Long before it was possible to freely manipulate the television image on the screen using methods such as the split-screen, there was the cross-cutting method in motion picture.
These methods were invented to
give the artistic creators an added tool by which to tell their story. For
example, cross-cutting (which means going back and forth between two scenes)
allows the filmmaker to contrast opposites such as the birth of a child and the
burial of a diseased happening … but not necessarily at the same moment. As to
television split-screen, directors love to show a politician talk about
something noble on one side of the screen, and show him do something ignoble on
the other side of the screen.
As to literature, several
methods were invented by writers to highlight the differences or similarities
that do occur between two or more situations. In one such method, the writer
would imagine an encounter between two historical personalities that were in
fact separated in time by centuries … something like Donald Trump meeting Marie
Antoinette and exchanging notes, for example.
And so, I borrow this method,
but modify it a little to better convey what I have in mind. What I'm trying to
do is contrast the current American political mentality against the current
Chinese political mentality. What prompted me to do this, is Clifford D. May's
latest column. It came under the title: “Who killed Lokman Slim?” and the
subtitle: “We know. The question is what will we do about it?” The column was
published on February 9, 2021 in The Washington Times.
What Clifford May did was take
a mental tour of the planet. He pointed the finger at those he considers to be
evil, and those he loves to rebuke for not stopping what he sees as evil. A
member of the North American audience reading his piece will find it a
run-of-the-mill kind of article, if not a tired one. And so, I imagined a
Chinese version of what Clifford May has composed, and here is what I came up
with:
A Chinese political pundit
writes to the country's paramount leader telling him he has information that's
so sensitive, he must meet him and give him the information in person. The
leader invites the pundit, and sits across the room to listen, to probe into
what he is hearing, and to weigh the value of the information. Here is how the
dialogue unfolds between the two men:
LEADER: You better have something useful to say because I
have much work to do, and I don't appreciate wasting my time on trivial matters.
PUNDIT: I assure you it's important. It's a matter of life
and death.
LEADER: Whose death? China's death? The world's death?
PUNDIT: No. It's Lokman's death. Slim Lokman. And maybe the
death of his sister too, something that could happen at any time.
LEADER: That's what you came to tell me? The death of
someone unknown? Who's Lokman, anyway?
PUNDIT: Does the name Lebanon ring the bell with you?
LEADER: That tiny, little place by the Mediterranean? Have
the Israelis done it again? They always go into Lebanon and assassinate
someone. When there is a move to organize an international investigation, the
Americans get into the act and stop it … Forget it; this is a waste of time.
PUNDIT: Slim Lokman was assassinated. Nobody knows who did
it. But there is fear that his sister might also be assassinated.
LEADER: That's too bad for the Lokman family. I hope they
find the culprits and deal with them. But that does not threaten the national
security of China or the survival of the planet. You're wasting my time.
PUNDIT: There are rumors that those who did it belong to an
international organization which also deals in drugs, human smuggling and child
sex trafficking.
LEADER: We know it. We have our eyes on the Israelis, and we
know all about them. Such operations are conducted by retired army officers who
are familiar with the terrain around the Atlantic Ocean. They haven't come to
the Pacific yet. But if and when they do, we'll be ready for them.
PUNDIT: You also have stories out of Europe about Iranians
conducting operations there. They imitate the local disaffected kids as well as
the Israeli international terror squad. But you know what? The Europeans don't
seem troubled by any of that. So, I ask you, what is China going to do?
LEADER: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Let the Americans get
in there, spend trillions of dollars having their asses kicked, and come out
tail behind their legs. And they'll be singing: Look up to me, I'm the
exceptional. Come worship me 'cause I'm the one that’s so banal.
PUNDIT: But there is also the Russians who poison their
dissidents, and the Europeans are not doing anything about it either. What’s
China going to do?
LEADER: If we're going to do anything about the little
people being mistreated by their government security apparatus––and we haven't
decided yet––it'll be to stand and be counted for those who get shot in the
back because they have the wrong color of skin.
PUNDIT: Will you stand up to America?
LEADER: We may have to. If we do, it'll not be to score political
points. If this were our intention, we would have done it a long time ago.
We'll do it because it is the decent thing to do.
PUNDIT: That'll be a valuable lesson for America, the one and only sponsor of the one and only terrorist entity in the world today … See? Our meeting has not been a waste of time, after all.