Conflict and community

Laughing through our tears, we never managed to get a clear view of them. But we'd perhaps never viewed people so clearly.

One thing I love about Beijing is how foreigners from ethnicities and nationalities in conflict elsewhere get along here.

Here, I've spent several nights over dinner and drinks with residents of countries my homeland is bombing - including a journalist whose beat takes him to the front lines of drone strikes, and who spends his days face-to-face with their civilian toll. But he bears no malice toward me or other US citizens writ large (despite opposing US foreign policy toward his country), and we've become marvelous friends. We do argue - but only when we both try to pay the bill.

A sizeable portion of Beijing's African community hails from two tribes that are engaged in ethnic strife in their own country, yet they get along here. As one friend told me: "Here, we're all foreigners. We're all Africans."

Ukrainians I interviewed for a recent package about Yabaolu - a neighborhood in the Chinese capital that hosts a large population from the former Soviet Union - mentioned that the tensions back home dominate their thoughts. Still, they never discuss the subject with Russian friends and colleagues in Beijing.

One man hasn't been able to call his parents for a month. He has no idea what has become of them. He only knows that their city is embroiled in conflict.

"They have no phone, no electricity, no water. It's bad," he told me. "But here in Yabaolu, we don't talk about (it). We live here like one big happy family. Here, we forget about these problems. If we have some problems here, we (Russians and Ukrainians) help each other."

Another man was worried that the ongoing conflict may force him to return to his hometown, which is also a combat flashpoint. His 9-year-old daughter and parents are there.

The man, whose father is Russian and mother is Ukrainian, believes the fact that people who are fighting in their homelands can peacefully coexist in Beijing suggests they can do the same in their homelands.

He asked me to include something in my reports. He leaned forward, put his hand on mine and stared into my eyes. "We really, really, really want peace," he said.