Simply Let Him Depart

I try not to bother any of the people I work with on the weekend.  Sunday isn’t sacred in China.  The authorities can giveth and the authorities can take away Sunday and make it a day of rest or a day of work as they choose, in order to prolong a holiday or get people back to work when they feel they’ve had enough rest.  Sunday isn’t the Sabbath.  Saturday isn’t inheritance of the labor movement the way it is back home.  Rather, everything is a gift from the Party, so be thankful for what they’ve provided. 

This weekend, I was though, still in need of some information.  A colleague hadn’t reported back with some basic but important information that has been an open request since last Wednesday.  Is this particular guy willing to meet with us or not?  Why is he not answering?  The client is demanding clarity and I don’t have an answer.  So I am demanding clarity.  And when that U.S. client called, I reckoned he was asking about this.  Rather than get the call I decided to get the answer I needed first. 

I could tell immediately the colleague I'd disturbed wasn’t happy.  We know each other well enough not to have to be polite.  He’d been on the road all week.  He wanted time with his family.  OK.  If you’ve no update, you’ve no update.  But before he got off, he mentioned that a client of ours had written to say he’d been detained by the airport police.  Huh?  That's important.  And as he shared the little information, he knew from wechat exchange I suddenly realized that this and not what I’d suspected was the reason behind why his boss had called me. 

Vaping in the bathroom of a plane can get you in trouble, in case you didn’t know.  This otherwise wonderful young person was now in the custody of the Pudong airport authorities.  I called the boss, I called a friend, I called the young man himself, who didn’t pick up and I called the consulate and the embassy and eventually reached someone, who promised to do something, eventually and then I called everyone back to say as much. 

Later I was able to speak with the detainee, himself.  He was nervous and resolved.  They were going to hold him for five days.  Ouch.  Everyone had been achingly nice.  But they were unable to let him go.  And if he was well behaved, he would likely be able to leave in five days. 

Later, at dinner, I got the call that they changed their plan and, in the end, simply let him depart.  I asked him to reiterate to all the folks back home that China was a reasonable place and that he’d been treated well, in spite of it all. 

Sunday, 03/03/19