[Approaching Diplomats]The Sour and Sweet Life of Diplomats
When you go to work in some areas of Africa, the living conditions are poorer, the temperature is higher, and there is a lack of commodities, which is nothing, and the most unbearable thing is the rampant malaria and typhoid fever and other germs and viruses.
Diplomats in the cowherd
In the past, people complained that the policy of visiting spouses and children with their families was too rigid, and now the policy has been relaxed, but it doesn't mean that all the family problems of diplomats have been solved. According to statistics, among the current foreign personnel, spouses and children are still in the minority, and there are still many insurmountable difficulties in the life of the diplomats, most of whom are still living the life of a cowherd and a weaver.
In the era of planned economy, if the spouse of a diplomat wants to go abroad to accompany the post, as long as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other ministries with a letter, without much trouble to get the approval of the unit, not only to retain the personnel establishment, but also to continue to receive a salary. However, in today's era when the commodity economy permeates all corners of society, this kind of good thing has long gone. Even in the most sympathetic and reasonable state organizations and institutions, there is only one hole for each turnip, and once you leave for a few years, it is difficult for the organization to keep your job for you, and it is even more impossible for you to receive your salary. As for companies and enterprises, especially foreign-funded enterprises, there is basically no way for them to take up secondment, and if you want to leave, you have to resign completely. The emergence of these new circumstances has created a great obstacle to the spouses of diplomats to follow the appointment.
Perhaps it is the influence of machismo, or perhaps there is another reason, in any case, the husbands of women diplomats are generally very few to go abroad to accompany the post, at most, in the wife's term of office with the children to come to stay for a month or two. Even those who overcame all the difficulties to go abroad to accompany their husbands, the wife of the diplomat, their psychology is also very contradictory. In the embassy, there is a clear distinction between supernumerary and supernumerary, and as a family member accompanying her husband, although she and her husband are holding the same kind of passport, there is a line of comment under her name: wife (husband) of so-and-so. This line of words determines the status of one's own family. When the husband goes out to work, the wife stays at home, watching her husband work hard, but she can't do much to help. If the wives of diplomats do not have a career at home, there is no contrast, but the new generation of wives of diplomats not only have a job at home, but also education, titles are often not worse than their husbands, and some of them have a higher position than their husbands. After arriving abroad, they have to adjust their roles according to their new identities, which is very uncomfortable for many wives.
Additionally, personnel changes in the country are too fast, and there is often streamlining and reorganization, so it is not easy for the wives to stay here, and they often have to contact their units for fear of losing their hard-won jobs.
Education of children into a problem
Despite the policy of allowing diplomats' minor children to follow the appointment, but to really bring the children to study abroad, there will be a lot of problems that can not be avoided. In the United States, Europe and other developed regions in better conditions, a lot of Chinese diplomats in the last two years to really bring their children to the local school, to see their children in the local to receive a good education, they are both happy and worried. A parent of a junior high school student said: "If I can work here for a long time, even seven or eight years, and my child goes to university, I can go back without worrying. However, according to the usual practice, the term of office of diplomats generally does not exceed four years, and when it is time for me to go back, my child will still be in high school, so should I leave my child behind or take him with me? This is the real problem in front of me. To leave the child abroad, there is no guardian, but also does not comply with the policy; in the foreign study halfway back to China, it is difficult to re-adapt to China's education system system, it is not possible to finally out of the pot is a bowl of sandwich rice."
If working in developed countries is a dilemma, then diplomats working in more "difficult areas" don't even have to think about it. In most parts of Africa, the living conditions are very bad, and it is not easy to imagine how high the education level can be. Chinese diplomats will not bring their children to school here, and even if the policy allows for family visits, few of their children will enjoy them. According to current practice, from Beijing to most parts of Africa, from France's Paris or Germany's Frankfurt transit, some diplomats do not want to give up the opportunity to visit relatives, but also do not want to let their children to Africa, so they came up with a compromise: to give their children to do a complete set of formalities to go to Africa to visit relatives, the use of transit opportunities to let the children in Europe for a while, and then let the children to go back to the home.
In Black Africa: A long time in the making
The same diplomats, one in Europe, France, the other in Africa, Guinea, speak French, but they lead very different lives. To understand the life of diplomats, don't just focus on Europe and the United States, but also look at those who are always fighting in the hard areas of the diplomats, this is the reporter in the interview more than once heard the sentiment.
So where exactly is the toughest? Lao Liu, who is in his 50s this year, has served two terms in Africa, the last time in a West African country. Mentioned that experience, Lao Liu so far a lot of emotion. Old Liu told reporters, to Africa, especially to the black African region to work, poor living conditions, high temperatures, lack of commodities, this is nothing, the most intolerable is the rampant malaria and typhoid fever and other germs and viruses. Because of the perennial high temperature, humidity and other reasons, in those places, to block the attack of mosquitoes is really difficult to do, even if not bitten by mosquitoes, but also can not guarantee absolute safety, because the Plasmodium bacteria that pervade the air, unknowingly will invade the human body, into the bloodstream, the reproduction capacity of this bacterium is very strong, once the germs invade, it will not be long before the abnormal reaction of cold or heat, that is, the commonly known as the "pendulum", the "pendulum". The first thing you need to do is to get a good deal of money to pay for it.
As the old saying goes, "A long time is a long time to heal. The experience passed down from generation to generation in the Chinese Embassy has taught diplomats some basic skills of self-diagnosis and treatment, what medicines to take, what injections to take, everyone knows exactly. Once the disease is found to be serious, the embassy will rush the patient to the Chinese medical team to be injected with quinine, a special drug used to deal with malaria. Lao Liu said that before he left China, he had taken all the preventive injections he could, but he still had not escaped the "swing" during his term of office, and not only once. Chinese diplomats working in that region, it is rare that they have not contracted infectious diseases. A young diplomat was sent to Africa shortly after his marriage, and his new wife came to visit her family, but it was not long before she contracted malaria and had to return home early.
But working in tough areas is not without its advantages. The deepest impression left by Liu's two terms of work in Africa is the sincere feelings of the local people towards China. Mr. Liu said, don't look at China's distance from Africa, but China's influence here is very great, in many places even more than the historical reasons for Africa has a traditional influence on individual European countries. The stadiums, hospitals, government buildings and other landmarks assisted by the Chinese government are a true portrayal of the Chinese people's selfless help to the people of Africa; the Chinese medical team has gone down to the grassroots level, mingled with the local people, and saved the lives of many people. The local people know very well that China has never attached any conditions to its assistance to Africa and has no utilitarian purpose. Therefore, most Africans always treat the Chinese as their own people. In black Africa, no matter what kind of trouble you encounter, as long as the people around you know that you are from China, they will warmly extend a helping hand.
In La Paz: ready to breathe oxygen
Lao Liu told reporters that the so-called "hard areas", not only in Africa, in fact, each region has its own "Africa", but each has its own bitter method. For example, Bolivia, South America, is also recognized by the diplomats of the hard areas, the reason is that the altitude is too high, the capital city of La Paz is nearly 4000 meters above sea level. For diplomats from China, the lack of oxygen at the plateau is the biggest obstacle to their work and life. It is said that people from the plains can hardly breathe here, and if they have a cold and their noses don't work, it is very hard for them to breathe only through their mouths. A long time, the lungs will be deformed, is the body of a strong young man, a long time can not be.
In order to solve everyone's "breathing" problem, the embassy is equipped with oxygen equipment, if anyone feels wrong, immediately inhale a few mouths, more or less can relieve the situation.
Building an embassy in the midst of war
In fact, to find examples of diplomats living and working hard, no need to go to Africa, and no need to go to the Americas, in China's neighboring regions can be found everywhere. The eight Chinese embassies in Central Asia and Transcaucasia, all of which were built after the collapse of the Soviet Union, are "worse than one another" to describe the conditions at the beginning of their construction.
In the early 1990s, the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, the situation is volatile, and from time to time, real war, tanks, armored vehicles in the capital of the streets of the scene is not uncommon to see shooting, assassination is as if it were a common occurrence.
In the spring of 1992, China signed diplomatic agreements with these countries, which had just gained independence from the Soviet Union, and the first Chinese diplomats set foot on these lands under the fire of war. After arriving at their destination, the first thing the diplomats, who were charged with the sacred mission of establishing an embassy, had to do was to find a safe place to stay. A comrade who worked here at the time recalled: "There were no starred hotels here, and it was good enough to find a place with water and electricity. During the daytime, it was better, but at night, the streets were dark, and occasionally you could hear gunshots, which was really quite scary." Due to local conditions, it is difficult for selected embassies to meet our requirements. For example, the Chinese Embassy in Azerbaijan was housed in a hotel in Baku until 1999, and the national flag could only be placed in the window of one room because there was no separate courtyard. Although so far, China in Central Asia, Transcaucasus embassy premises, whether temporary or permanent, finally have landed, but most diplomats still have to rent a room in the local residential areas, with the landlord's furniture, sleeping in the landlord's bed, maybe the landlord still has a key in his hand, at any time there is a possibility of breaking and entering, beggars, drunks knocking on the door in the middle of the night is even more commonplace. The diplomat told reporters that he was looking forward to the opportunity to go to Moscow on a business trip, one can purchase some food and daily necessities, and the other is to take a hot bath there.
No invisible income for diplomats
Talking about the salary of diplomats, everyone said almost in unison that the reform of the salary system for foreign personnel introduced in 1994 was a milestone in improving the living conditions of diplomats. A diplomat told reporters: "In the past, the wages of our Chinese diplomats were pitifully low, and when people brought up the issue, we dared not tell the truth for fear of being laughed at, and had to look at the price of a cup of coffee before deciding to go out on the street." At that time, the foreign exchange allowance for a medium-level diplomat was only a few dozen dollars a month, and at the end of his four-year term, the money he saved from his teeth to buy a TV set at a duty-free store was not bad, and he had no savings at all.
When the foreign exchange wage system was first introduced, diplomats' salaries were much higher than those of domestic cadres, but over time, the gap between diplomats' salaries and those of their domestic counterparts has narrowed, and the wage advantage of working abroad has diminished day by day.
According to the reporter's understanding, the embassy staff, in addition to the salary, there is no other income, and even medical expenses, rent, utilities have to be spent from the salary. Foreign personnel have no bonuses, no subsidies, and no way to generate income, not to mention that some domestic units are not moving to send something or something