The "epidemic prevention war" is the real turning point of Hong Kong's transition from chaos to governance

Since the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping issued a general mobilization order to fight the epidemic, the SAR government and the central Hong Kong-related institutions have truly entered a "wartime state", and began to follow Xi Jinping's requirements to stabilize and control the epidemic as an overriding task at present. Mobilize all the forces and resources that can be mobilized, and take all necessary measures.

On February 22, 2022, outside the New Town Plaza in Shatin, citizens queued up in the rain to be tested for the new crown virus.

(Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Specific measures include: postponement of the chief executive election originally scheduled for March 27, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council Xia Baolong held five consecutive related meetings in Shenzhen, director of the Liaison Office Luo Huining convened Hong Kong to hold a concentric anti-epidemic action conference, two mainland A batch of medical teams to assist Hong Kong have been put into place to start work, and construction of makeshift hospitals has been stepped up.

However, despite the intensive actions of all parties, Hong Kong society has not yet felt any tangible changes. For example, there are still long queues outside the nucleic acid testing center in the rainy and cold days, the test results still need to wait 3 to 5 days to receive feedback, and there are still tens of thousands of The number of confirmed patients cannot be admitted to hospital for treatment at the first time, and the transmission in the community, especially in the family, is still extremely serious...

In the face of an indiscriminate and highly contagious virus, changes will inevitably not be immediate.

After all, the virus had been spreading in Hong Kong for more than a month before "mobilizing all the forces and resources that could be mobilized".

Now, although under the supreme instruction of Xi Jinping, the SAR government has begun to "take all necessary measures", but it is limited by the insufficiency of "innate conditions", such as the inability to carry out nationwide nucleic acid testing, the inability to use big data for tracking and flow survey, and the inability to Taking measures to close the city like Wuhan and Xi'an, the only measures the Hong Kong government can take apart from the slogan are to continue to tighten social distancing, close buildings and enforce inspections, and admit severely diagnosed patients as much as possible to avoid recurrence. There is a tragic situation in which the confirmed elderly are waiting to be admitted to the hospital in the open air.

Based on this, no one can give an accurate answer to when the inflection point of the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong will come.

And more and more predictions from authoritative institutions show that the epidemic in Hong Kong will begin to peak in early March. For example, the latest analysis by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong based on epidemiological models shows that the epidemic in Hong Kong may reach a peak of 182,923 confirmed cases per day in early next month. , and the average daily death cases peaked at about 100 at the end of next month.

The Hong Kong University team said that if measures such as large-scale "city closures" are not taken, the development trend of the fifth wave of the epidemic will be difficult to change. It is estimated that 625,000 people may be infected, and nearly 1.9 million close contacts will need to be quarantined.

Hong Kong is experiencing the most serious epidemic so far. Many people cannot be admitted to hospital in time after being diagnosed, and can only wait outside the hospital.

(AP)

Before the worst comes, Hong Kong has no other choice but to fight the backwater.

Because whether it is an urgent need for short-term epidemic prevention or a long-term perspective, the significance of this epidemic to Hong Kong has surpassed the protracted turmoil of amendments in 2019, and has become a real turning point in whether Hong Kong can change from chaos to governance.

On the one hand, the turmoil over the amendment is bound to be highly ideological and politicized, but preventing the fifth wave of the epidemic must return to reality and concrete practice, and the latter is the key to the real transformation of Hong Kong from chaos to governance.

During the turmoil over the amendment bill, people on the streets shouted "Reverse Extradition" and held banners with the words "Recover Hong Kong, Revolution of the Times" and "Five demands, all of which are indispensable." These slogans are indeed very appealing. It is also quite provocative like "raise your arms, responders gather", but after the excitement, think about it calmly, these slogans and demands have little to do with people's daily life, young people's ascent channel is still monolithic, and salary increases are still not available. Matching property prices and prices, living space is still cramped, and the waiting time for public housing is still out of reach... These issues are the biggest reality in Hong Kong, but few people are willing to face it and admit it during the amendment bill. After all, the amendment bill itself It needs to be highly politicized, how "politically incorrect" and out of place to talk about these realities!

But with the outbreak of the fifth wave of the epidemic, these real problems are presented to people in a more direct and tragic way, and no one can politicize them, let alone turn a blind eye to them.

Especially when more and more bad news comes, such as children as young as November, 3 and 4 years old who died of the virus, more and more elderly people died, and many confirmed patients were shelved in temporary tents outside the hospital. , Although there is no "home-based anti-epidemic" conditions, the whole family was infected due to the inability to centrally isolate them at the first time.

Behind each tragedy, what is exposed is the pervasive and persistent dilemma of people's livelihood such as housing and medical care in Hong Kong.

This is why, after the turmoil of the amendment bill, the central government will make great efforts to resolve the deep-seated structural conflicts in Hong Kong, especially focusing on solving the problems of people's livelihood, because ideology is excluded, and it is placed in any country and region, and in any country and region. At that time, people's livelihood is the biggest politics and the biggest human rights.

Hong Kong, which is being tested by the epidemic, urgently needs to return to this reality through the practice of this epidemic.

On the other hand, the turmoil of the amendment bill, like the 2014 Occupy Action and other social movements, can be attributed in many ways. However, in the face of the raging fifth wave of the epidemic, the SAR government and even the Hong Kong society can no longer transfer the contradictions and face the contradictions and problems. Only in Hong Kong can we achieve the transition from chaos to governance.

Whether looking at it at the time or looking back today, the protracted movement of the amendment scandal is indeed mixed with many factors and forces.

Are there any outside forces involved?

Of course there is, at least the involvement of public opinion and politics, including the highly biased reports of various mainstream Western media, British and American politicians have been making rhetorical but unrealistic and incendiary political remarks, high-profile and provocative interviews with Hong Kong opposition Send politicians, etc.; are there a few brave Hong Kong people who take "civil disobedience" as their cause and resort to violence to attack the government headquarters and the Legislative Council?

Of course there are, in fact, any society has it, but does the society provide excuses or opportunities for it; is there any central responsibility?

In the eyes of many Hong Kong people, of course there are, at least the long-standing distrust of the mainland judicial system and the natural fear of the CCP's autocratic system should be the responsibility of the central government.

The turmoil of the amendment bill in 2019 has exposed Hong Kong's intractable problems and contradictions.

(AP)

But in addition to these attributions, the most important thing is that there is a problem with the governance of the SAR government. It interferes passively in politics, and actively does not intervene in economy. The Hong Kong society is allowed to argue and tear apart on unnecessary issues.

After the turmoil of the amendment bill, the central government has made a heavy blow by introducing the "Hong Kong National Security Law" and revising the electoral system, which not only fills the gaps for the effective governance and administrative leadership of the SAR government, but also proposes a new issue for the SAR government -

The five "can or not" topics were highlighted by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, in his speech on the first anniversary of the implementation of the National Security Law.

If the SAR government can turn a blind eye to this issue during the turmoil of the amendment bill, with the outbreak of the fifth wave of the epidemic, there is no room or room for perfunctory responsibility and maneuvering.

Because Hong Kong's epidemic prevention is in front of us, it is imminent, and it cannot be solved without a solution. This is a big test for the governance capacity of the SAR government.

In the end, the failure of epidemic prevention will not be the failure of the central government, nor the failure of "one country, two systems", but the failure of Hong Kong's autonomy.

The late Mao Zedong, the top leader of the Communist Party of China, in the March 1927 "Report on the Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan" has a widely circulated sentence - "Revolution is not a dinner party, an essay, a painting or embroidery, it cannot be so elegant, so calm and refined. The test and significance of this top-down fight against the epidemic in Hong Kong after more than 90 years are no less than a "revolution", especially the 2019 slogan of "revolution of the times". Amendment storm.

At present, the SAR government does not need to be fussy or polite, but needs to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of citizens.

In Luo Huining's words, the most precious thing at present is confidence, the most important thing is unity, and the most urgent thing is action.

The epidemic will eventually pass, but whether Hong Kong can pass the test of this epidemic and be reborn from chaos to governance depends on whether the whole society can make a practical summary and reflection, which will not only break past myths, but also rebuild new consensus. Not only recognize their own strengths, but also know how to contribute to the needs of the country.

Only in this way can Hong Kong regroup and set off again.