Life and Travel in China

Returning to the previous topic... during the official celebrations at Westerplatte, the Chinese television CCTV 4 presented a journalistic program about World War II, the current situation in Europe and plans to build an anti-missile shield in Poland. Quite an interesting program, the presenter invited a historian and military specialist. The guests spoke quite objectively, they even mentioned Katyn. I thought that after these conversations they would show a report from Poland, but there was only a short live insert showing the laying of wreaths. The program lasted 30 minutes and I hope that it made the Chinese people a little closer to the current situation in Poland, as well as our position in 1939. Yesterday, a colleague of my wife's work mentioned something about a discussion on an internet forum in which the Chinese presented the view that before the outbreak of the war, Poland was uniting with other Slavic nations to destroy the USSR! True, it's strong! Yes, with the help of Czechoslovakia we would definitely destroy Russia, ha ha. It is possible that the Chinese believe in a 'defensive' war for Russia! They were simply defending themselves against the Polish invader! This is what happens with propaganda and distorted history.

A few days ago, China went to war against drunk drivers. This sounds serious, but as usual, such a law does not apply to everyone. A driver under the influence of alcohol recently killed 5 people and was sentenced to death (the first time for such an offense). The media immediately showed Chinese police officers with breathalyzers in their hands. The problem is that there are few such controls (unless this is to change quickly). I witnessed it myself when during a business dinner only the driver drank vodka, then he drove us halfway through Canton to the train station. Another time, after visiting the KTV club, a very tipsy Chinese man always insisted that he would take us to the hotel. He felt even more confident because he knew the police chief in this provincial town. And that's the way it is with Chinese law. If someone has an uncle in the police, an aunt in the government, a father in the city hall, or is himself an officer or official, he is practically untouchable. If someone like that killed 5 people, the case would be covered up immediately, and the media would not even have the right to report it. In the worst case scenario, they would find a scapegoat for such a crime. Ordinary people don't even have a clue how this system works. The main point is that there is no free media and any faults of the authorities will never see the light of day.

I have already written that in China there is no compulsory insurance (like ZUS). Of course, now people buy private insurance, or companies do it on their behalf. If you are a resident of a given city and registered in that city, you have a social security card. Regardless of whether you have insurance or not, for a hospital, a patient is like an ATM. A friend dislocated her finger. The first day of the examination in the hospital, X-ray, a lot of paperwork, 3 hours have passed. Doctors insist that she stay in the hospital, but she stays at home overnight. The second day of blood and urine tests... what does this have to do with orthopedics? They insist on a second X-ray - sure, it's healthy to have X-ray exposure. They are planning a procedure, they need to insert some element worth PLN 1,300. The girl next door in the hospital room says she's been here for a week because she cut her finger. The longer in the hospital, the more tests, the more money. It's not like in Poland, where a hospital works for free to help someone and has millions of dollars in debt. The doctor told my friend on the first day that she had to pay a deposit of about PLN 900, she said PLN 450, he agreed... is this a health service or a marketplace? The way insurance works is that you pay in cash - and then, based on the documents, the insurance company covers these costs. If someone has a minor illness and doesn't have insurance, I guess the doctors will scare him into staying in the hospital for 10 days (because that's what they said about the dislocated finger). They will put you through drips, injections, take three x-rays, test your urine and blood twice, and all this is like a list of services provided on an invoice. Nothing is done for free in a Chinese hospital. Now imagine a worker who lost an arm or broke a leg on a construction site? His fate depends on the head of this company. He can simply wave his hand at him and the person will be crippled for life, or he will get help in a hospital and become hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt to his family and friends (if they are able to help him at all). In some emergency cases, patients would probably prefer to die, because when they wake up from anesthesia and see the bills for every time the bed was moved and the temperature was taken, they will simply cry. And this is communism, ladies and gentlemen! According to these beautiful slogans, the state should take care of everyone and we are all equal, we have the same rights and privileges (in China there are no privileges, but there are obligations). Ultimately, my friend decided against the procedure. In my opinion, it is better this way, because here the hospital will only look for an excuse for further tests and procedures... the worse the patient's condition, the better for the hospital. That's the philosophy here.

Today is the 60th anniversary of regaining independence in China. Beautiful and huge military parade in Beijing, I guess the city is paralyzed. Main streets closed, baggage checks, abandoned buildings surrounding Tian An Men Square. It is a very important holiday for the Chinese. I had the opportunity to participate (and, of course, take photos) in local celebrations and a performance dedicated to Independence Day. It is not difficult to observe national pride, a sense of unity, patriotism, which are, in a sense, fueled by propaganda, but even without this propaganda, many Chinese love their homeland. Apart from communism, I think we can envy them a little for this sense of community, strength and national pride. Nevertheless, I wish them that the coming years will bring more freedoms, that people will have rights, not only obligations, that they will be aware of the value of their lives and work, that they will not have to sacrifice anything or renounce pleasures. And my greatest wish is that the generation of people in love with Mao and fooled by propaganda will finally be replaced by young, educated and aware Chinese who will change the fate of their nation and I will never be ashamed of this nation. Ps. And that they would finally take down this portrait and grind the banknotes! ZhongGuo WanSui!!!

I'm not very interested in tennis, but right now, at this time, Agnieszka Radwa