Life and Travel in China

The situation with the Wuhan coronavirus is changing like a kaleidoscope. The situation is getting significantly worse day by day. Various bans have been introduced, and people are carefully controlled even when leaving and returning to their own housing estates. Even in Shenzhen, body temperature is checked. Everyone who goes out must wear masks, of course there is a shortage of masks. Two scenarios are possible - either the authorities in China are not telling us the whole truth and the situation is critical also outside of Wuhan, or they are simply playing it safe. Thousands of doctors and specialists were sent to Wuhan. In cities, towns and villages, people rarely leave their homes. In the evenings they shout from the windows "Wuhan jia-you!" (jia-you is a shout of sports fans meaning "add fuel!", "add gas!"), which in this case is supposed to be a shout of "Wuhan, you can do it!", "Wuhan, let's fight!". On the one hand, the virus poses a serious threat, on the other hand, it brings great solidarity to the entire nation. No one discusses there, no one criticizes, everyone follows the rules and new prohibitions. Unfortunately, it is already clear that, apart from the health effects, the Chinese economy will weaken significantly. Already, thousands of people are canceling flights to the Middle Kingdom, giving up trade fairs, business meetings, training, etc. Transports of some products may soon be suspended. Other countries will introduce additional restrictions and bans on the import of goods from China. The same can happen in the field of science, training, student exchange, etc. Who would be most interested in such a situation? Which country openly fought against China? Obviously... either this virus is an accident from the marketplace, or someone decided to destroy the Middle Kingdom from the inside :-(.

In the Middle Kingdom, the authorities have introduced a very restrictive system of citizen control in connection with the coronavirus. Companies and factories must first obtain permission to start operations after Chinese New Year. Every citizen who returns from his hometown to his apartment must report it to local officials or via the WeChat application. Some people still do not return to work for fear of infection, and if possible, they work from home - this is, of course, office workers and foreign sales. The situation with production is worse. It's hard for me to imagine deserted Chinese cities that are always bustling with life, overcrowded, even overpopulated, but it has its own charm. Now it's really weird.

I have some doubts that this coronavirus is a coincidence. The legend of a pangolin being eaten by a bat or vice versa - sounds a bit like mythology. It seems to me that this virus is supposed to "shuffle" the entire world and change the economy and change the balance of power. Someone planned this. Certainly, a month ago, many people were happy that the Chinese economy would suffer because of these perturbations and that the Middle Kingdom would no longer be the leader. Now the Chinese economy has rebounded well, selling billions of masks all over the world. The situation in the USA and Europe looks bad, and in Iran and Syria it will be even more tragic. What's next? The virus will continue to rage because in Poland we do not have even half of the restrictions that existed in Asian countries. In other countries it is even more "loose".

China is certainly not a perfect country, it does not have a perfect system - but I'm starting to wonder... Europe and the United States, despite the ongoing pandemic, are opening shops, companies, and soon restaurants, and restoring "normal" activities. Of course, this is their way of trying to save the economy. It is easy to guess that the number of sick people will increase. Thus, these modern, democratic countries will sacrifice some of their elderly and/or sick citizens in order to save the majority and thus save their own asses (of course, in a crisis there will be more protests, anger against the government will grow in society, the overthrow of the government is guaranteed). The Middle Kingdom did the opposite, first limiting the rights and freedoms of everyone just to save the weaker ones. Only when the situation was largely under control; only when people were safe and illnesses were limited to a minimum - then the functioning of companies, factories, shops and restaurants was gradually restored. The Chinese government is quite rich, so they can afford some budget losses, some concessions, and a period of economic downtime. Now the question arises: where are human rights, civil rights, freedom, democracy? Does democracy mean the right to eliminate weaker individuals, sacrificing victims for the well-being of the majority? Apparently yes, but somehow in this particular situation Chinese communism seems to be more humane?!

Hainan instead of Hong Kong? The authorities in Beijing decided that since the US does not treat Hong Kong as a special zone in international trade, they will create a new zone. Hainan Island is to become a new center of international trade, transport and investment. The province is to be subject to other forms of taxation, which is intended to facilitate the import-export of goods. Many investments have already been planned to strengthen the position of the island. Until now, it was a typical tourist area of China. When I was there, we were surrounded by hotels and restaurants everywhere, some open space, palm trees, beaches - quite a nice place to relax. Apparently a lot will change in 15 years.