2. Return to Wuhan

The city of Wuhan is dusty and crowded. Yet once you step into a newly constructed fancy building, it is a different world. Jenny’s office is similar to her office in New York, only larger and newer. Her equipment is similar, only better and more expensive. Her lab staff are similar, only working harder. Jenny feels at home.

Jenny grew up in Wuhan. Most of her classmates are still there. Soon after her return, her high school classmates had a gathering. Jenny found most of her old classmates are very relaxed and content. Some already retired. Jenny feels that finally she can settle down.

After gathering, Jenny took a ride back home with Sam. Jenny remembers that Sam was a quiet boy in high school, quiet and smart. Now Sam is a math professor at Wuhan University, where Jenny spent her undergraduate years. In the car, Jenny asked Sam why China is developing so fast recently.

Sam likes to trace problems to their roots. He said, “Let’s compare Chinese and English language. In Chinese, from January to December, we say first month, second month, …, the twelfth month. We know the meaning, we know the order, we know the structure of these twelve months.  In Chinese, month is the same as the word moon. We know month is related to moon. Chinese language embodies a lot of knowledge by itself. In English, January, February, March, … December, are twelve separate words with no clear relations and structures.”

Jenny said, “English also contains structures. September, October, November and December have clear structure.”

Sam continued, “That is right. What September, October, November and December mean? They mean seventh month, eighth month, ninth month and tenth month. But in English, they eventually morph into ninth month to twelfth month. In English and other alphabetical languages, the meanings of words are quite fluid. Chinese language is a logographic language. Each character has a distinct image.  In Chinese, the meanings of the words are highly distinct and fixed. When we say seventh month, it is seventh month. We can’t use the same word to represent the ninth month. When we communicate in Chinese, the meaning of each word is very clear and distinct. This greatly enhances the efficiency in communication. That is an important reason why economic activities are so efficient in China.”

Jenny countered, “If so, why China is lagging in science and innovation?

Sam replied, “Logographic words have very distinct meanings. It is often difficult to express new or unknown ideas in Chinese. That is why China is lagging behind in innovation. Chinese society is slow to adopt new ideas. But for mature ideas and mature technologies, Chinese language has its advantages. In most mature industries, Chinese manufacturers dominate the global market. In most standard examinations, Chinese students excel in the world.”

“From historical perspective, for most of the long and relatively stable periods, Chinese population is high, Chinese technology is very advanced. But during the periods of rapidly changing in the last several hundred years, China is left behind.”

Jenny was not convinced, “Your explanation is too far fetched. Economic activities can’t be related to languages.”

Sam said, “Language itself is an economic tool. It aims at transmitting maximal amount of information with least amount of cost. Costs include fixed cost and variable cost. Logographic languages have high fixed cost and low variable cost. It is very difficult to learn Chinese at the beginning. You have to remember several thousand distinct characters. But once you learn them, reading becomes very easy. Most elementary school students in China can read very easily. Alphabetical languages have low fixed cost and high variable cost. English only has twenty six alphabets. It is easy to get started. But there are tens of thousands of mostly unrelated words to remember. Many high school graduates in US can’t read very well.”

“Information processing takes tremendous amount of our effort. Just think about how much time we spend on reading, talking and writing. All our formative years are spent in schooling. Most of our adult life is spent in communicating. The impact of language is enormous.”

Jenny interrupted, “Let’s stop talking about the abstract. What do you think of future of China?”

Sam said, “If China is content to develop itself naturally, China will do very well over time. However, Chinese political system, like Chinese language, is a high fixed cost system. The wealth in China is highly concentrated in the governments, especially the central government. The Chinese government is extremely wealthy and powerful. It can do things no other governments can imagine. First, Chinese government enforced the one child policy. This greatly reduced the number of children to take care and freed a lot of labor. The increase of labor greatly accelerated the development of Chinese economy. With newly accumulated wealth, the Chinese government is spending a lot of money on vanity projects, such as science research. The spending increases the prestige of the government and keeps the general populace poor and easy to manage. China started one child policy in 1980. China’s power will peak around 2020 to 2025. After that, rapid population aging will exhaust Chinese economy.”

Jenny disagreed, “Basic science research will generate great economic opportunities in the future.”

Sam said, “This is true to an extend. But research itself is costly. Too much of anything is not good. That is why US and Europe are slashing a lot of their research programs. They could no more afford such extravagancy.”

Jenny was thinking about the struggle for funding in US and the lavish funding she is getting now. Suddenly she felt very tired. Fortunately, the car arrived at her residence. Jenny said goodbye to Sam and went up to her apartment.

Jenny is mostly busy with her lab works. She is highly sensitive to the danger of the gain of function projects. She constantly reminds her staff that they should always put safety as their top priority. But in scientific research, priority is always the top priority. You have to be the first to get credit. Concerns for safety is only important as far as it helps advance your career. Jenny is very careful. But she has a large lab staff. Each and every one is under great pressure to get the results fast.

Jenny’s research is about the interaction between viruses and human beings. In biology and medicine, research related to human beings are held at high prestige. With US and Europe tightening their regulation on human related research, Jenny’s papers easily gain international prominence. Jenny’s team expand rapidly. Several research labs in Wuhan join her research. With rapid expansion, Jenny worries about the safety problem occasionally. But other rival research teams are expanding aggressively. If she slows down, she merely lets others to take over her.

For several years, Jenny has been busy and happy. She has been showered with larger and larger grants. Regulatory approvals are little more than formality. These have been her most productive years. She has been invited to give talks in top research institutions and major conferences. She even appears on national TV programs regularly. Only several years ago, she was struggling for tiny amount of funding. Now she has become a celebrity. By all means, she is at the pinnacle of her life.

Recently, she gets messages about the circulation of a SARS like pneumonia in various Wuhan hospitals. Because Wuhan is the center of virus research in China, the coincidence between the virus research and the virus infection is occasional mentioned. Could her lab, or any other lab accidentally leaks the viruses?