Why didn't anyone else jump in to help that drowning woman in Chongqing? The two schools are: fewer people in China can swim, or, they are held back by fear of getting dragged in and blamed. But... It happens in many situations. Back in 2000 when my Beijing taxi sent a cyclist up and over the car, no-one went to help the poor guy, who looked like he'd broken his back. No-one went to him. He had to phone for help himself, lying on the tarmac in the middle of a busy street. And as for the second reason: None of the bystanders could possibly be implicated in the incident, only the taxi driver, who was not looking.

I'm not looking to criticise but there is something deep going on here and I've never read a convincing reason. Also, I am sure there are many instances where people have gone way out on a limb, risked their lives, to help a stranger, but there is no doubt that in many cases no-one seems to feel able to move. If it is just people preferring to just stay rigidly in their family lane no matter what, will this norm, and more it's causes, have any bigger implications?