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Readers write: Reporter’s experiences over the decades in China

Letters to the editor for the Feb. 26, 2018 weekly magazine. 

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Aly Song/Reuters
A man walks on a bridge in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China on March 9, 2017.
  • By Colette Cadwell Monitor reader
  • Cynthia Howland Monitor reader
  • Rusty Wyrick Monitor reader

Reporter’s experiences over the decades in China

Regarding the Jan. 22 cover story, “My return to China”: Rarely have I read such a remarkable essay as this one. The stories of Ann Scott Tyson’s two visits are filled with keen observation, emotion, and compassionate comparisons of social norms past and present, leaving one with an early warning signal that demonstrates how quickly invasive governmental surveillance can cast a chill on a nation’s populace, silencing natural desires to communicate in even the simplest conversations with others. Thank you for sharing this.

Colette Cadwell

Oviedo, Fla.

The Jan. 22 cover story about China was a superb article. It was like the Monitor’s old Z page pieces. I learned a lot about contemporary China and what it has gained as well as what it has lost. It was written with intelligence and heart, so it informed and enriched the reader. It also opened some areas for prayer for the world. I’d like to see more stories like this one.

Cynthia Howland

Brunswick, Maine

The article was a delightful compound of wonder and nostalgia, vague dread and cleareyed observations. While no single article can describe a country of more than a billion people, Ann Scott Tyson succeeds in offering fascinating glimpses. And with her unique experiences from more than 30 years ago, she shows us the progress and the loss, the extreme suffering of the past and the bright future than may be possible if China “gets it right.” In addition, it helped me understand how far and how fast China has come since the Cultural Revolution. Yes, we in the United States must treasure our constitutionally protected freedoms and encourage other governments to provide civil liberties to their population. But we cannot command from afar, discounting the experiences of those people. Instead, we must strive to be empathetic and respectful and help them to find the way forward. The final passage in Ritan Park was moving in a way I cannot describe.

Rusty Wyrick

Ghivizzano, Italy

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