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.


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.


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.

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:


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