China Unity Strengthens | Welcomes Korea & Japan In the Northeast

I love living in Shenyang. Its the northeast of China, a place infused with an earthy, friendly spirit and independence few foreigners have come to know. I love this place; much more so than I expected when we first moved here almost two years earlier from Hangzhou. 800 kilometers northeast of Beijing, Shenyang is the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is also my wife's hometown. We had previously spent many years together since marrying in 2007 living in and traveling around numerous Chinese cities; Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Suzhou, Chongqing, Beijing, oh can't keep count, a lot of cities whose vibe good and bad we've experienced! So then, we are at least reasonably qualified to make a comparison and the first thing that comes to mind about Shenyang is the down to earth spirit of the place. Add in a ridiculously attractive riverside park system running well over 20km along the Hun He river, plenty of architectural diversity both modern and historic, and I can't forget to mention vastly improved air quality in recent years. Shenyang. Nice. Real nice.

In my attempts to put my finger on it, I find myself regarding this city as northeast China's version of Chengdu, regarded by many as one of China's most livable cities for its slow, charming yet deeply cultural, slightly bohemian urban vibe. The people of Shenyang, of Liaoning are so genuine, tough, friendly and then more friendly, in a uniquely warm sort of way. When I gush compliments to other foreigners who live here about how much I really feel that I enjoy living here, they all pretty much give me that knowing, smiling nod, as if we're all in on the surprising little secret that expats in Shanghai would never understand.

Even after a couple hours of a classic baijiu-drinking Chinese round table meal, the men don't get ornery and rude, rather they get more warm and friendly and take turns going round the table to stand up and talk about what's genuinely in their hearts. Really. Its some of the very best of what life in China has to offer.

And so its within this comfortable cultural and lifestyle backdrop unique to northeast China, I come face to face with the issue of some anti-Korea and anti-Japan sentiment that some Chinese harbor. The previous narrative of anti-China sentiment has its opposite cousin in northeast China with its close proximity to Korea and Japan; how strong is the narrative of anti-Korea and anti-Japanese sentiment brewing amongst the people of Liaoning? Could it be true and what might be driving it?

There have been some local reports of this negative sentiment here in Shenyang in recent days along with a recent order for strict controls on flights coming into Shenyang's Taoxian airport from Korea and Japan. I was encouraged by a couple of friends to look more closely at what was happening in this microcosm of virus outbreak tension; a tension felt increasingly across the world, especially with Korea, Japan, along with Iran and Italy now top of the pandemic headlines. People are worried. People are human, full of emotions, usually fear. No one is immune.

As I write this piece, we find ourselves at a perhaps unexpected crossroad; while the rest of the world seems to be entering into more serious crisis, China is well on its way to leaving the Covid-19 crisis behind. Besides Wuhan, Hubei province, China's other 21 provinces totaling a population well over one billion people have reported a very small number of new cases per day. That' s rather miraculous by any standard.

My investigation into the pieces of this puzzle led to an understanding that this negative sentiment against Japan or Korea is not broadly expressed. The lingering resentments are more toward the old, unfortunate history with the Japanese and yet, the vast majority of people recognize that while they should not entirely forget the past, it is, indeed, past. Today in northeast China, many japanese are returning to Liaoning and in fact they are returning as so many others to help restart the economy, to help get life back to normal for businesses and families alike. .

Northeast China borders and has extensive close business, cultural and community relations with a substantial population of Koreans here. There is a well-defined Korean community, schools, Christian church and fabulously authentic Korean restaurants scattered throughout the city. There's at least three really good ones just downstairs in our neighborhood and we're not anywhere near the city's local "Koreatown"

Liaoning province is leading China's defeat of the Covid-19 virus spread. I know we're all feeling very proud of that, with no new cases for over three weeks across the province, So then you can understand the mental perspective perhaps; here we are in Liaoning having pretty much stopped the spread of the virus and then, BAM, our border close neighbors Korea and Japan have their own outbreaks. Chinese are known for being practical rather than idealistic and so I turned to local Shenyang resident and close friend Bill Wang Qing, Chairman of the Asia Pacific America Business Club here in Shenyang. If anyone would know what's driving the news, Chairman Wang would and sure enough, I walked away from our conversation with a new understanding of what was happening with these latest developments.

I told Bill I know for a fact that again, here in the provincial capital of Shenyang, the substantial Korean and Japanese communities are gladly and warmly welcome, fully embraced as an integral part of the city's cultural landscape. Naturally, there are going to be a few local exceptions to this as would be anywhere, but in very few numbers. At the same time, we noted the recent announcement by airport authorities instituting the strict flight and passenger controls I have already mentioned. Bill's answer was in full agreement with my idea. When I asked him of any other underlying arguments, Bill confirmed that indeed, local Liaoning Chinese in the vast majority have always warmly welcomed and embraced their Korean and Japanese neighbors.

Moving the conversation specifically to Korea, he explained two other distinctions I felt went quite far in unraveling the mystery. First of all, the Chinese have enormous trust in their own government and willingly cooperated this past month or so with their government to successfully stop the spread of the virus here in Liaoning. Coming off of that fresh, proud victory (vigilant Level 3 policies and controls are still in place, so please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying we are fully back to normal yet) , so coming off this fresh, proud sense of victory, the people here would be worried that any other country might not have the same level of confidence, such as in their Korean counterparts.

Glad to say, as it turns out, the Korean govt faced a nasty outbreak there via the church at Daegu and they have in fact done an excellent job responding in terms of containment measures. The only other possible concern was that some Koreans might want to cross the border to take advantage of China's lower cost healthcare system, but in the end there haven't been any reports of this at all in the news or social media platforms we regularly peruse.

So in conclusion, putting this basket of consideration together creates a sentiment of genuine concern and fear here amongst northeast Chinese, but surely not rooted in a nasty vein of racism or xenophobia against their Korean and Japanese neighbors. We could find ourselves understanding fairly easily why local Chinese are none too happy to hear soon after they have done their sacrificial duty (make no mistake, that is exactly what the past month has been) as proud citizens in stopping the spread of the virus, the last thing they want is a fresh threat entering from along any of China's borders; Indeed, the airports have since executed very reasonable and clear outlines for incoming passengers at all of China's international airports.

I believe the story of this local regional case serves well as a microcosm of the bigger picture as people in communities all over the world grapple with the many opposing forces and emotions swirling chaotically as this situation continues unfolding. What we have now is an absolute understanding that within its own borders, China has succeeded in its virus containment efforts, creating along the way a fresh higher spirit of pride and unity all across the country and a model for the world to see and follow. I am confident that spirit will serve to support our Korean and Japanese neighbors here in the northeast as they now face the same challenges within their own borders.

Mario Cavolo, Shenyang