英语阅读：Shows of love that moved a billion hearts
According to recent media reports, Japanese Internet users "found withsurprise" that hostile comments from Chinese youths against Japan had "decreased
dramatically since the earthquake struck (on May 12)."
It is true.
Mostly because of historical problems, mutual distrust and even hostility
on certain occasions have long existed between the common people, especially the
youths, of the two countries. Thanks to both governments' efforts to break the
deadlock in bilateral relations and the mutual visits by the two countries'
leaders in the past two years, the ice of mutual distrust began to thaw.
The "ice-thawing" process picked up pace suddenly in the past few weeks
after Japan donated money quickly to help China fight the natural disasters and
sent a rescue team to the earthquake-stricken Sichuan province. The photos
published on the Internet showing Japanese rescuers working on the debris and
bowing heads to mourn the dead Chinese citizens moved Chinese netizens to tears.
They were also touched by Tokyo-based Chinese journalists' reports that "nearly
every convenience shop here has set a box collecting donations for quake victims
in China."
Needless to say, the Chinese people were touched not as much by the money
as by the friendly intentions thus demonstrated by the Japanese people. During
the hard days of the bilateral relations, a large number of Chinese youths had
directed their fury, caused by the unfriendly moves taken by Japanese
right-wingers, to a large part of the Japanese society. Now, the good intentions
they found in the Japanese aid helped soothe the rancor in their hearts. They
found the Japanese people, on the whole, were not as hostile towards China as
they had thought them to be.
For anyone who is suffering from difficulties, financial and material aid
from other people is always a substantial help. What is more meaningful,
however, is the love he/she perceives in the aid. This love stems from the
kindness that is intrinsic in human nature. It is the most valuable feeling in
human society. It makes people build up confidence in life and encourages them
to love others. Allow me to use a clich, "love evokes love."
Since the earthquake inflicted great sufferings on the Chinese people,
people throughout the world have sent in cash and aid materials. Our hearts were
filled with gratitude when we saw professional rescue teams arriving from Japan,
Russia, Singapore and the Republic of Korea; when we heard Saudi Arabia, among
the earliest international donors, announce its donation of $50 million plus $10
million worth of relief materials; when we learned that Pakistan sent in all the
tents the country had in reserves and refused the Chinese embassy's offer of
payment; and when Peru announced May 19 to be its "national mourning day" for
the Chinese earthquake victims, to cite only a few examples.
Even Mozambique's meager $40,000 donation moved us to tears. A Chinese
Internet surfer wrote online: "I heard that their leader had no money traveling
to New York to attend the UN meeting. Forty thousand dollars could have helped
them a lot but they donated it to us. I feel so grateful to them!" The man (or a
woman) cited a famous Chinese saying: "A favor the size of a drop of water
should be repaid with one of the amount of a surging spring." The old saying
typically represents Chinese people's culture of repaying debts of
gratitude.
The love the people felt in the international aid and demonstrated in the
joint battles in which the Chinese people united to fight the earthquake is an
encouraging sign of a harmonious world. We need love, not hatred; we need peace,
not conflicts; we need mutual understanding, not distrust. Let's all work for
that aim.
E-mail: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn
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