"Some places, like San Francisco, are careful to avoid the word "quarantine" which violates people's inalienable right of movement. But they did order people to shelter-in-place which may sound kinder and "democratic", Brown said. He noted that both expressions refer to the same meaning.

"Sounds to me like however you word it, it is still restricting people's movement, but these restrictions are needed. So do you pretend they are not?" he said.

For two months western countries criticized China while they themselves didn't do anything.

According to Brown, this can be traced to two reasons: On the one hand, the former naively thought they could avoid danger from the virus, which is understandable because the flood of information makes the epidemic that broke out in other country look unreal.

On the other hand, people living in a wealthy country get used to cozy lives and think their wealth is able to shield them. Just as over the past decades, they successfully stayed out of trouble when wars, violate crime, and political turmoil afflicted countless people in countries stuck in poverty.

The virus sees no borders and social status. Everyone is susceptible to it with no exception. But some countries didn't realize that until it was too late.

William N. Brown poses for a photo while under quarantine after landing in Xiamen city, where he has been living for over 30 years. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]