我科毛一雷教授就美国《时代周刊》（《TIME》）发表的一篇有关北京奥运会的不实报道，以读者来信的形式向该杂志澄清了事实、表达了我们的观点，现将该信的主要内容张贴入下：

Dear TIME Asia Editor,

The following is a letter to the Editor regarding the article of “An Olympic-Sized Security Blanket” by Simon Elegant in the issue of August 18, 2008 TIME Asia (page 22 to 25). Simon Elegant’s article in the above issue outlined the security situation in Beijing during the Olympics, which by a large scale was not the fact that we really have here. Mr. Elegant wrote that “90% of vehicles have been banned from the road” in Beijing during the Game, actually only half of the vehicles do in order to reduce the pollution and ease the traffic jam. The article also mentioned that “all the surgical operations have been postponed until after the Olympics”, while I am a surgeon myself working in the PUMC Hospital, one of the biggest in Beijing, and am still doing my surgeries almost everyday. At the end of the article, the author wrote that a person named “Old Zhao”, like “most of his neighbors”, has to take “pill that put him in a coma for a month”, so that “when he wakes up the Olympics are over”, to avoid the disturbance of the Game to the normal lives. Although the author said Lao Zhao’s story is a “pure fiction”, as a review article telling a whole picture of Beijing ordinary life during the Olympics, that is too far from the real situation. Though the ordinary life are influenced to some extent by the Game, very few residents in Beijing have really complained a lot or against the security situations. Instead, most of them are proud of the fact that the Olympic Game is finally being hosted in the city and sincerely wish it would be one of the most successful and safest in the history. They don’t want to “sleep” over the Game.

After having medical educations at Harvard, now I am living in Beijing moved from Boston. I, as well as my friends and family, love American people very much. The understandings of the West society are actually from the real communications and recognizing the fact. I admire the situation that people can have different opinions and ideas in TIME. I believe the mutual understanding is very important to our two great nations to cooperation better in the world stage in the future by knowing each other more. Unfortunately, Mr. Elegant’s article will do nothing but enhance the misunderstanding between two peoples by giving false general pictures. I couldn’t imagine if an American who has never been in Beijing would not hate or scared of this piece of land and think people are all in the hell-like living conditions after reading such articles, which may have truly adverse effects to both countries.

Sincerely yours

Yilei Mao, M.D., Ph.D.