“Better to have good neighbors than relatives living far away.” This Chinese proverb tells the story of Uncle Liu, who had been our neighbor since I was about five years old. Uncle Liu and my father had been colleagues since the 1970s; they both retired in the 1990s. He was quiet but funny; he was kind, always with a smile on his face.
In a recent phone call with my father, I found out that Uncle Liu passed away. I was heartbroken. In February, he had an accident, fell, and broke some bones. He was taken to a big hospital in Beijing, but doctors in the hospital did not give him any treatment. Instead, they quarantined him and his family, claiming that when he was seeking help in the hospital, he was exposed to several coronavirus patients.
Uncle Liu was taken home by his relatives and all were ordered to be quarantined in his apartment. My parents wanted to visit him, as he had been such a good friend and neighbor for so many years, just like a family member. Yet, the government’s quarantine order strictly forbade anyone to step into their home. My father had hoped that Uncle Liu would have recovered in two weeks, but when he called Uncle Liu, he was told that Uncle Liu had passed away.
Uncle Liu did not die of coronavirus but of non-treatment. None of his family members contracted the coronavirus just because they went to the hospital seeking treatment for Uncle Liu. His daughter told my father that he died in anger, disappointment, and sadness. The Chinese government has banned funerals, so Uncle Liu’s body was cremated right after his death. My parents felt devastated by the loss of Uncle Liu, a dear neighbor and a close family friend.
Uncle Liu was a Communist Party member and had been loyal to the Party all his life. Like my father, he firmly believed that the Communist Party was for the Chinese people. As the leader of a vile dictatorship, the Party ordered all hospitals to stop accepting non-coronavirus patients and reject saving lives.
My mother told me that all hospitals in Beijing are refusing to accept non-coronavirus patients for the time being. For patients like my mother who suffers from a chronic disease and needs to have her meds refilled, doctors call the patient to a specific office to pick up medicines for two months.
Uncle Liu’s death mirrors many sad stories of the Chinese people. In a short video posted on Tweeter, a young man was beaten by police at the entrance of a hospital. According to the tweet, on March 23rd, a family member of the young man was sick, suspected of having the coronavirus and went to the hospital for treatment. The hospital refused to accept them. The young man was furious, and in despair, he confronted the hospital guards. In the end, he was arrested. The tweet says, “The non-treatment is not because of shortage of medical resources, but because of the decision made by the Communist Party, that is, there must be zero coronavirus case in China.”
As the world has known, fake news dominates the Chinese society. People who posted what they witnessed were put in jail; people who criticized the authorities were sentenced to years in prison. The Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an organization banned in China, reported that posting information about the coronavirus on WeChat (social media controlled by the Chinese government) put hundreds of people in prison. The punishment includes –
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37 cases in Hubei Province, including detaining the doctors who informed people of the deadly virus;
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29 cases in Beijing, including arresting two high-profile human rights activists;
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124 cases in Shandong Province;
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44 cases in Tianjin city;
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21 cases in Liaoning Province;
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20 cases in Henan Province;
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22 cases in Zhejiang Province;
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72 cases in Qinghai Province;
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12 cases in Tibet; and
- 8 cases in Xinjiang.
The dire situation in China is that people are not only dying of the coronavirus but also dying because of the evil political system. The Communist regime is responsible for the death of Uncle Liu and many other good persons like him.
One spring when measles broke out, my brother and I fell sick. After our fever decreased, my parents returned to work and left us home alone (the Chinese government does not give paid leave for parents taking care of their sick children). It was late; my brother and I were hungry. Uncle Liu came and brought us white rice covered with stir fried eggs and green pepper. “Uncle Liu cooked the most delicious food for us,” said my brother.
Yes, he did. Even today, we remember.
Please join me in prayers for Uncle Liu’s family and for the millions of Chinese citizens suffering under the Communist regime.