Paranoia may be cause of diplomat killings

China's Consul General to the Philippines in Cebu, Song Ronghua, and two consular staff members were shot on Wednesday. The three were having lunch in a restaurant in Cebu when they were attacked by a man surnamed Li, who is the husband of another consular staff member. Song's two colleagues died. Song was seriously injured, but is in stable condition. Local Chinese nationals said the incident looked like an internal dispute between the Chinese. Li was older and had already retired. The stubborn man allegedly could not get along well with anyone. This seems to be an extreme behavior by the family member of a consulate employee. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said it was "verifying the facts" and people look forward to having official information. Song was appointed Consul General in September. Before that he worked in the Information Department of China's foreign ministry and many journalists feel that he is optimistic and kind. He may not have had any grudge with the perpetrator. A Chinese reporter said probably Li lost control of his behavior over some issues. The tragedy is saddening. China has complex foreign relations. China's embassies and consulates have to deal with an enormous amount of foreign affairs in the context of China having the world's largest trade volume, a large number of Chinese expatriates worldwide, and China's arduous mission to protect its overseas interests. China's embassies and consulates operate in a variety of places. Chinese diplomats need to handle complex issues in the international arena. Besides, every staff member has to face specific family issues like employment of their family members and schooling of children. The management of all these is a difficult and heavy task. The foreign ministry of a power is more complicated than a super multinational. Its headquarters manage the overall situation and hundreds of branches worldwide deal with troubles and disputes. The family and children of diplomats hold diplomatic passports and are often treated as diplomats too. This therefore needs a lot of management. The public should not set too high a bar for the diplomatic service. It is designed to safeguard China's national interests and the interests of Chinese citizens. We cannot require it to be perfect in its work because the diplomats have to face various problems. The diplomatic service should not consider themselves to be immune to problems, nor can the public think in this way.