TOKYO, March 25, 2020—China is extending support in helping coronavirus pandemic-struck countries with its savvy ancient strategy that few can reject. As widely reported, Beijing has been sending medical teams to Italy, Brazil, African countries and others. Now, a Chinese municipality is pledging to reciprocate favors rendered to it by a Japanese municipality when it was threatened by coronavirus – by 10 times.
On March 24, the Chinese embassy in Tokyo tweeted that the Xinwu ward office of Wuxi City in China’s costal province of Jiangsu has pledged to send 50,000 facial masks in phases to Japan’s Toyokawa City in central Japan. That’s more 10 times of 4,500 masks and protection equipment that Toyokawa sent to Xinwu on Feb. 4.
China has a long tradition of returning favors it was given by someone by more than wha was given. This ancient tradition was emulated in Japan. In the feudal period, a samurai lord would send pales of salt that his enemy badly needed for his soldiers in an expression of mutual respect.
Xinwu pledged its generous return of Toyokawa’s favor in response to Toyokawa’s request to reimburse the leftovers of the 4,500 masks for utter want of supply in Japan. Toyokawa and Wuxi are sister cities. The Wuxi city sent to Toyokawa photos of facial masks via the China embassy promising to send 50,000 pieces saying, ‘this is the foundation of the China-Japan friendship,’ Japanese media reports said. Toyokawa’s medical facilities were projected to run out of facial mask supplies in May.
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