A van driver in China was charged this week in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl named Wang Yue. Unlike many automobile accidents, this tragic incident was caught on closed-circuit cameras and quickly went viral within China, passed along by social networks and, eventually, around the world. What makes the video so gut wrenching is not the initial injury the toddler suffered, but the fact that 18 separate passers-by ignored her as she lay dying in the street.
A second driver hit the toddler, nicknamed Yueyue, as she lay on the ground. Both drivers left the scene without providing any assistance to the girl and were being held by police. Some of the passers-by didn't notice Yueyue as she lie bleeding on the ground, but others saw her and made visible decisions to not intervene, preferring to leave her for dead.
Such a mass display of indifference is chilling to watch.
Perhaps inevitably, Yueyue died after eight days in intensive care. Her death has gripped the country, as it raises many uncomfortable questions about life in modern China.
Even the Chinese Communist Party has responded to the uproar. Party leaders are encouraging soul-searching and renewed efforts to raise the moral standards of their countrymen. Not your typical Marxist theorizing!
On the party's official blog site, an invitation has been issued to Chinese citizens to make suggestions on how a "Good Samaritan" law could give individuals the comfort and security necessary to ensure them that, by helping an individual who was injured or in danger, they would not be exposed to the possibility of lawsuits or criminal prosecution if the victim determines that they would have preferred being left alone. A Chinese newspaper has even gone so far as to offer a $75,000 reward to individuals who are willing to help others.
Hopefully, one or more of these initiatives will have some meaningful impact on preventing such callous indifference, but larger concerns remain.
Does the video footage of the protracted death that followed Yueyue's short life show us the selfish side to modern Chinese society? Is China experiencing a widening moral decline as a latent cost of its stratospheric economic growth of the past three decades?
Ultimately, the 19th person to pass Yueyue decided to help. Chen Xianmei is a migrant rag picker – who since has been offered a reward and a job. Chen, however, also was soon evicted from her rented accommodation when her landlord became annoyed by the unwanted media attention that her good deed was bringing!
Perhaps it is symbolic that Yueyue's eventual rescuer was someone who was unconcerned with lawsuits and not preoccupied by the demands of her job. The parents of Yueyue, who are migrant farm workers, were on their knees in gratitude to Chen, even though, as we know now, it was too late.
Outpourings of sympathy to Yueyue's parents have flooded Chinese blogs, tweets, emails, news reports and conversations. More than $40,000 have been sent to them as gifts to help them during their grieving.
What is the price that Chinese society places on a dead child?
Although hit-run drivers in China typically can face up to six years in jail, it is worth noting that a driver who recently killed a pedestrian was executed. Unfortunately, stories are already circulating within China of another incident following the Yueyue accident where a truck driver hit a child and, sensationally, then reversed over the child to ensure he was dead. The aim was to minimize the amount of compensation that must be paid, as a dead child is less of a long-term financial burden than a crippled child.
Without communist solidarity or Confucian respect to temper the materialism of greed, what will become of the Chinese character? Will they become mere onlookers who witness events with cold detachment, or will they have the courage and the conviction to intervene in the lives of their neighbors and countrymen when circumstances require?
As China continues to expand its military and broaden its sphere of influence around the world, these questions become more and more important. Should future Chinese leaders engage in bellicose grandstanding and outright belligerency, Americans could take some comfort in a Chinese citizenry that was willing to confront and challenge its ruling elites and speak out when needed to act as a brake on escalating tensions.
This week also saw reports of Beijing's plans to expand its massive underground system of tunnels and complexes. which are used to shield its nuclear weapons from attack. As China continues to modernize its nuclear arsenal, it will be important for Chinese citizens to make their leaders accountable for their policy decisions.
Just as the safety of a community depends on people looking up from their narrow interests and engaging with those around them, so does the security of nations require citizens to operate as effective checks on any reckless or extreme actions by their governments.