Originally published on February 14, 2020.
This essay records the author’s reaction to footage of a former lawyer who entered Wuhan and risked his life posting the truth about the novel coronavirus on social media.
Moved by the man’s tears and words, the author reflects on the tragedy of being born with a sound intellect under Chinese Communist Party rule, the freedom and happiness enjoyed by Japanese men and women, and urges Prime Minister Abe to postpone Xi Jinping’s state visit to Japan.

February 14, 2020
After that, he raised his voice and said, “I am not afraid of the Chinese Communist Party.”
At that moment, the tears overflowing from his eyes choked my heart.
This happened last night, when I was talking with a well-read friend about footage I had seen on the news.
It was footage of a former lawyer who had entered Wuhan in order to verify the truth and was posting on social media, risking his life.
When I tried to tell my friend what he had said, tears welled up and I was at a loss for words.
…I want to know the truth.
After that, he raised his voice and said, “I am not afraid of the Chinese Communist Party.”
At that moment, the tears overflowing from his eyes choked my heart.
It was a room worlds apart from the residences and travel destinations of highly paid Hollywood people—a poor room with almost no furniture, perhaps nothing but a bed.
It must have been a desperate transmission from his place of stay in Wuhan.
It is tragic for a person with sound intelligence to be born in China.
I sometimes say this to Japanese women, who are the freest and happiest women in the world.
“Imagine if you had been born in South Korea.
It is a difficult country, and at its essence, it is also an extremely male-dominated country.
Or imagine a country where a girl can be shot in the head merely for saying she wants to study, a country where a woman can be raped on a crowded bus, or countries like those in Europe and America, which are advanced nations, yet where about 50 percent of the population has experienced rape.
Contrary to what anti-Japanese countries and leftists say, Japan is the country where women are happiest in the world.”
But as I began writing the above, I thought that this can also be said of men.
There is no country where men are as happy as they are in Japan, and Japanese men are the happiest men in the world.
To Prime Minister Abe.
I am someone who is grateful for your lionhearted efforts up to now.
As politics, perhaps that is how it must be.
However, would it not be the best policy to take the current novel coronavirus crisis as an opportunity and postpone Xi Jinping’s state visit to Japan?