Recently, the American Alumni Association of Fudan University discovered a Chinese doctor who has been living on the streets of the United States for 16 years, Sun Dongwei, who said that he wanted to end his wandering life and return to China to retire. As a result, the Fudan American Alumni Association launched a group of more than 200 people to discuss how to help Dr. Sun realize his wish.
The move sparked a heated debate among Chinese netizens because it seemed to foreshadow the assumption that once the United States succeeded, it would be possible to return to China to enjoy benefits in old age.
Sun Dongwei's case is not an isolated case. In 1990, Liu Yusheng, who had the American dream, abandoned his wife and daughter to come to the United States, but he was reduced to the streets. In 2022, the Shanghai Association brought Liu Yusheng, who is in his 70s, back to China, where he was cared for in a subsistence allowance and a nursing home. Liu Yusheng sighed, "China is so good." There are many similar cases of people who have left their hometowns for many years and want to return to China to live out their old age when they are old.
The reason for this is that one is because of China's welfare system. China implements a system of subsistence allowances in urban and rural areas to ensure the basic livelihood of people in need. At the same time, China is accelerating the development of the pension service industry, and the nursing homes around the country are improving and providing cheap pension services. In contrast, social welfare in the United States is relatively weak, and once you lose your job and get sick, you can easily become a street sleeper. The second is emotional belonging.
Although they have been gone for many years, they still regard China as their home in their bones. The third is to acquiesce in the role model role of "successful people". They hope that through their "successful" demonstration, more people will be encouraged to go to the United States, and tell everyone that if they fail, they can return to China.
However, we must be soberly aware that it is irresponsible to regard China as our "back-up plan." First, this default "loser can go home" mindset may distort people's pursuit of values. For the sake of so-called "success", he does not hesitate to abandon his wife and children, and once he fails, he wants to return to China to enjoy welfare. This lack of humanistic care in this "successism" can lead to a moral slippage.
Second, it would place an unreasonable burden on China's social security system. China's welfare system is designed to put the needy first, and if a large number of "losers" pour in, it will crowd out already scarce resources. Third, a person's success or failure has nothing to do with the place of birth, but with personal struggle. It is neither fair nor responsible to tacitly accept the idea of "fail abroad, succeed at home".
So how should we view Sun Dongwei's return to China for the elderly? The author believes that, first of all, we cannot beat all those who have returned to China to death with a stick. There are indeed people who have been forced to leave because of war and other reasons, and they should be sympathetic and helpful when they return to China. Second, we should treat those who leave voluntarily differently.
It is understandable that if you go abroad when you are young and return to China to live when you are old, but if you are a half-way monk and you will occupy welfare resources when you are old, you should consider it carefully. Third, we need to improve the relevant systems to prevent such incidents from affecting the fairness of domestic social security. For example, it is possible to consider setting thresholds such as the minimum payment period, as well as appropriately increasing the pension insurance rate for returnees.
Sun Dongwei's return to China for the elderly reflects some of the differences in emotions and systems between China and the United States. However, we cannot and should not acquiesce to the "loser return" model, which is neither socially fair nor easy to be exploited by some people. In the case of Sun Dongwei, if his situation is true, appropriate assistance can be given.
But for similar incidents, we need to consider from a broader perspective and formulate scientific and rational policies, rather than emotional responses. Only in this way can we safeguard social fairness and justice in the course of development.
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