Yuli Yang: A love letter to Wuhan, from a resilient local watching from afar // Chinese people are enduring coronavirus like everyone else. Don’t traumatise us further
I am a Wuhan girl living in Hong Kong. Right now, my close
family is all under lock-down in my hometown, the epicenter of this epidemic. Every day, I worry for
their safety, their health and their mental well-being. They worry, too, that I
am worried about them. Sound familiar? I'm sure anyone living far away from
their parents can relate to this funny cycle of love.
By this, I'm referring
to the emerging trend around the world of discrimination towards Chinese people, and towards
those who simply look like us. This virus brings
death and fear. People see the infection spread across borders and they grow
afraid for their children, parents, for themselves. But the virus also
reveals an amazing truth - that we're all interconnected, so much more closely
than we might have thought.
I'm also a news
producer and aware of the blame, the frustration and the outrage that
circulates in the wake of a crisis. I'm grateful for my tireless, fellow
journalists, who keep the world abreast of the battle against this coronavirus
outbreak. I understand and
support the physical measures that airlines, governments and institutions have
put in place for control and prevention. But at the same time, I invite you not
to put up walls between our hearts.
The Greek philosopher
Plato claimed that all of us are parts of one single, living organism:
the universe. But we don't need to look to Plato to know that the world can
only survive this crisis if China pulls through. And China can only pull
through when Wuhan heals. Like it or not, this is the reality of our oneness. Sometimes it's hard to
fathom this oneness. It can feel like we know so little about people in far
flung places around the globe, and that can make us feel even further apart. That's why I would
like to tell you a little bit about my hometown, Wuhan.... read more: