For those in peril whilst in China

 I have long held a deep detestation for the Chinese Communist Party, its policies, its total disregard for the welfare of the Billion-odd Chinese who are ruled by this geriatric dictatorship, and the latest snippet changes nothing!

As readers maybe remember, I have long held a special place in my own mind for seamen, or, as the modern idiom goes, seafarers. From my own few years as an Engineer Officer to the present, my life and manner of thinking has been coloured by the fact that, once away from land; you are the only one. You have to decide how to proceed, how to overcome whatever problems which may beset your ship; because, whether your education is biased towards navigation and safe voyaging, or alternatively if your job is purely Mechanically or Electrically biased: whatever you decide matters; because those decisions are solely based  upon your education, your experience, or even sometimes, your instincts.

But once your vessel is tied up to a dockside wharf, we also had the benefit of shore-based knowledge, of a wealth of facilities, whether technical, financial or even medical. At least, that is how it used to be. If a seafarer presented with life-changing medical symptoms when thousands of miles away from land, the only call would be a crackly conversation between ship and shore, with, usually, the Second Mate making sometimes life-changing decisions for a patient’s treatment, based upon the symptoms and diagnoses relayed by radio communications only. These days, things are so much more improved, with Internet-aided video communications aiding both diagnosis and treatment over truly long distances.

Or so we are told. Maybe such medical help and advice is available in just about every Country with sea-going ports, people and facilities: with the exception of, seemingly, just one Country! As related by Splash Marine Magazine; They do things differently in China; like, after passing the buck between officials upon an urgent request for an ambulance, for medical aid for a man who was vomiting blood; after a twelve hour wait, a ‘doctor arrives, the patient is moved to the ambulance, the ‘doctor’ pLugs his nose,and gives him some pills: AND THEN THE PATIENT, A CHINESE NATIONAL, IS RETURNED TO THE SHIP.