Andrew Moody:Although I am not a Chinese citizen, I have completely and completely belonged to this country

Before coming to China, Moody's was not only a veteran media person, but also had already achieved "financial freedom". As an outstanding graduate of the Department of Economics at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, Moody's has long been involved in the field of political and economic journalism, and is also a columnist for the Observer, the Daily Express, the Sunday Mail and many other media. Knowing that he had more than a dozen real estate properties in the UK, a colleague joked with Moody's: "I want to have so many houses with you, and I will bask in the sun every day." ”

From being a Conservative in Britain to being called a "Communist who wasn't a Communist" by his Chinese colleagues, Moody's forged a deep bond with China along the way. "Working in China gave my brother a rare opportunity to interact with people from more different cultural backgrounds, and it also gave him a sense of what China really looks like." Moody's sister in the UK, Jayne, said, "He loves this country from the bottom of his heart". Dr. Wang recalled that Moody's had told her that although he was not a Chinese citizen, he had "completely and completely belonged to the country."

In 2019, Moody's was invited to a conference celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

From Moody's diaries and articles, we can roughly sort out his mental journey of understanding China. At the age of 15, Moody's saw news reports on the death of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai on television and felt an "inexplicable enormity." He once wrote that the shock of the heart may have foreshadowed that he would later develop a deep affection with China. Later, he read a report on China's reform and opening up in the British "Economist" weekly magazine and was deeply impressed. In 1997, he traveled to Hong Kong as a special correspondent for a British newspaper to cover the "handover of Hong Kong", and then visited Shenzhen and Guangzhou, where he was "deeply attracted by China's rapid developments".

In August 2008, during a short-term job as an editor of the English journal of the Beijing Olympic Games, Moody's visited the Forbidden City for the first time and lamented the "magnificence of the Forbidden City". It was at that moment, he said in a diary, that he decided to stay and work in China, saying it would be a major decision to decide the rest of his life. In the following 13 years, Moody's traveled to most provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China, as well as hong Kong and Macao SAR.

In 2019, Moody's wrote an article for china daily's China observation think tank, "The Awakening lion of civilization," titled "Back to the Center of the World Stage," in which he wrote: "On the streets of many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, there is a kind of vitality that is not seen in today's Western countries." ”

Ye Yan said that Moody has always maintained the "old-fashioned" of "British gentleman": when he goes out, suits and ties, shirts are customized in a clothing store in Sanlitun, he always goes to Subway to eat tuna sandwiches for lunch, and always goes to the same store and sits in the same seat with friends on weekends, ordering the same dishes - shrimp ball broccoli, dried sautéed beans, dumplings and rice; but he always has a great interest and strong curiosity about everything in China, especially Chinese culture, including learning to speak local dialects. Once in Suzhou, after the interview, he next had to catch a train to Shanghai, he gave up lunch and insisted on going to the Humble Administrator's Garden and listening to the commentaries. In another interview in Chengdu, Moody,, who has always been unsmiling, learned to dance square dance with his Chinese aunt. His free time is spent visiting museums and various exhibitions.

Friends and colleagues say Moody's is "well-liked." A newspaper colleague who has worked next to Moody's for 8 years said, "Even when he was super busy, he was always responsive, first patiently writing down your questions in a notebook and then giving detailed answers." "When a colleague gets married, he will also prepare a "red packet." When I came back from abroad, I brought candy to everyone every time. Aunt Liu, who has been doing housekeeping for Moody's for the past 13 years, said, "He lives a particularly frugal life, using a mobile phone that is an old model that has long been eliminated by me, and the computer is also the kind that should have been replaced long ago, but he is very generous to others." Moody's pays Aunt Liu much more than the market price.

Walking down the street, Mr. Nicholson said, Moody often asked indignantly, "I really don't understand why those people are always smearing China." They don't know the real China at all. You see, how happy the people here are! ”。 Shanka also said that Moody's often said that "China's system is very smart", implying that it is in stark contrast to the "bad democracy" of the West.

Going shopping in the mall can also trigger his feelings about China. Once returning from a supermarket purchase, he wrote in his diary: "I do feel that the degree of civilization in Chinese society is higher than that of some countries in the West. Here, people don't get attacked for no reason, there's no drug problem, there's no drunkard on the streets, there's no real lower class. ”

"Firm and strong" is the main theme of Moody's writing. In response to various misunderstandings about China, especially denigration, he always argues on Facebook and Twitter. In the summer of 2020, when he saw then-U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo delivering a speech attacking China at the Nixon Library, he immediately wrote an article to refute it, recording in his diary: "I fought back from several aspects" and "He tried to separate the Chinese Communist Party from the Chinese people, which is completely impossible." The diary of October 21 of the same year recorded a "heated argument" with a friend of whom he had been friends for 35 years, because the friend, who had never set foot in Chinese mainland, "ignorantly made a big fuss about China."

"An Englishman, who came to China from far and wide, reported the real China to the world, and finally died here. It's a spirit of internationalism, and Moody's story is very moving. Mr. Wang said it reminded him of Dr. Bethune, who is a household name in China.

Moody's story with China makes his relatives in the UK very proud and proud. At the funeral held in his hometown, Moody's photo of the ceremony site celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was the visual main photo of the memorial service.