Skilled Nurse Visit Note Back: Fill & Download for Free

ATTU DIARY…“The trouble is, you think you have time.” - BuddhaNABUO “PAUL” TATSUGUCHI LOVED AMERICA; like his father before him and his younger brothers who followed. He went to school in California and became a doctor of internal medicine. He was baptized as a Seventh Day Adventist Christian there. And it was destiny that his childhood sweetheart, Taeko, came to study in California too. And they were married there in 1938, the same year he received his state medical license. California was their home. They had a safe, respectable, and comfortable life ahead of them.But the next year, as Europe exploded into war, and Japan continued to devastate China, and U.S.-Japanese tensions mounted, it became plain the newly-weds had a most gut-wrenching decision to make. Where should they pledge their loyalties? To their ancestors and their culture, their country and “God-Emperor”? Or to themselves and their future children, and America? To their Christian Values or Japanese Shintoism? Was their duty only to themselves, or did they owe themselves completely to a single country, religion, calling, some personal morality or politics? What was right?Paul had spent 13 years in America, nearly his entire adult life, and they were his happiest years. Taeko, who had grown up in Hawaii with Christian missionary parents, loved America too…But both of them were also inescapably Japanese…So, when a Tokyo Adventist sanitarium reached out to Paul offering him a job, a Tuberculosis sanitarium founded by his late father some 10 years earlier, he couldn’t refuse his calling, nor the duty to honor his ancestors. And Taeko embraced her duty to support her husband.Their return to Japan was strange and overshadowed. Paul’s last visit was in 1932 when both of his parents died unexpectedly, but now he found his country much more radicalized, more militant than he remembered. Tokyo was more patriotic, and tensions with the United States were felt much more strongly there than in the United States. Had they made a grave mistake?In better times they might have been able to turn back, but it was now 1940 and Taeko was due to give birth to their first child. She was also heavily involved with church work; Paul had fully committed himself to his patients. Both wanted to return to the United States - - someday - - but events quickly overtook them. All they could do was pray.As their fears deepened, 1940 also became the year of the Religious Bodies Law. With its enactment, the government took full control of all religions in Japan and many churches were dissolved, including the Seventh Day Adventists. The Tatsuguchi’s watched on in shock as friends were abruptly interned and later deported, along with all foreign Christian missionaries. Many Japanese Christian leaders, some they personally knew, disappeared or were imprisoned, sometimes dying in custody. But maybe they shouldn’t have been so surprised. Under the shoguns Christian congregations had suffered centuries of persecution, torture and martyrdom.Amazingly though, at the same time the Japanese government protected Jews. In fact, they welcomed tens of thousands of Jewish refugees into Japan and the Jewish ghetto of Shanghai, helped arrange visas and travel to other safe haven countries, and fought continual German insistence throughout the war for adopting anti-Semitic policies that would ‘eliminate’ or deport Jews. Japan steadfastly refused and became a refuge from the holocaust because some Japanese leaders believed controlled Jewish immigration would bring needed investment. It was also believed that Japan might be able to obtain certain favors, intelligence, or advantages through the economic and political power of influential Jewry.An impossible choice was forced upon Paul and Taeko: should they - - could they - - remain loyal to their Christian faith or surrender to Shintoism and the totalitarian Japanese military state? Leaving Japan was no longer a realistic option. The Kempetai was certainly watching.In January 1941 still more was decided for them. Paul was ordered to leave his medical practice and report to the First Imperial Guard Regiment in Tokyo for induction as a private and basic training. In September, he was ordered to attend the Imperial Japanese Army’s medical school. He graduated in October and was promoted to Sergeant Major, rejoining his Tokyo regiment in January 1942 - - just after Pearl Harbor. The spectacular newspaper photos smoldered in the back of his mind for a very long time; his wife’s home, his other country, up in black acrid smoke; all those happy years seeming more and more like a dream now, confusing and surreal; fading.The Imperial Japanese Army would never trust Sergeant Major Tatsuguchi. Suspicious of his American and Christian backgrounds, they kept eyes on him and would never award him officer status, instead designating him as a non-commissioned acting medical officer. Insidiously, the deeper Paul was drawn into military training and indoctrination, the stronger his loyalties to Japan grew. Over time, the continual distrust of his superiors only made him more eager to prove himself. He got his chance in the Dutch East Indies for several months, and then briefly in the Solomon’s.Meanwhile, Japan had taken American soil in North America, occupying the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. And although Attu was abandoned in September of 1942, mysteriously, the Japanese changed their minds and decided to reoccupy it in October. This meant they would need more doctors.So after briefly returning to Tokyo and visiting Taeko, now pregnant with his second child, Dr. “Paul” Nobuo Tatsuguchi sailed for a distant place he couldn’t disclose. Perhaps it was an exile in captured American Siberia for having lived in America for so long. Perhaps compassion or Christian tendencies gave him away in his medical work and now he was to be cannon fodder. Either way, he arrived on Attu on March 10th 1943 in the last full convoy ever to land on that fateful island, joining some 2,700 other men there.Such luck…Excerpt from an intercepted and translated Japanese message:U.S. Forces prepare to disembark fo the Invasion of ATTU…His mission was to help establish field hospitals, and to serve as a combat surgeon. Attu seemed so remote from civilization and the war that it could’ve been the moon. Other Pacific battlefields felt that way too, but Paul knew Attu was an especially dangerous combat posting. Weeks after settling in, he sent locks of his hair to Taeko. He knew it would be important to his wife if he was killed in battle and his remains couldn’t be repatriated.Because of the U.S. blockade of the island, only a few letters ever got through to Taeko. Paul wrote mostly about the extreme weather and the pristine snowy grandeur of the surrounding mountains. Attu sometimes emerged into a full and taunting glory as the oppressive fogs cleared for moments when he least expected it. He told her the island’s natural beauty spoke to him, and made him think of her, and sometimes even reassured his faith in God. What he didn’t say was that it was also a horrifyingly indifferent beauty. He also enjoyed fishing whenever he got the chance and urged his wife to play classical music to their young daughters for him. He put a brave face on in his letters home, but the truth was grim. His letters were really a lingering goodbye.Like his father, Paul was a gentle doctor who had taken an oath to heal and to help, and never do harm; he was a soft spoken Christian who knew killing was a cardinal sin and that he should love his enemies, and turn the other cheek; he had spent most of his adult life living in America, a country he loved; he was a devoted husband and loving father of two smart and beautiful daughters…But somehow his war experience and the Imperial Japanese Army had changed Paul. What follows is a portion of his translated combat diary. It begins the day after the Americans first landed…* * * * *TRANSLATED COPY OF JAPANESE DIARYFound at Attu, Alaska, May 1943Diary translation by Yasuo Sam Umetani at AttuDr. Nobuo TatsuguchiMedical OfficerNorthern 5216 DetachmentNorth Sea Defense Field HospitalMay 12 - - 0155“Day’s activities: Air raid; Naval gun firing; landing of U.S. troops.Evacuated to the summit. Carrier-based planes flew over, and our forces fired at them. There is a low fog and the summit is clear. Air raids were frequent until 1000, then the really loud noise began. Naval guns are firing on the island. Prepared class “A” battle equipment.Infantry, American transports, about 41, began landing at Hokkai Misaki. 20 boats landed at Massacre Bay. It seems that they are going to unload heavy equipment.”May 13 - - Battle…“The U.S. forces landed earlier at Shiba Dai and Massacre Bay. The enemy has advanced to the bottom of Misuna Yama from Shiba Dai. We have engaged them. On the other hand, Massacre Bay was defended by only one platoon. Upon the unexpected attack they destroyed the Anti-aircraft cannon and we withdrew.During a night attack we captured twenty enemy rifles. There has been tremendous artillery gunfire in the mountains. Approximately 15 patients were brought into the field hospital today. The field hospital is attached to Arai Engineer unit.”May 14 - - Battle…“Two of our submarines from Kiska have done great damage to 2 enemy ships. 1stLieutenant Sieyuki died today; shot from a rifle. There is now a continuous flow of wounded to the field hospital. In the evening the U.S. forces used gas, but no damage was done due to the strong winds. Came under bombardment. Enemy strength must be a full division. Our desperate defense is holding up well.”[ Notated by translator that The U.S. military flatly denies use anykind of gas at Attu; but if they had, it probably would have been common white phosphorus smoke shells. ]May 15 - - Battle…“Continuous flow of casualties to our field hospital from fierce enemy bombardment; shells coming in from both land artillery and naval forces. The enemy has a great number of Negroes and Indians. Our West Arm units have withdrawn to near Shitagata Dai. I was ordered to join a party for raiding West Arm but the action was called off. The facial expressions of the soldiers back from West Arm is tense. They will all be going back to the firing line very soon. I have just now laid down from fatigue in the barracks.”May 16 - - Battle…“If Shitagata Dai is occupied by the enemy the fate of East Arm will be decided. In that case, my orders are to burn documents and to be prepared to destroy my patients.Sector headquarters has ordered me to proceed to Chichagof Harbor by way of Umanose. At 0100 patients from IND Infirmary, who had gotten lost earlier, accompanied me. Along the way there was an air raid, so we took refuge in an abandoned field hospital cave. The guns of a Lockheed (P-38) strafed us as it flew past the cave.”May 17 - - Battle…“Tonight, at about 1800, under cover of darkness, we finally left the cave. We had the wounded with us and had to carry some of them on stretchers. The stretcher-bearers struggled over muddy roads and steep hills through “No-man’s Land”. No matter how hard we tried, no matter how much we wanted it, we could not get to the pass. I was rather irritated by the thought of getting lost in the heavy fog. We sat down after every 20 or 30 steps, and would sleep, dream, wake up again. Then we would continue on a little farther and repeat the same thing all over again. The patient on the stretcher who does not move at all, is now terribly frostbitten. Finally, after all our effort, we met Colonel Yamazaki’s second-in-command who re-directed us.The pass is a straight steep line without any width towards Chichagof Harbor. So I slid very smoothly on my butt, changing directions with my sword. Slid down in about 20 minutes. That, after all our struggle, climbing the wrong way for 9 hours. Arrived at Chichagof Harbor Ward straggling, but no patients were left behind or lost. Opened a new field hospital. Walking is now extremely difficult from left knee rheumatism which has reoccurred due to adventure over the pass.The results of our surface navy, submarines and special underwater crafts [ mini-submarines] in the vicinity of Chichagof Harbor since the 14th: 1 enemy battleship, 3 cruisers/destroyers, and 6 transports, all sunk according to airborne troops. They have also downed enemy aircraft. Since the favorable turn of the battle of the East Arm, reserves have come back. 6 destroyers are guarding one transport off the shore of Shiba Dai.”(U.S. Navy records do not show any vessels lost due to enemy actions. But the American attack had bogged down, and perhaps Japanese morale also improved due to news of a major armada assembling in Tokyo Bay for reinforcing the Japanese garrison on Attu.Still - - time was running out for both sides… )May 18 - - Battle…“The Yanagawa detachment abandoned the East and West Arms today, withdrawing to Umanose. About 60 wounded were admitted to the field hospital here. I had to care for all of them, all by my self, all through the night. Heard that the enemy carried out a landing at Chichagof Harbor. Everybody prepared for combat and waited. I had two grenades ready. 2ndLieutenant Omura left for combat line on Ha Kuchin-tama. We said farewell. Tonight a patient came in who had engaged a friendly unit by mistake. He was discovered to have a wound on the wrist. The counter-sign is Isshi-hoke.” [ ie.,it was self-inflicted;demoralization]May 19 - - Battle…“At night there was a phone call from sector unit headquarters. In some spots on the beach there are some friendly float-type planes waiting. Went into Attu village church and felt like some one was home. Some blankets were scattered around. I was told to translate a field order presumed to have been dropped by an enemy officer in Massacre Bay. I was also ordered to evaluate a detailed map sketch of Massacre Bay and Holtz Bay which had been in the possession of a Captain Robert Edwards, adjutant for Colonel H Smith. Got tired and went to sleep. First Lieutenant Ujie is also in charge of translation.”May 20 - - Battle…“The hard fighting of our 303 Battalion in Massacre Bay is fierce, and it is to our advantage. We have captured enemy weapons and have used them to fight. Mowed down 10 enemy soldiers who were closing in on our position through the fog. Five of our men and one medical NCO died in the action. Heard enemy pilots faces can now be seen around Umanose. Enemy naval gunfire has been fierce, landing shells very near our hospital ward. Shells have exploded just 20 meters away.”May 21 - - Battle…“Was strafed today, while amputating a patient’s arm. It was the first time since moving over to Chichagof Harbor that I’ve been forced into our air raid shelter. Enemy plane was a Martin. Nervousness of our commanding officer has become severe. He has said his last words to his officers and NCO’s and told us that he will die tomorrow. He has given all his articles away. Hasty chap, this fellow. The officers on the front are doing a fine job. Everyone who heard this became desperate, and things became disorderly.”May 22 - - Battle…“0600 air raid again. Strafing killed one medical man. Okayaki was wounded in the left thigh and fractured his arm. During the night a mortar shell came awfully close.”May 23 - - Battle…“17 friendly medium naval bombers destroyed a cruiser offshore. But enemy naval gunfire scored a hit on the pillar pole of one of our medical tents; 2 patients died instantly and tents were destroyed. From 0300 in the morning to 1600 stayed in a foxhole. Day’s ration is down to 1 Go, 5 Shakers (1.5 ounces); nothing else. Officers and men alike suffer from the frost. Everybody looks around for food and steals everything they can find.”May 24 - - Battle…“It sleeted today. And it was extremely cold… Stayed at Misumi Barracks alone. A great amount of shells was dropped by naval gunfire. One shell sent rocks and mud flying everywhere and the roof caved in. I was forced to take a wet foxhole. Then 5 yards away, another medical officer, Hayaska, died instantly by a penetration of shrapnel through his heart.”May 25 - - Battle…“Naval gunfire, aerial bombardment, trench warfare - - but the worst is yet to come. The enemy is building their positions. Our battalion commander is dead. At Umanose they cannot accommodate all the wounded. It’s said that the road between Massacre Bay District and Sector Unit Headquarters has been cut. We are now isolated. I’ve been suffering from diarrhea and feeling quite dizzy.”May 26 - - Battle…“Hit by naval gunfire. It felt like the Misumi Baracks had blown up. Everything was shaken tremendously; shaken to pieces. Consciousness became vague. A nearby tent burned down from an incendiary bomb hit. Then planes strafed us, hitting things in the next room. Two hits came from a 50-caliber. My room looks an awful mess; its full of sand. Some medical officers were wounded.Today there was also a ceremony of granting the Imperial Edict. The last line of Umanose has been broken through. There is no hope for reinforcements. We will all die for the cause of this Imperial Edict.”May 27 - - Battle…“Diarrhea continues. Pain is severe. I’ve taken everything for it, from opium pills to morphine, then slept pretty well. More strafing by planes. Roof broke through. There are less than 1,000 of us left from over 2,000 troops. Many wounded are coming in from the Coastal Defense Unit field hospital, headquarters, and field post office. The rest are from the front lines.”May 28“The remaining rations will last for only two days. Our artillery has been completely destroyed. There is the sound of trench mortars. There is also the sound of anti-aircraft guns. All companies at the bottom of Attu-Fuji have been completely annihilated, except for one. I wonder if Commander Yenegawa or some of the men are still alive. Other companies have been totally annihilated as well, except for one or two.303 Battalion has been defeated. Yenegawa’s battalion is still holding Umanose, but there are now continuous cases of suicide. Half of our Sector Unit Headquarters was blown away today, all either killed or wounded.Half fried thistles. It is the first time I’ve eaten anything fresh in six months. It is a delicacy. Received order from our unit commander to move the field hospital to the island [ Kiska], but then it was called off.”May 29“Today at 0200 we assembled in front of headquarters. The field hospital took part too. The last assault is to be carried out. All patients in the hospital are ordered to commit suicide.I’ve had only 33 years of living and now I am to die here too. I have no regrets. Banzai to the Emperor [ Translator note: Tatsuguchi meant Christ].I am grateful I have kept the peace in my soul which is Jesus Christ, and that it has been bestowed upon me.At 1800 I took care of all the patients with grenades…[ It must’ve echoed during those final rounds:“… First, do no harm. I swear to show the utmost respectfor human life from its beginning.… I will remember that there is art to medicine as well asscience, and that warmth, sympathy, and understandingmay outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.… I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, acancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illnessmay affect the person’s family and economic stability; myresponsibility includes these related problems.… I will remember I remain a member of society, withspecial obligations to all my fellow human beings, those ofsound mind and body as well as the infirm.… If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it mayalso be within my power to take life; this awesomeresponsibility must be faced with great humbleness andawareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play atGod.… If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art,respected while I live and remembered with affectionthereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finesttraditions of my calling and may I long experience the joyof healing.” ]Goodbye Taeki [ Taiko], my beloved wife, who loved me to the last. Until we meet again, God’s speed.I feel so very sorry for Japan, and for you Takiko [ “Laura” Mutusko], born just February of this year, and now your Christian Father has gone without ever seeing you.Misaka [ “Joy” Misako], who just turned four years old, will grow up unhindered. Well, be good.Well, goodbye Mitsue, and my brothers Kochan, Sakechan, Massachan, Mitichan - - goodbye.The number of Japanese troops participating in the attack to take enemy artillery positions is a little over 1,000. The charge will be about 2.5 miles before becoming the all-out attack. It seems the enemy is expecting an all-out attack tomorrow.”Translators Note:Tatsuguchi was stopped at Engineer Hill. Nearby the remaining troops committed suicide.Only 26 Japanese troops and 2 nurses on Attu survived.Translated at Headquarters Landing Office, ACX2, G-2,Massacre Valley, Attu Island on June 1, 1943.* * * * *Yamazaki’s Last Hope…Supplies exhausted, Colonel Yasuyo Yamazaki realized that neither reinforcements nor an evacuation would come, but he held out one last desperate hope. Of the 2,600 men under his command at the battle’s start, 800 remained fighting-fit, and 600 more were wounded though possibly able to serve some purpose. If he could capture American artillery positions at their weakest point on Engineer Hill in a surprise attack, he could turn the guns against them, as well as on their ships offshore. Perhaps then, captured supplies and a retreat back into the mountains might buy time for reinforcements to be sent. His last remaining men would either die honorable deaths or might be saved to fight another day…The weather very early on May 29th was not that bad by Aleutian standards. It didn’t seem too cold, though snow was still heavy and up in the hills and mountains, glowing under a momentarily clear, cold starry sky.At 0300 that morning, Company ‘B’ of the U.S. 32nd Infantry was ordered to march to battalion headquarters for a hot breakfast, leaving a significantly reduced force for holding Engineer Hill.Yamasaki’s force attacked American positions on the hill before dawn and took the Americans by complete surprise, successfully overrunning the 7th Medical Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, and storming through the aid station bayoneting the wounded to conserve their bullets. They swarmed on towards Engineer Hill’s prized artillery pieces.An American engineer from Company ‘A’, 13th Engineers, recalls being woken from a sound asleep, by urgent voices and shouting men outside his tent. Two nearby friends were bayoneted in their tents. The screams flushed everyone else instantly to action. Most made it to the momentary shelter of a berm they had been building, some with their M-1 rifles, others with nothing. But hand-to-hand fighting took place instantly, faster than anyone could gather wits. The weapons of dead men got picked up and used by everyone in the deadly free-for-all. Yamazaki appeared unreal, like someone from another century, skillfully cutting down men with a Samurai sword.“What a nightmare, a madness of noise and confusion and deadliness”. – Captain George S. BuehlerAmerican medics, Engineers, and service personnel fought for their lives, and then managed to throw some hand grenades. Then the 50th Engineers arrived, driving the Japanese back down the slope with bayonets and rifle butts, away from the prized artillery pieces. The battle raged throughout the day in repeated waves of Japanese counter-attacks, but the Americans stabilized their ragged line. Colonel Yamazaki was killed leading one of the last waves up the hill. Then as the afternoon’s sun waned, the remaining Japanese retreated into the surrounding hills.A tense silence ensued. No one knew what to expect next. Most of the Americans were out of ammunition or left only with knives or bayonets left behind in the fighting. Many were wounded. Then, the reports of single gunshots cracked against the slopes. Then hand grenades began sounding off; the Japanese were committing suicide, sometimes in small groups and pairs. Then at last, a final silence fell, one that was somehow heavier and more certain. The carnage was fully revealed the next morning; men who had done what was ordered, who had done their best. When American soldiers scouted through the vacated Japanese positions and hospital tents, it was plain that all the wounded had been killed by their doctors. Bulldozers had to be used to bury the thousands of Japanese dead in mass graves. Though the numbers of dead on Attu were not nearly as dramatic as later in the war in places like Saipan and Iwo Jima, the high percentages of casualties on both sides marked this battle as among the costliest of the entire war.The fight at Engineer Hill took place after the Japanese troops had already stormed and fought their way over 2 miles. Although Tatsuguchi suggests about 1,000 troops took part in that last assault, it may have been more, including the walking wounded.“It maybe wasn’t such a big battle as battles go nowadays, but, brother, everything about it was done in a big way, including the way them Japs knocked themselves off. Believe me, that was the biggest, awfullest damned mess I ever saw in my life, so help me.”– Anonymous Soldier who fought at Attu.* * * * *PERSONAL HISTORY:Nobuo “Paul” Tatsuguchi, born August 31st, 1911.Subject graduated from Kerye Middle School, Prefecture of Hiroshima, on March 16, 1919.Graduated from Travier English Academy, March 1923.Attended Pacific Union College, Medical Department, Agwin, California, from September 1926 to May 22, 1932.Attended College of Medical Evangelists, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, September 15, 1933 to January 1937. Internship, White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles, California.Doctor of Medicine graduate; California medical license, September 8, 1938.Inducted into 1stReplacement Unit, Imperial Guard Infantry Regiment, January 10, 1941.Transferred to 1stImperial Guard Infantry Regiment, January 13, 1941.Ordered as Officer-guard and promoted to Private First Class, Medical Department, May 1, 1941.Promoted to Superior Private, Medical Department, July, 1941.Promoted to Corporal, Medical Department, August 1941.Entered Medical School in September 1941, graduated October 22nd.Promoted to Sgt. Major, Probationary Officer, October 31st 1941.Promoted to Non-commissioned, Acting Officer, December, 1941.Rejoins 1stImperial Guard Regiment in January 1942.Served in Dutch East Indies and Rabaul, New Britain, before returning to Tokyo in early 1943, then deploying to the Aleutian Islands.Arrived Attu, March 10, 1943.* * * * *Nobody ever returns from war - - at least not as the same person.Dr. “Paul” Nobuo Tatsuguchi certainly didn’t. The army changed him.One day he was a family man pining for California, and somehow the next he found himself joining Colonel Yamazaki in one last suicidal banzai charge; the last Japanese assault on Attu. He was subsequently shot and killed on Engineer hill charging through the fog by an American soldier named Charles Laird. His bible, address book, and diary were recovered from his body and then turned in to Divisional Intelligence.Tatsuguchi’s life and death emerged as contradictory and tragic. His translated combat diary struck nerves, and it inspired unauthorized copying. It became a curiosity; a personal war souvenir for reflections to some, and a prized war trophy to others. Soon the diary was making the rounds all across Attu. It took on a life of its own.Medical officers on Attu with the U.S. 7th Division, Dr. J. Mudry and Dr. J. L. Whitaker, eventually stumbled upon a copy for themselves and they were stunned. They knew this man. Not so long ago, Tatsuguchi had been their shy friend from medical school in California. Indeed, they had even thought of him as American. How could he have been killed so close at hand, in the very last hours of Attu’s last desperate battle? How could fate have brought them together like that, as enemies, in the Aleutians, quite literally at the ends of the earth? How could the world be so small? Whitaker had actually been caught up in the path of Yamazaki’s final banzai charge, not far from where Paul had fallen. He and Tatsuguchi may have just missed each other in the rear area fighting, like ships passing in the night.The truth was that Dr. “Paul” Nobuo Tatsuguchi deeply loved two countries. His father too, had been baptized as a Christian and had studied medicine in the United States. His brothers studied in the Unites States as well, and together they grew up within a very privately Christian family entirely fluent in English.But it is the inevitable tragedy of war that decent men of all sides must make terrible, inescapable choices and suffer so deeply, even absurdly. It’s no wonder Tatsuguchi’s translated diary somehow found its way to the press and became widely sensationalized. It took on a life of its own; a force from beyond the grave and battlefield…The Chicago Tribune published a story headlined “Japs Slew Own Patients on Attu, Diary Discloses”, while the Loma Linda School of Medicine Alumni Journal defended Tatsuguchi as a gentle and caring doctor trapped in a situation beyond his control.Of particular discord was Tatsuguchi’s entry about Americans using gas against the Japanese, which the public assumed to be poison (though it was actually just ordinary covering smoke). This was an extremely dangerous security breach because accusations of gas weapons invited atrocious retributions in kind. The appearance of condoning unauthorized war trophies was dangerous too; in fact, it was a court martial offense. Soon it seemed like everyone was packing Japanese 25-caliber guns, bayonets and helmets into their kit; no one was stopping them. Although enemy corpses needed to be routinely searched for anything of intelligence value, souvenir hunting often segued men towards barbarity. It also unnecessarily endangered lives, as soldiers carelessly exposed themselves to booby-traps and ambushes. Tatsugushi’s controversial diary came to symbolize the issue.Lt. General Simon B. Buckner, commander of the Alaska Defense Command reacted sharply. He ordered that all copies were to be burned, reiterating that the diary was classified material. Inspections would be held and offenders would face court martial, per existing codes. The order was interpreted so broadly that the original diary itself disappeared as well.But the diary simply wouldn’t die. Instead it’s hard truths and humanity lived on, spreading to newspaper stories back in Japan. Patriotic publishers there translated the American translations back into Japanese. Tatsuguchi was celebrated as a hero back home, just as he was sensationally vilified but also sometimes excused in the U.S., his other home. Strangely, it proved to be a propaganda windfall for both countries.And never doubt that some people and things in this world are truly cursed; General Buckner - - the man who rightly tried to suppress the spirited diary, and to restore military discipline - - became the highest-ranking American officer killed in combat during World War II, lost in the last days of the battle for Okinawa.Then shortly afterward, Tatsuguchi’s hometown of Hiroshima became the world’s first casualty of atomic warfare.As a further irony, after the war, Tatsuguchi’s wife, Taeko, would go to work for the American occupation forces as a secretary and teacher. And in 1954, she and their two daughters, Joy and Laura, would join Taeko’s parents to live in Hawaii, where America’s war with Japan had begun, and where all three would become naturalized U.S. citizens. Both of the Tatsuguchi daughters would attend Pacific Union College, their father’s and grandfather’s alma mater, and graduate to become nurses. But Laura would marry an American and move to Los Angeles where her mother would later join her, while Joy would marry a Japanese man and move to Japan.Speaking at a 50th anniversary commemorative event held on distant Attu itself, Laura Tatsuguchi’s voice carried on the wind, and over the world’s most well-preserved World War II battlefield, saying:“How ironic that my father was killed in combat here against his beloved America while in loyal service to his Japanese homeland… Like my father, I too have a great love for Japan and America”.Two countries; one great, everlasting and inter-generational love. Why was that so impossible?Today, both Attu and Kiska remain frozen in time, much as the Japanese hastily left them, though U.S. forces would use Kiska until after the war ended. The island’s grassy slopes and lower plains are still radiantly green in summer under the roiling mists and occasionally breaking sun; thousands of unexploded artillery shells remain scattered across the landscape; countless fuel tanks and leaky drums rust on; sunken ships loom as graves in underwater darkness; curiously midget submarines remain beached; the husks of shot-up and crumpled planes lay unmoved; tunnels and bunkers scattered with supplies and personal effects, coke bottles, will always be haunted. The only tree found on Attu - - a fake one, built by an army engineers camouflage division for humor - - still refuses to grow up.All is as it ever was, abandoned to nature.* * * * *“We are all going to die.All of us. What a circus!That alone should make us love each other,but it doesn’t.We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities.We are eaten up by nothing.”- - Charles Bukowski

“What does true love feel like? What is it like to be with that person? Without?”- - - - -What’s it like to be in love, to be with them and without them?It’s like this …A Letter To My One, October 6, 2016The road we traveled wasn't always smooth. We had car troubles and arguments, money troubles and kid troubles. Sometimes it felt like our troubles had troubles! Early on you kept insisting I buy a car, as you refused to go shopping on bicycles. And it took you forever to teach me to dress properly, but I'm a man and it takes time to train us to go out in public. A few times we even talked about divorce, yet we stayed together through the years.Despite hardships we had some good times didn't we? Those months in Japan. Starting over in Virginia and Texas. Trips to Disney and Vegas. That time I made lopsided cupcakes for your party, leveling them out with extra cans of frosting. Those sandwiches you made so delicious that I named them! And kids and dogs kept us smiling through mountains of dirty laundry and acres of wet carpets.Together we transformed a half-dozen places into homes filled with furniture, pictures, candles, and cozy clutter just the way you liked. I'm pretty sure over a hundred Boyd's Bears followed us around the country. For my part I tried to do whatever was required, like home repairs, laundry, chop down trees, kill bugs and snakes, even shower on a regular basis.And I gave you so many cards - letters - flowers (you seemed to appreciate every word, every petal, each act of kindness). In a box are literally hundreds of cards and letters you saved, enough to fill an entire book, and I would gladly give you a thousand more.Naturally I'm grateful for the way you looked after me. When I fell off the chimney onto concrete you got me to the nearest Emergency Room. When I said on the phone I'd had a fever all week, you immediately called someone to take me. And when that Coral Snake bit me you rushed me to the ER again, steering with one hand and thumping my chest with the other when I quit breathing. No doubt you saved me from my own carelessness multiple times.But I wasn't the only one you rescued. As a nurse you saved many lives, but the very first was your own daughter. When Jessica developed leukemia the doctor misdiagnosed her symptoms as simple anemia and possible ear infection -- what an imbecile.You'd only been a nurse three months but guessed the awful truth with little more than a textbook. It was during dinner 22 years ago yet I still recall every detail. You checked your nursing book for the umpteenth time, squeezed Jessica's finger, looked in her mouth, then rushed her out the door!Judging by her low blood count you reached the hospital with just days to spare, and from that moment your courage and determination inspired me. Although you were absolutely terrified of heights, you insisted on going with Jessica on that shaky little helicopter hundreds of miles to the treatment center. The doctor warned you there's a chance she won't survive the flight, and you wanted to be beside her holding her hand, if it came to that.Jessica was just thirteen then. Today she's raising a child of her own, and your unbroken chain of love continues.Allison needed you for very different reasons, and the battles between you two! Every mother is challenged raising a daughter, especially if personalities clash, but I had to learn to quit playing referee and let the two of you work it out. Staying out of your conflicts was shockingly hard for me. It took years to learn to balance my feelings of responsibility and accepting it wasn't always up to me. I know you both tried to get along, but no one guarantees life will be easy.In fact it seems nothing worthwhile is ever easy and life hardest of all. Yet today both daughters are older, wiser, in a good place. That's the real test of parenting.As for the rest of our journey, I can truthfully say my one lasting regret is we couldn't save you as well. Of our more than eleven thousand days together I would only change that final one ........... and every day since.- - - - - - - - - -I still remember you acting nervous about your blood tests, and from bills that came later in the mail I discovered you'd also seen an oncologist. Then I learned one more unsettling detail, you told the kids if anything happened not to worry. Were you just concerned about possibilities ..... or did you sense what was coming?Please tell me you never spent sleepless nights. Never hid any tears. When you got so sick and said you were sorry I had to take care of you, do you remember my answer? "I'm not taking care of you. I'm just showing how much I care."And when you were feeling better, do you recall me giving you a tiny green pill box with a giant happy face sticker? You were finally getting off some of the medications. Even so you juggled a dozen prescriptions and three doctors, and whenever you called talking half crazy from the pills I always came rushing home. All year long I was either at your side or a phone call away. You must have known that I would do anything .... everything.By Christmas we were actually looking forward to the future. We decorated the house and put up a huge Christmas tree, bought new pillows and linen, paid off bills. Threw out rusty cookie sheets for new ones, trashed those towels the dog chewed holes in, even planned a trip to Disney. Two weeks later none of that even mattered.- - - - - - - - - -If there truly is a hereafter, and if you're still looking out for me, you must know some of what followed. People urged me to move on, but move on how? To what? You were the one who always told me to look after myself, to eat, to get my rest. The month after you were gone I lost twenty pounds and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. For months my private thoughts were about suicide.Relatives and in-laws offered sympathy of course. And Jessica and Allison did their best to be supportive despite their own misery. Katie became much more than a niece, checking up on me with phone calls, texts, letters and visits.At one point someone actually tried to console me with magazine trivia. Really? They said “once you've been married you're statistically more likely to marry again.” It may have helped far more to hear once you discover love can be tangible and real, not just a sugary sweet fiction, you are far more likely to love again.Love can make every day and every act feel special. It reinforces every happiness. But when it’s taken away …How I miss our Thursday evenings now, sharing TV and a pizza from Miss Ellie's. You would make me chocolate milk and let me take over the TV remote. Every week you made that day all about me. Thank you for that.And the way you enjoyed your sewing camp getaways, me staying behind to build you furniture or do other household projects, just to surprise you when you got home.The way I used to tuck you in at night, TV on low, your tea on the nightstand. I would say "here's sweet tea for my sweetie" and you'd reward me with a smile. When you fell asleep I'd turn off TV and snuggle, trying so hard not to wake you, because if you woke you'd push me off saying I was like an oven. Honestly though that never bothered me (I'd already gotten my snuggle!)- - - - - - - - - -I lived mostly out of habit and obligation after your loss but nine months later stumbled across another broken person, and we tried to comfort one another. She accepted the fact I won't forget you, the same way I knew her past would always be part of her.Spending time with her almost felt like cheating on you Sweetie, but everyone kept insisting you'd want me to be happy so I was encouraged to try. Then remarkably things began to change.Not in a big way ... just little things at first. We talked and shopped together, shared some meals and movies, took little day trips.Our first real obstacle was completely unexpected. When I introduced her to family I said this could develop into a long term relationship. Immediately they all chose sides starting a conflict between family harmony and my hopes for the future. I'm sure everyone had my best interests at heart .......... it just seems others always believe they know best, while I'm convinced only those directly involved know what's right for them. She helped me shake off despair and believe a future was still possible. Hopefully you understand how much I needed that.Eventually we tried sharing a place, and it was ironically funny when we discovered neither of us was a good cook. I remember a lot of pizza and cereal and hot dogs. But she gave me reason to get out of bed, look forward to my day, and smile again. Life felt less shallow after that.Admittedly we had issues. You know I'm the stay-at-home type but she didn't enjoy being "stuck at home." While I read books and did projects she was out winning pool tournaments. So crossed schedules happened, priorities happened, bills happened, her family and my family happened. And as for tidy versus messy ... let's just say we weren't even on the same planet (hint: I was the neat one).Inevitably we drifted apart, had one of those "take care” chats and my world emptied out again. Just another lonely wish that didn't come true. She's still a friend, we still talk when the world gets heavy, but only true love lasts forever.- - - - - - - - - -If you remember, we faced our own daunting obstacles in the beginning Sweetie. Those were troubling times.Your friends warned you not to leave your first husband. Not knowing or caring why you married him they said don't risk it all "just for a chance at love". But what better reason? And people I knew pointed out you were already married, raising two kids, and overweight besides (as if that could possibly matter - you know I like fluffy).When someone callously remarked that I should ”find someone better” I recall how angry that made you ... and later that night how you cried in my arms.Yet despite every barrier we loved one another for thirty years, which just proves you can't live your life based on what others think. Spending life on the sidelines may feel safe but that's not what life is for! Life requires taking chances. It's about having the courage to do what's right, trying to help others along the way, and ultimately finding what makes you happy. You taught me that.And I believe we were destined to be together. We never spoke in High School though we passed in the halls almost every day. It was ten years later on the other side of the world when our paths crossed once more, in that dusty little thrift shop on that remote Pacific island. Our first hello changed everything.When I lost you I was lost too, Sweetie. Daily life was a sponge, every day drained me. I felt cheated because we still had so much more to share.And so much more to say! I should have thanked you for convincing me two days of Christmas decorating is not a complete waste of time. For reassuring me when things went wrong. For letting me have the entire garage for man stuff.I should've said how pleased and proud I was when you loved the refinished loft. It took me a week to paint, arrange your favorite furniture, and build you a cabinet, but that was a mere fraction of the affection you showered on me. For another casserole of your homemade macaroni and cheese you might have gotten the garage back as well (you know your macaroni is the real reason I married you).I never properly thanked you for teaching me to enjoy our meals together, instead of me just gulping down food as fuel. You even taught me how to use the microwave (a skill I still use almost daily). Since you've been gone I've had to teach myself how to to properly boil spaghetti and make burgers, and someday I hope to make a decent plate of scrambled eggs instead of runny yellow mud and burnt bacon.And odd as it sounds ... thank you for letting me off the hook over that onion bet. When I wagered my brother would never marry, you insisted he would, and if he did marry I'd have to eat an onion the size of my head. You were right of course and I always worried you might try to collect that bet.I also bet I'd take charge of the TV remote some day and would never watch your annoying shows again. Top Chef, Top Model, Top Designer, Top This and That. Though now and then I do watch a few minutes just to pretend you're still here.At times I find myself doing that ... pretending. I miss you in my life, the way you could turn passing moments into lasting memories.And you taught me so much. Not only how to buy clothes and do chores, but to be patient, to listen, to be a father. You taught me compassion is not a weakness, that a touch can say more than words.It's fair to say after all we faced as a couple, we expected and planned and even looked forward to being old together. How many couples can honestly say that?It was a dream of happily ever after but was never to be. You've already been gone a thousand days. Tonight it will be a thousand nights, and I still wake up at times and wander our home, now just a house, reading or playing solitaire.- - - - - - - - - -While I cherish and miss you, I go on with daily life. Others still need me. I try my best to cope with being on my own (I'm getting better at it).Today was actually a good day because I paid you a visit. You're all cozy in the new section at Fort Sam, with a shade tree just a few feet away. It's peaceful with surrounding trees blocking the city noise, and at night you can see all the stars. You always did like starry nights. Maybe you're among them now.Our visit gave me a chance to share my thoughts, so I told you my family was directly in the path of Hurricane Matthew and asked you to look after them (the storm could reach them sometime tonight).I griped about how stressful it is being a school teacher, though most days I'm glad to do it. So what if I endure thirty miles of traffic each way, and the kids stretch my patience like Gummi worms. We can't have everything can we?Mentioned the car needs new tires, the garage is still a mess. And don't even look in my library! It still needs more sorting and I'm assembling a tenth bookcase. But I've given away the hamsters to students, so all those cages are finally gone.Told you about the "other woman" -- how it didn't really work out -- then brought you up to date on all the kids. Logan is growing up fast, he was just a tater tot in that picture. And the nieces and nephews are doing good things with their lives.Katie even had a Hollywood movie cameo. She's done cameras, sound, lighting, storyboards, casting, and now acting. Sweetie, do they watch movies where you are? She's in "My All American" and you should recognize her in the maroon sweater, when she leans out of the crowd to watch the couple walking past, early in the movie.Anyhow, it's reassuring the way our generation planted good seeds for the next. I'm especially proud of my classroom students, some facing very difficult lives, yet still managing the best they can.If you were listening part of what I said may have sounded glum, but it's okay. I don't feel sorry for myself anymore. The universe has been kind to me and I'm grateful. We shared an extraordinary life and I've no right to complain.I only wish ... well I wish I had more to look forward to. Does that sound selfish?Maybe it does but I don't mean to be selfish.It just seems like there must still be someone somewhere who enjoys evening walks, dining out, watching thunderstorms rumble past. Old movies and lazy day naps. Giving and getting surprise notes or funny cards, and other days tulips or roses. And of course warm snuggles on chilly nights (if I'm not too much like an oven). It would be a comfort to share at least some of that with someone again.Since lightning rarely strikes twice I don't really expect it. You always made me feel special but I have my doubts. I'm not magazine handsome, refuse to dance, can't afford to fly to Paris, and almost never bother to comb my hair.Which sometimes makes me wonder what made you choose me to begin with?It couldn't be how I climb trees or cuss at traffic. Those are hardly ingredients for romance. I could always make you laugh and I've always been kind, but was only so openly caring after you found it inside me and brought it to the surface. So please tell me, what made you first look at me in that special way?I hope it was the laughter ...... because I loved making you laugh.- - - - - - - - - -There's no telling where life may lead me next, but I've come to trust in fate. I literally rolled a die to choose my career and it came up Air Force. My friendships were all by chance but most have flourished.And of course there was you.After five other military bases, I was assigned to your remote island, and only a sudden inexplicable urge nudged me into that thrift shop. I'd walked past it many times but that was the only day I decided to enter -- and against all odds the only day you worked the cash register by the front door. It just seems to me when the time was right we were brought back together for a second chance.I have no doubt the sixty seconds I spent in that dusty shop that cloudy morning, bumping into you as I turned to leave, was the true beginning of my time on Earth. And though our mortal bond is now broken, you should know that ours were the years I measured my life by.As for why I'm spreading all my thoughts and feelings across the written page, putting all you meant to me into words, it helps me see not only what I've lost, but all I still have. For thirty years we shared our best days and worst moments, and your memories are inseparable from me. Even now you help me through my hardest times when I dial your old phone number to hear the voice that I thought lost forever say "please leave a message " ...... I've left you dozens.I just hope in the great beyond they're treating you well till we cross paths again. And I hope they realize you found great joy in life, even in the most painful of times. Helped others live better lives, even though you were the one in need of saving. That you treasured your loyal friends, and in the end, forgave all the others.Most of all I hope kindred spirits will always remember there once lived a woman named Beth. That she was a kind and generous and caring woman who was loved ..... exquisitely and profoundly and very truly loved ..... to the end of her days.And if any feel cause to doubt, I would reassure them I know all these things to be right and true, because I was the man fortunate enough to love her.

Another standing committee meeting; Infected woman drives from Wuhan to Beijing; More evidence of coverups in Wuha…Bill Bishop at Sinocism <[email protected]:19 PM (15 minutes ago)Read in browserI decided to make today’s issue of the newsletter free. If you like what you see please sign up for the Sinocism China Newsletter here. Group and education discounts are available.Another standing committee meeting; Infected woman drives from Wuhan to Beijing; More evidence of coverups in Wuhan; Q1 GDP growth 0?Bill BishopFeb 26The growth of new cases in Hubei and the rest of China continues to slow according to the official data.A loyal reader in China suggests that I add one more item to my unmistakable signs the Party thinks victory really is at hand.Xi visits Wuhan;The announcement of a date for the “Two Meetings”Kids go back to schoolThis reader is correct, as the political risk of sending kids into harm’s way is too high. And until it is safe for kids to go back to school it is hard to see the economy operating at anywhere near normal levels.The Chinese Internet is in a bit of an uproar after a woman was able to travel from Wuhan to Beijing by car last week, after leaving prison. She is now in Beijing and is confirmed to have the virus. The speculation is she must be somehow very connected, but now that the news has exploded online it has become a political problem and an investigation is underway. There is more on this in item #5, as well as reports from Caixin and Caijing that give more evidence of a coverup in Wuhan at the start of the outbreak.I will hold another open thread tomorrow morning, this time for paying subscribers only. I’d love to hear from you.Thanks for reading.The Essential Eight1. Another standing committee meetingI don't remember so many reports about standing committees in such a compressed period of time.Xi Focus: Xi chairs leadership meeting on COVID-19 control, makes donation - XinhuaXi Jinping,...chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).Responding to a call of the CPC Central Committee to all Party members, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng all made donations to support the COVID-19 prevention and control work.Addressing the meeting, Xi said the positive trend in preventing and controlling the epidemic is expanding and economic and social development is rapidly recovering, but the situation in Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan remains complex and grim, and the risk of a rebound of the epidemic in other regions can not be overlooked...Prevention and control work in Beijing and other key provincial-level regions should be strengthened to resolutely block any possible source of infection, according to the meeting.The meeting demanded better protection measures for special venues such as the elderly care, childcare and mental health facilities where vulnerable groups of people are housed in enclosed premises.Comment: Interesting to see that PBSC specifically mentioned “elderly care” given the Caixin report about deaths in nursing homes in Hubei.CCTV Evening News on the meeting, no video from inside- 中共中央政治局常务委员会召开会议 分析新冠肺炎疫情形势研究近期防控重点工作 中共中央总书记习近平主持会议 响应党中央对广大党员的号召 习近平李克强栗战书汪洋王沪宁赵乐际韩正同《大国战“疫”》近期出版The CCP’s propaganda department said it will soon publish a book on China’s efforts to combat the coronavirus, and the book “focus on showing General Secretary Xi Jinping, as a major power leader, his care for the people, his sense of mission and responsibility, his strategic vision and great leadership.” It will be published in six different languages.2. The outbreakMainland China reports 406 new cases of coronavirus on February 25, deaths up by 52 - ReutersAll the new deaths were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak. Hubei also reported 401 new cases on Feb. 25, down from 499 a day earlier.Outside Hubei, the number of new mainland China cases fell to 5, down for the fifth consecutive day and the lowest since Jan. 20, when the NHC began publishing nationwide figures.China Tightens Screening of Travelers, Fearing Reinfection From Abroad - WSJ $$A number of Chinese municipal governments are imposing stricter health screenings on people entering China and, in some cases, even quarantine measures on those arriving from coronavirus-afflicted countries. These controls come after Beijing waged a concerted campaign urging other governments not to impose restrictions on travel to and from China, saying such measures were out of line with World Health Organization guidance.Beijing to quarantine people if they visited countries seriously hit by coronavirus - ReutersChina’s capital will quarantine people for 14 days at home or in groups if they have been to countries seriously hit by the coronavirus, the city’s health commission spokesman Gao Xiaojun told a press briefing on Wednesday.14% of Recovered Covid-19 Patients in Guangdong Tested Positive Again - CaixinThere is no clear conclusion on why it happens and whether such patients could still be infectious, said Song Tie, deputy director of the Guangdong Center of Disease Control And Prevention (Guangdong CDC), at a Tuesday briefing.Teachers advised to wear masks in class after primary schools reopen - XinhuaTeachers are advised to wear medical masks in class after primary and middle schools reopen in China as part of the country's novel coronavirus prevention and control efforts, according to a circular issued by authorities.Jingmen Party chief, mayor sanctioned for reporting incorrect numbers of COVID-19 infection - Global TimesParty chief Zhang Aiguo and city mayor Sun Bing of Jingmen, Hubei Province, have been punished by the provincial Party discipline watchdog on Wednesday, after the city reported minus 107 cases to the daily update feed on confirmed cases of COVID-19 on February 19, showing an obvious numerical error.Beijing offers free medical, psychological, legal consultation amid epidemic - XinhuaThe experts are renowned specialists in related areas or professors at Beijing's top universities, said Qi Jinli, deputy head of the united front work department of Beijing.So far the hotline has received over 5,500 phone calls, Qi said, adding that most calls were from people who need help with psychological issues related to the epidemic, with some suffering from insomnia and stress.3. EconomyFive more Chinese regions lower emergency response level as virus threat recedes - ReutersThe northwestern Chinese regions of Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, the southwestern province of Sichuan, the northeastern province of Jilin and the southern island of Hainan have all cut their emergency response levels.Comment: Mother-in-law has been in Hainan, the last few days things have started to loosen upAs China’s Economy Suffers, Xi Faces Pressure to Lift Virus Restrictions - WSJ $$Businesses executives and some local leaders are becoming more vocal about the need to streamline rules to reopen factories and get workers and supplies moving again in many parts of the country where activity remains at a standstill.But many local officials fear doing so could risk a resurgence of infections, prolonging the outbreak and putting their jobs on the line. Many privately complain that President Xi Jinping has put them in an impossible position, demanding they keep growth on track while also ensuring the virus doesn’t spread...“Propaganda can’t move mountains,” wrote Zhang Anyuan, an economist at CFC Financial, a Chinese securities firm, in a Feb. 24 report. Mr. Zhang is among the experts who think first-quarter growth could come in at zero or worse.“Based on the seriousness of the economic losses in the first quarter, adjusting and downplaying growth targets would be understandable and acceptable to the people,” he said.张岸元：疫情冲击下的经济、政策与金融市场Very detailed analysis of the coronavirus’ impact on Chinese economy by former NDRC economist Zhang Anyuan. He believes it will be “extremely difficult” for China to achieve the 5% growth goal for 2020 if there is zero growth in Q1. He also said the capital flight out of China in the past years has been “stunning 触目惊心”. His calculation suggests that since 2015 the capital flight not included in China’s official statistics has totaled nearly one trillion USD.The COVID-19 coronavirus and its economic impact (updated 26th Feb.) - Capital EconomicsThe charts on this page track the spread of the virus in China and its economic impact. Most include daily data, which we are updating every working day. This page also contains links to our latest analysis on the impact of the outbreak in China and around the world.Comment: Useful charts, and in a note this morning the analysts wrote:With normal activity taking longer to recover than seemed likely earlier this month, we now think that China's economy will contract outright in year-on-year terms this quarter, for the first time since at least the 1990. The leadership appears to be readying significant stimulus which should restore employment and output by the third quarter, but the hit to output during the first half of the year will still result in much slower annual growth北京日报：全国中小企业的复工率目前只有30%左右China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a presser yesterday that the small- and mid-sized companies in China so far have resumed only 30% of their business.China ups measures to support catering, accommodation sectors amid epidemic - XinhuaAs the epidemic has had a great impact on the sectors, the value-added tax will be waived from their revenues, Xian Guoyi, an official with the MOC told a press conference Wednesday.In the meantime, enterprises in the hardest-hit Hubei Province will be exempted from pension, unemployment and work-related injury insurance premiums from February to June this year with a 5-percent electricity price cut, while the payment of the housing accumulation fund will be deferred, Xian said.Caixin: Companies Jump on Coronavirus Bandwagon With $8 Billion of Bond SalesChinese companies have wasted no time taking advantage of a “green channel” created to fast-track bond sales by businesses needing money to fund operations related to the Covid-19 epidemic or who are suffering liquidity pressure stemming from the coronavirus outbreak...A closer look at the details in the bond prospectuses suggests many companies are taking advantage of the “green channel” to get quicker access to cash and at a lower cost...Of the total amount raised, only 22.4% on average is being used to directly support prevention and control activities, with the bulk of the money earmarked for paying down existing debt or supplementing working capital, according to Caixin calculations based on data from Wind Information独家|不是谁都能拿专项再贷款！煤炭、城投等48家企业出局Citing sources, Caixin reported that to prevent moral hazard, the central government had named 48 companies, mostly state-owned enterprises in industries with overcapacity, who will be denied access to the preferential loans issued for “anti-virus” purpose. The article mentioned that some of these companies had tried to get these cheap loans by pretending to produce things like disinfectant and masks.China’s Virus-Hit Airlines Are Showing Signs of Recovery - BloombergScheduled airline capacity within China is up more than 25% -- by 1.3 million seats -- week-on-week thanks to a rebound in domestic capacity, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. Air China Ltd. appears the most optimistic as it has added back 306,000 seats, almost double its capacity from the previous week, analyst John Grant wroteCoronavirus: China’s legal system ‘will be more lenient’ on private sector | South China Morning Post“If the law allows more lenient measures, [we] should try not to use forceful measures that would limit their personal freedom and property rights,” Zhang Shuyuan, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, said during a Wednesday press conference in Beijing.Apple iPhone maker Foxconn taps famed scientist as coronavirus advisor - CNBCNow Foxconn has tapped his expertise in respiratory diseases to serve as a consultant for the firm’s prevention and rehabilitation efforts. In a statement on Tuesday, Foxconn said Zhong Nanshan will give advice and guidance to the company.Air Canada cancels China flights until April amid coronavirus outbreak | NewsAfter announcing last month it was temporarily suspending all direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai until February 29 amidst growing concern surrounding coronavirus, Air Canada said on Tuesday it has extended that timeline until April 10 – a move it said is reflective of “reduced market demand.”Big unknowns for millions as they return to work in China’s economic powerhouse | South China Morning PostFeng Huiqiang, a senior official from provincial health commission of Guangdong, said: “We want to tell people from high-risk areas that they should not rush to return to Guangdong. If they must come back, then they should first stay under quarantine for 14 days. All conferences and sporting activities should be cancelled to prevent people from gathering.“Everyone should follow the guidelines – apart from going to work, don’t go out, don’t gather, don’t dine together, don’t eat wild animals. And don’t be over optimistic.”Coronavirus, trade war a ‘double whammy’ for foreign firms in China, EU chamber boss says | South China Morning PostAfter more than 19 months of uncertainty and difficulties caused by the US-China trade war, the signing of an interim deal to end the conflict on January 15 gave many foreign firms reason to be optimistic. But their hopes were short-lived as the virus outbreak delivered a painful “double whammy”, said Paul Sives, chairman of the southwest branch of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China...“Some member companies have already moved certain production lines to factories they have elsewhere in the world, to supply the goods that they cannot supply from China,” Sives said.4. Will the propaganda and censorship work?Coronavirus: China tries to contain outbreak of freedom of speech, closing critics’ WeChat accounts | South China Morning PostQin Qianhong, a law professor from Wuhan University, a top-ranking institution in the city that has been the epicentre of the outbreak, said his WeChat account had been disabled since last Wednesday.He said it could be because he raised concerns in his WeChat posts over the extreme lockdown measures imposed on the Hubei provincial capital, and questioned state media reports that praised the sacrifices of Wuhan residents.The Story of Jiangshanjiao (江山娇) – Elephant Room: Make China Relatable12 hours, that was how long I lived, from the moment I was launched on the Chinese Internet to the moment I vanished, along with my younger brother Hongqiman. Our short lifespan was something no one expected; we were born to be something great, something iconic. We were made to be stars, or more accurately, to be idols. We were going to be huge hits; people, especially China’s young generation of patriotic netizens, were going to love us.We had absolutely all the right elements to be loved, or at least, that was what our creator, the Communist Youth League believed. China’s young generation loved the League, which had been known for its agility in catching up with the latest internet trends. On Weibo, my creator had almost 13 million followers, and even a cute nickname, Tuantuan (团团)...But the public reception of our launch took a completely unexpected direction: the League’s Weibo account was flooded with negative comments. People hated us, or more accurately, they hated the fact that the Youth League tried to idolize its own image by creating us. As it turned out, the strategy of personifying a party organization for political purposes didn’t work as well as my smart creator had planned...You see what I am trying to say here? People have noticed. By February 17th, the day of my debut, the Chinese people, at least those who use social media, had been fed up with many of the government’s conducts. They had noticed the authority’s sneaky little tricks in managing this national crisis; the corruption, the irresponsibilities, the inefficiencies, all laid bare like never before thanks to the internet.Coronavirus Weakens China’s Powerful Propaganda Machine - The New York Times“Even if I say that I don’t trust the government, what could I do?” Ms. Lu said. “It seems there’s nothing I can do.”There’s no scientific way to gauge public sentiment in China. But hers is probably a widely shared attitude, and one that the Chinese government wants to nurture.To get there, Beijing has intensified internet censorship in the past few weeks. Social media accounts have been deleted or suspended. Starting Saturday, online platforms will be subject to new regulations that could ensure even tighter limits.Turning on the Kitsch | China Media ProjectIn yesterday’s People’s Daily we can find a consummate piece of kitsch propaganda given position of prominence right below the masthead. The article, “Heroic City, Heroic People,” is an emotional hymn dedicated to front-line medical workers, officials and ordinary people. But the real objective of the article is to underscore the Chinese Communist Party as the enabler of miraculous human feats.Comment: The mask has been ripped off in previous disasters too. Will the outcome be any different this time when it comes to political activism, or will more people just become more cynical and want to emigrate?5. Wuhan governance failings continuing财新：北京新怡家园确诊案例来自武汉, 系刑满释放22日回京A Beijing coronavirus patient is causing a huge scandal. She arrived in Beijing from Wuhan on Feb 22. Caixin reports she made it out of Wuhan despite the lockdown because she was newly released from prison and her family drove her all the way back to their apartment in Beijing. Rumors are swirling that she must have some powerful connections to make it through all the checkpoints between Wuhan and Beijing, and because she lives in a residential area who apartments cost 120,000 RMB per square meter. There has been a massive social media uproar and now there is an official investigation.胡锡进: 希望武汉官方和监狱管理机构及时对此事做出说明Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin demands an explanation from the Wuhan authorities on why the woman was able to make it out of Wuhan and came all the way to Beijing, so not to undermine the public’s confidence in Wuhan’s ability to control the virus spread.How did COVID-19 patient leave Wuhan for Beijing? - Global TimesA confirmed COVID-19 patient returned from Wuhan on Saturday to Beijing, leading to questions over the management of the Wuhan government again two days after it issued a traffic easing policy but retracted it hours later.Such questions against Wuhan government have lurked on Chinese social media for days, as the central government repeated that channels to and out of Wuhan must be strictly controlled to win the battle against the epidemic.The woman, surnamed Huang, was found on Monday in a residential community in Dongcheng district. She came to Beijing from Wuhan on Saturday and underwent inspection right after her arrival, as she had been suffering intermittent fevers and throat pain since February 18 in Wuhan, said the Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control on Wednesday.澎湃新闻：湖北多地继续严控离鄂通道ThePaper reported that local governments in Hubei have ramped up the measures to make sure no one can leave the province. Those temporary entry-exit permits issued earlier have been rescinded.Officials in China's Wuhan Deny Reports of Elderly Care Home Fever Deaths - RFACutting-edge news website Caixin said in a recent report that 11 elderly people had died at the Wuhan Social Welfare Institute from "fevers and respiratory failure."A statement on the official website of the Wuhan municipal cyberspace administration denied the report.Caixin then doubled down and published the names and dates of all of the deaths after a local official threatened to pursue the organization for rumor-mongering, a crime carrying a maximum jail sentence of seven years in China.独家|新冠病毒基因测序溯源：警报是何时拉响的Caixin reported that as many as nine virus samples had been examined by Chinese labs in late December and early January, and the labs had notified the authorities about the new virus. But somehow the government failed to act soon enough, and the Hubei officials tried to block the release of test results.回望2019年12月底至今年1月初的那几天，原本应是决定无数人命运的关键时刻。但彼时，公众对这种病毒日后会引发的后果还浑然不知。一位基因测序公司人士透露，2020年1月1日，他接到湖北省卫健委一位官员电话，通知他武汉如有新冠肺炎的病例样本送检，不能再检；已有的病例样本必须销毁，不能对外透露样本信息，不能对外发布相关论文和相关数据，“如果你们在日后检测到了，一定要向我们报告”。财经：追问卫健委第二批专家：为何没发现“人传人”？One member of the second expert group sent from Beijing in early January to investigate the coronavirus in Wuhan told Caijing magazine they didn’t find enough evidence of human-to-human transmission because the Wuhan Health Commission was hiding the truth from them. The expert group once told the Chinese public the disease is “preventable and controllable”.《财经》：为什么会出现这种情况？专家：他们根本不合作，这是最主要的问题。比如医务人员感染的事，你哪怕报一个医务人员感染，我们也就意识到它有传染性。《财经》：既然有怀疑，为什么没有直接向当地的政府或者医院发问？专家：当时我们讨论的时候，我们让他如实报。卫健委的领导当场就说了，他说，“你们是不是怀疑我瞒报啊？”他公开反问我们，专家组的都在场。他都这么说了我们还能说什么？《财经》：听到这句话，专家组心里是什么感觉？专家：你不应该找我们，你应该找找那个领导层去了解。现在这个卫健委的人已经被免职了。（注：2月10日，湖北省委常委会决定：免去张晋的湖北省卫生健康委员会党组书记职务；免去刘英姿的湖北省卫生健康委员会主任职务；上述两职务，由新到任的湖北省委常委王贺胜兼任。）6. Medical workers on the frontlineWuhan nurses' plea for international medics to help fight coronavirus | The GuardianYingchun Zeng, of the Guangzhou Medical hospital, and Yan Zhen, of the Sun Yet-sen Memorial hospital, also in Guangzhou, published a letter in the medical journal the Lancet on Monday describing mental and physical exhaustion and severe supply shortages on the frontlines of the outbreak...The virus has claimed more than 2,715 lives and infected at least 80,000 people. On Monday, China’s National Health Commission said more than 3,200 health workers had contracted Covid-19, about 90% of those cases in Hubei province. According to tallies of deaths reported in the Chinese media, at least 22 health workers have died from the virus.The letter - Chinese medical staff request international medical assistance in fighting against COVID-19 - The Lancet Global HealthIn addition to the physical exhaustion, we are also suffering psychologically. While we are professional nurses, we are also human. Like everyone else, we feel helplessness, anxiety, and fear. Experienced nurses occasionally find the time to comfort colleagues and try to relieve our anxiety. But even experienced nurses may also cry, possibly because we do not know how long we need to stay here and we are the highest-risk group for COVID-19 infection. So far 1716 Chinese staff [Note: Over 3000 now] have been infected with COVID-19 and nine of them have unfortunately passed away. Due to an extreme shortage of health-care professionals in Wuhan, 14 000 nurses from across China have voluntarily come to Wuhan to support local medical health-care professionals. But we need much more help. We are asking nurses and medical staff from countries around the world to come to China now, to help us in this battle.广东援助湖北武汉医疗队：请柳叶刀撤销文章 澄清事实并道歉The Guangdong medical team in Wuhan soon issued a statement through Southern Metropolis Daily saying the two authors are not part of their team and the article is a “outright misrepresentation”. But this statement has been deleted.Shaved Heads, Adult Diapers: Life as a Nurse in the Coronavirus Outbreak - The New York TimesThe most difficult moment for Ms. Zhang came when her superiors — almost all men — told her and her female colleagues that they “lacked the spirit of devotion” and discipline after they sought help getting pads and tampons.Coronavirus: China not sharing data on medical personnel cases, WHO says - The Washington Post“We received disaggregated information at intervals, though not details about health care workers,” said Tarik Jasaravic, a spokesperson for the Geneva-based organization.The comment, in a Saturday email to The Post, was one of the first instances that the U.N. health agency has directly addressed shortcomings in China’s reporting or handling of the coronavirus crisis.陈一新抗疫这一招的背后寓意是什么？-中国长安网Chen Yixin convenes meeting of alumnae of Wuhan universities and Hubei business representatives to ask them to make donations to help front line medical workersCCTV Evening News on the meeting, no video from inside the meetingComment: I don't remember so many reports about standing committees in such a compressed period of time .7. New Hong Kong budgetSpotlight: HKSAR government's new budget unveils 15-bln-USD measures to ride out economic difficulties - XinhuaFinancial Secretary Paul Chan said in his speech on the 2020-2021 budget that 2019 was "an unsettling year fraught with obstacles" for Hong Kong, while the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 "has dealt a severe blow to economic activities and sentiment in Hong Kong."Chan said Hong Kong's economy contracted by 1.2 percent in 2019, and he forecast full-year growth of between minus 1.5 percent and 0.5 percent in 2020...Chan also announced a payment of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars to each Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 or above, with a view to encouraging and boosting local consumption on the one hand, and relieving people's financial burden on the other. This measure is expected to benefit about 7 million people.Hong Kong budget: HK$2.7 billion jobs outlay largely aimed at training programmes, employer subsidies | South China Morning PostHong Kong’s newest budget has set aside HK$2.7 billion (US$347 million) to bolster efforts to create and retain jobs amid the economic downturn, with HK$200 million of the amount aimed at the city’s struggling construction sector...The lion’s share of the employee support portion of the budget – HK$2.5 billion – will go toward bolstering existing vocational, innovative and generic skills-training programs for the unemployed and underemployed.Hong Kong police to ramp up manpower by more than 7 per cent with 2,500 new posts in ‘biggest boost since 1997’ | South China Morning PostHong Kong’s police force will ramp up manpower by more than 7 per cent in its biggest boost in decades, with an extra 2,500 posts to cope with operational needs, according to force insiders citing the latest budget address.The figures also showed that police overtime pay and other allowances in the 2019-20 financial year soared to HK$2.5 billion (US$321 million), 10 times the original estimate of HK$256 million.8. US-ChinaWIPO, world don’t need US bullying and interference - Global TimesNext week, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will hold an election for its next director general. This was supposed to be a serious but standard matter handled in line with existing regulations and procedures of the agency. But the US, as it has done many times before, is seeking to interfere in the election and bend the agency's 191 other members to its political will and put its economic interests over those of others.After China nominated Wang Binying, who has risen through the ranks to be deputy director general in her 28-year career at the agency, to be the next director general, Washington apparently became paranoid and launched an extensive campaign against Wang's nomination. ..That brings us to the ulterior motives behind the US campaign against Wang's nomination: preserving its fading dominance in trade and technology through political gambits. The US has waged trade wars with not just China but also major economies in Europe and beyond. The US has also put up barriers to disrupt global cooperation in technology.Comment: It will be hugely embarrassing for the US if Wang become the director-general.Break with China? Top Trump aide eyes an opening with coronavirus - POLITICOPeter Navarro, the leading China critic in the Trump administration, is seizing the moment.The White House’s director of trade and manufacturing policy and the administration’s other China hawks are pushing to use the coronavirus crisis to press U.S. companies to end their dependence on foreign suppliers...Navarro also has written memos on the coronavirus that he's circulated to other White House officials, according to an administration official and an official from the National Security Council.The renewed focus on America First for medical manufacturing is a sign of what could become a broader push as multinational companies face the prospect of crippled supply chains as the virus shutters factories around the globe.Chinese naval fleet wraps up far sea exercise deep in Pacific Ocean - China MilitaryA far sea joint training fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy returned to base after sailing 14,000 nautical miles and crossing the International Date Line deep into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, a move that challenges US hegemony in the open waters and will become increasingly frequent in the future, experts said on Wednesday.US sanction on Chinese firms rebuked as 'long-arm jurisdiction' - Global TimesThe manager of a high-tech Chinese company sanctioned by the US for "helping" Iran's missile program denied on Wednesday that his company sells products to Iranian entities while Chinese observers believed that the US latest move shows Washington has never restrained from bullying practices as it imposed"long-arm jurisdiction"to sanction Chinese firms and exercised hegemonism as China is fighting arduously against the COVID-19 outbreak.China firmly opposes Pompeo's groundless accusation of COVID-19 control: spokesperson - Xinhua"Since Mr. Pompeo talks about freedom of speech so much, would he care to explain why he cursed at an NPR journalist? Why was the journalist denied press credentials to travel with him? Is that Mr. Pompeo's definition of 'freedom of speech'? I think it's typical discourse monopoly and double standards," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.China urges U.S. to stop interfering in China's internal affairs under pretext of religion - XinhuaSpokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press conference when responding to a question on the words of Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, slandering China's measures regarding Muslims.Certain people in the United States have repeatedly made wanton accusations and rumors, attempting to undermine China's ethnic harmony and interfere in China's internal affairs under the pretext of religious freedom, Zhao said. "We firmly oppose that."China says Wall Street Journal ‘admitted its mistake’ over ‘sick man of Asia’ headline | South China Morning PostMinistry spokesman Zhao Lijian questioned the paper’s political motives and said it had yet to hold any individuals responsible for the headline, “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia”, on a February 3 column about the novel coronavirus outbreak...“The Wall Street Journal has already admitted its mistake and engaged in self-reflection, so why did Pompeo ignore international public opinion and continuously cheer for this paper, and criticise the Chinese side?” Zhao said.“This makes one wonder, is The Wall Street Journal an agent for the US state department?”不容种族歧视者胡说（钟声）In Wednesday’s People’s Daily Zhong Sheng weighs in on the WSJ's headline. The propaganda organs are really flogging this hardBusiness, Economy and TradeYicai Global - China-led Consortium to Operate Pakistan's First Metro Line Guangzhou Metro Group said it has formed a consortium with two other companies and the trio will take over the operation and maintenance of the Orange Line Metro service, Pakistan's first-ever mass rapid urban transit, for an eight-year term.Out of Stock: Coronavirus in China Threatens Amazon Sellers - WSJ $ Thousands of Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more Inc. sellers who built their businesses using China’s cheap and efficient manufacturers are on the spot as the coronavirus shuts factories there. Sellers say Amazon’s ranking algorithm demotes products that are out of stock. To avoid that painful fate, many are raising prices to slow sales, and attempting to shift production to other countries.BYD electric bus deal one of the biggest for US · TechNode Shenzhen-based BYD will deliver a total of 130 all-electric buses to Los Angeles as part of the city’s initiative to convert its entire public bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles by the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics, the company said in a statement sent to TechNode on Monday. Two of four BYD buses from an earlier deal had already been delivered.Politics and Law...[Message clipped] View entire message