured a poem by poet Wang Changling from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). Roughly translated, it says: “The mountain range that stretches from you to me is under the same clouds and rain. The same moon is shining over our heads, never apart but in one place we remain.”
Japanese people’s creativity in extending goodwill went beyond poetry. A Japanese ballet troupe sang “The March of the Volunteers” to voice their support for China and Wuhan.
“The Chinese people will surely overcome the epidemic,” the Matsuyama Ballet told the Global Times on Wednesday after they recorded the video featuring them singing the Chinese national anthem.
Japan’s support was also official. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Feb. 7 told Chinese Ambassador Kong Xuanyou that Japan would make all-out efforts to support China in containing the coronavirus. Nikai told the media last Monday that all members of his party in the Diet, Japan’s parliament, would each donate 5,000 yen (US$45) to China.
In contrast with Japan’s “heart-warming” support, as characterized by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, some in the West have instead shown prejudice, racism and insult against China.
The Wall Street Journal has drawn condemnation for publishing an op-ed entitled “China is the real sick man of Asia.” The phrase “sick man of Asia” was historically used to perpetuate a stereotype against the Chinese people. Late last month, Danish newspaper Jyllands-posten published a “satire drawing” by editorial cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen, which used five coronaviruses in the place of the five yellow stars in the Chinese national flag, triggering indignation among Chinese people.
The editor, author and cartoonist did not show the least bit of sympathy for China and COVID-19 victims. They even went to great lengths to belittle China’s efforts to fight the epidemic. China’s stringent measures, including the shutdown of Wuhan and other cities, aimed to protect not only the Chinese people but also people around the globe from the further spread of the potentially deadly virus.
In fact, all countries are stakeholders in the war against COVID-19. The ongoing epidemic in China, if not contained, would have the potential to become a global pandemic. Without the sacrifice of Wuhan and other cities, the epidemic in China and other parts of the world would have been much worse. Rallying to help China in its efforts to contain the virus and making concerted efforts to curb its spread is the only choice for the international community.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, made a plea for global cooperation at a forum about the novel coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, calling for countries to show solidarity with China.
“It’s a test of political solidarity — whether the world can come together to fight a common enemy that does not respect borders or ideologies,” he said. “It’s a test of financial solidarity — whether the world will invest now in fighting this outbreak, or pay more later to deal with its consequences. And it’s a test of scientific solidarity — will the world come together to find shared answers to shared problems?”
(The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.)