A small leak can sink a great ship. Neglected deficiencies in Hong Kong’s anti-pandemic strategy have now resulted in a huge public health crisis in the city. With tens of thousands of COVID-19 infections each day, the city is now engulfed in a raging pandemic that has taken the lives of several hundred people, including young children and older adults, and caused panic among residents as evidenced by the panic buying at supermarkets.
Some start to doubt whether Hong Kong has a solution to such a crisis. Some questioned whether the city still has the ability to protect its citizens. Many think we will have to depart from the “dynamic zero infection” strategy and resign ourselves to a passive “co-existence” with the virus. People even suspect that the pandemic will further isolate the city from its motherland.
But those who understand the concept of “one country, two systems” are assured that the nation will not allow this to happen.
The Chinese mainland has the world’s best strategy and experience fighting COVID-19. Following the mainland model is the most logical and rational option for Hong Kong
On Feb 16, President Xi Jinping instructed the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administration to take “all necessary steps” to combat the pandemic, while directing the central government to provide Hong Kong with all the necessary aid.
In response, the nation swiftly assembled all available resources. Experts in public health and medical personnel from the Chinese mainland have been dispatched to Hong Kong. In the city, mass-testing facilities are being built with mainland support to double the daily testing capacity to 300,000, with more on the way.
China State Construction International Holdings, the leading State-owned builder, has broken ground for mobile cabin hospitals, which will provide 10,000 quarantine and treatment units initially. Special logistics channels for food and daily necessities were also set up from the mainland to the special administrative region.
The central government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong has coordinated with the local business sector in providing venues and donating equipment for the quarantine and treatment of the infected. Among the most desired and helpful measures, over 20,000 hotel rooms will be turned into isolation units for patients or close contacts.
All measures have been proved effective to break the chains of virus transmissions in previous waves of outbreaks. The series of measures has given the people of Hong Kong great hope of overcoming the virus sooner rather than later. As things are finally moving in the right direction, Hong Kong society is now confident that we will get over this with the unswerving support from the mainland.
Being a small city, Hong Kong has certain constraints and deficiencies when it comes to coping with a crisis. It’s extremely difficult for the city to handle this once-in-a-century health crisis alone. The city has a very dense population, limited healthcare resources, and an aging society, all of which make it especially vulnerable to infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
It is unfortunate for Hong Kong to have fallen into the worst wave of the pandemic after successfully preventing the previous four outbreaks from deteriorating into widespread outbreaks in the past two years; but on the other hand, Hong Kong is also very fortunate to have the Chinese mainland’s full support in this uphill battle.
The strength of “one country, two systems” has been fully manifested. First, it allows Hong Kong to have the best of both worlds, with the right to choose whichever ways to solve the problems it faces. Second, the Chinese mainland always has Hong Kong’s back, offering whatever support the city needs and whenever it needs it.
So far, the Chinese mainland has the world’s best strategy and experience fighting COVID-19. Following the mainland model is the most logical and rational option for Hong Kong to end this crisis, though some fine-tuning in strategy may be required because of the special administrative region’s different social conditions.
Good policies must always withstand the rigorous tests. This concerted and coordinated anti-pandemic effort of Hong Kong and the mainland has the potential to demonstrate to the people of Hong Kong and the international community the power and effectiveness of “one country”.
Meanwhile, the concerted efforts to achieve “dynamic zero-infection” with the aim of saving as many lives as possible is the embodiment of Chinese cultural tradition. Unlike those countries that have resigned themselves to “living with the virus”, we value each and every individual life. No one, however vulnerable or weak, deserves to perish in the “pandemic of the century”. Also, in fighting the virus and saving lives, there is no such thing as “two systems” but only “one country”.
Some ill-intentioned individuals have peddled the notion of “Beijing interference”. The concerted efforts of the two sides in fighting the fifth wave of the outbreak have reassured them: Yes, the central government will “intervene”, but only in helping Hong Kong overcome the problems it faces.
Furthermore, “one country” is not just Hong Kong’s solution to containing a pandemic, but also the key to resolving any other crisis the city faces.
The 2019 anti-extradition riots, which plunged the city into an abyss of extremism and chaos, were eventually quelled in the same way under the principle of “one country”. Hong Kong residents are aware of how peace and order were restored in the city and how the “one country” principle retains its prowess.
The raging fifth wave of the outbreak has reminded the Hong Kong SAR government that it must adopt a proactive, responsive approach in its governance, not least in coping with the current pandemic. It is comforting that it seems to be moving in that direction. The officeholders must not sit on their hands and allow the problems to deteriorate into a disaster that necessitates the central government’s assistance. The Chinese mainland serves as a safety net, but not a nanny, for Hong Kong.
The author is a member of the Guangdong Province Zhongshan City Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and executive vice-chairman of the Hong Kong CPPCC Youth Association.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.