“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” — Kahlil Gibran
Even the best kind of breakup is the worst kind.
Even if you were fully prepared to end things with your lover. Even if it’s as clear as day that things are not working out, and even if the break was amicable, getting out of a relationship is never easy.
And most times, what makes it so difficult may not be the actual farewell itself, but the ensuing sense of loss.
This feeling is often associated with regret. Regret about maybe not having done enough to keep the relationship afloat, as flawed as it was.
Or sometimes, regret about letting things go too far because often, the warning signs have been blinking for a while telling you it’s time to move on. All these woulda, shoulda, couldas that you’re left with.
Another thing about breakups is that it will most often than not leave a nasty aftertaste. A taste so bitter that it leaves people quite willing to believe that all the good they had seen in their ex was nothing but a mirage.
For quite a while now, China has been the object of affection — or obsession — for many of its partners across the world. All reason was lost in our passionate, heart-throbbing love affair.
Yes, the naysayers nagged us right from the start. Award-winning economist Paul Krugman was only one of the long A-list of gurus who predicted a crash landing. But heck, we were madly in love. We didn’t need that negative stuff because we were sure it would never end.
But end it may. Or the affair has simply lost the steam it once had. In any case, the exes-to-be are now all angry, worried or bitter.
As if conscious of the frustration and doubts, Beijing recently staged an unprecedented event to showcase its military prowess.
Experts offered a bevy of reasons for the ceremony. Reassurance about the economic health of the world’s second-largest economy was one of them.
These assertions were mirrored in the timing of the event, which was amid a meltdown in China’s stock markets and a succession of downgrades in the country’s economic growth forecasts.
To this day, the Shanghai Composite Index has failed to recover to the 4,000-point level and investors are fretting that the real pace of growth in China may be fall far below the official 7 percent.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange, which relies far less on China compared to, say Korean equities, was also shattered by this downtrend. That’s how big a stake we all have in China.
And the polygamous nature of the world’s relationship with China means that a termination will mean serious consequences for not just one party, but many, many parties.
Beijing will simply have to do more. Intervening in the markets, shoring up regulations and cracking down on crime may be working, but are not nearly enough.
As for China’s many lovers, if they are not yet ready for a really bad breakup, they need to stop nitpicking at Beijing’s shortcomings and rather, try to stoke the passion and offer constructive support.
Because unless they all work together, the world will have its worst relationship fallout ever on its hands.
When I heard the news that back in Korea, Cyworld was finally shuttering some of its services, services that are rarely used but hold fond memories of the past, my first thought was, man, this is going to unlock a lot of past demons.
That’s because before backing up the data to prepare for the shutdown, everyone will want to take a peek at their past. I also took a look and had a short stroll down memory lane. As I had expected, there were glimpses of heartwarming memories of some great former loves, but also bitter reminders of my woulda, shoulda couldas.
With China, I hope we will never have to deal with that inevitable post-breakup regret.
By Kim Ji-hyun
Kim Ji-hyun is The Korea Herald’s Tokyo correspondent. She can be reached at jemmie@heraldcorp.com — Ed
