{"id":15555,"date":"2020-01-28T05:35:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/?p=15555"},"modified":"2020-01-28T05:35:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T21:35:35","slug":"chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s \u201cBiblical\u201d Appeal to Shame Against the Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sometimes China makes it just too easy. As an honor-shame nerd, a theologian, and a China watcher, I certainly took notice of the Chinese government\u2019s recent post on social media.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Credit: Flickr\/NIAID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response to the coronavirus, Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission wrote,<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who deliberately delays and hides the reporting of cases out of his or her own self-interest will be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity<\/span>. Anyone who puts the face of politicians<\/span> before the interests of the people will be the sinner of a millennium<\/span><\/span> to the party and the people.\u201d (translation from CNN<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is the Mandarin version:<\/p>\n

\u8c01\u4e3a\u4e00\u5df1\u4e4b\u5229\uff0c\u523b\u610f\u8fdf\u62a5\u7792\u62a5\uff0c\u5c06<\/span>\u6c38\u8fdc\u88ab\u9489\u5728\u5386\u53f2\u7684\u803b\u8fb1\u67f1\u4e0a<\/span>; \u8c01\u5c06\u653f\u5ba2\u7684<\/span>\u9762\u5b50<\/span>\uff0c\u770b\u5f97\u6bd4\u4eba\u6c11\u5229\u76ca\u8fd8\u91cd\uff0c\u5c31\u662f\u515a\u548c\u4eba\u6c11\u7684\u5343\u53e4<\/span>\u7f6a\u4eba<\/span> (from here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The government\u2019s language is striking. It almost seems like the writer just finished reading the Bible before drafting the announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cnailed on the pillar of shame for eternity\u201d<\/p>\n

How long until someone incorporates that phrase into an evangelistic tract?!<\/em><\/p>\n

We are Different but the Same<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

What about the second line? Does it highlight a difference or a similarity between Eastern and Western culture?<\/p>\n

Can you imagine the average citizen from America or Australia \u201cputting the face of politicians before the interests of the people\u201d? At first glance, you might say, \u201cNo way\u2026 most people would sell out a politician in a second.\u201d However, I wouldn\u2019t be so sure, especially in light of current events.<\/p>\n

Consider the type of person that comment is directed at. It\u2019s aimed at government officials who might try to save face or those who have relationships with officials in authority (thus, have \u201cface\u201d). In American culture, what is a stereotypical parallel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Might it be the conservative, Fox News watcher with respect to Republicans? Or liberal, Huffington Post readers regarding Democrats? How quickly will they (and we<\/em>) overlook the negligence of people they like? Or, how willing are you to criticize leaders who are popular in a crowd of people with whom you want to curry favor?<\/p>\n

Most people in the West are quick to condemn Chinese politicians as people who care only about their own reputation, even at the expense of normal citizens. Of course, this is true of countless officials<\/a>. Yet, too many Westerners often make this judgment is often made as if such \u201cface-saving\u201d concerns were a Chinese problem.<\/p>\n

The Chinese Communist Party calls such a person a \u201csinner of a millennium to the party and the people.\u201d How many of us are sinners to either our country or our church because we ignore underlying problems in order to preserve face, whether ours or others\u2019?<\/p>\n

A Plea for Transparency<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The government warns that the concealment of SARS led to great harm in 2003. So, with respect to the coronavirus, the Party pleads for transparency when they state,<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly when information is made sufficiently open can the public pay attention to it, and prevention and control measures can efficiently be put in place.\u201d (\u201c\u4fe1\u606f\u53ea\u6709\u8db3\u591f\u516c\u5f00, \u624d\u80fd\u5f15\u8d77\u516c\u4f17\u91cd\u89c6, \u9632\u63a7\u63aa\u65bd\u624d\u80fd\u65bd\u5c55\uff0c\u4ee5\u6700\u6709\u6548\u7387\u7684\u65b9\u5f0f\u5230\u4f4d\u201d)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No doubt, the government will be accused of hypocrisy given their penchant for secrecy and suppressing information when it suits them. I\u2019ve heard several people familiar with China speculate that the number of people infected by the coronavirus is (at least) 10-20 times the reported figures.<\/p>\n

The government has a credibility problem. Given its reputation, people understandably fear the personal consequences of being transparent. But what about the consequences on the community and country?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In light of the ongoing impeachment debacle, these are questions that Americans must ask themselves as well. There are certainly important differences between the two contexts. In China, \u201cface\u201d trumps law<\/a> when it comes to justice and defending one\u2019s rights. In the States (and many other Western countries), you might make people angry, but you won\u2019t die or go to jail for speaking up.<\/p>\n

What would happen if we built our reputations on transparency?<\/strong> How many problems might we avoid?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to the coronavirus, China warns that people who care too much about the “face of politicians” will be “sinners” who are “nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2368,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[2115,2610,110],"class_list":["post-15555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-honor-shame-face","tag-china","tag-coronavirus","tag-face"],"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s \u201cBiblical\u201d Appeal to Shame Against the Coronavirus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In response to the coronavirus, China warns that people who care too much about the "face of politicians" will be "sinners" who are "nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s \u201cBiblical\u201d Appeal to Shame Against the Coronavirus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In response to the coronavirus, China warns that people who care too much about the "face of politicians" will be "sinners" who are "nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saving God\u2019s Face\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/savinggodsface\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-27T21:35:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/576\/2020\/01\/14702510680_0eb92ffb11_c.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Vaughn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@savinggodsface\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Vaughn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/\",\"name\":\"China\u2019s \u201cBiblical\u201d Appeal to Shame Against the Coronavirus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-27T21:35:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-27T21:35:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/#\/schema\/person\/c6033eb278ed95fcd5f10ce3ad21210c\"},\"description\":\"In response to the coronavirus, China warns that people who care too much about the \\\"face of politicians\\\" will be \\\"sinners\\\" who are \\\"nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2020\/01\/28\/chinas-biblical-appeal-shame-against-coronavirus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China\u2019s \u201cBiblical\u201d Appeal to Shame Against the Coronavirus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/\",\"name\":\"Saving God\u2019s Face\",\"description\":\"Doing Theology. 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