The Hong Kong Police don’t react well to allegations that they are hoarding protective clothing. An Apple Daily report hit a raw nerve, and a pointed satirical sketch on RTHK’s Headliner rubbed salt in. (It has had 560,000 viewings on YouTube so far, English synopsis here).
Four weeks ago, you wouldn’t have thought that the Hong Kong authorities could make themselves any more unpopular. But thanks to WuFlu, they’ve managed to do it.
The number of health workers unionizing and striking for tighter border controls, or of previously uninvolved residents protesting quarantine facilities in their neighbourhoods, is not huge. But the fact they are there at all reflects a further hardening of anti-government public sentiment.
Meanwhile, the cops – apparently hogging equipment the hospitals need, and pepper-spraying folks who fear infectious patients swamping their local clinics – seem to be entrenching themselves in their unfortunate role as a failed government’s bully boys. This is presumably deliberate, as demanded by the Beijing officials pulling the strings somewhere up there. After all, how hard would it be for the cops to make a big PR show of donating a load of their masks and white suits to the medics? Instead, they must rant at RTHK. CCP-worshiping former Chief Executive CY Leung demands the station’s boss be publicly whipped .
RTHK is Hong Kong’s version of Xu Zhangrun, author of the famous diatribe against the CCP’s cover-up of the virus. He has now, predictably, been disappeared. It is only a matter of time before the public-service broadcaster is tamed. They are making the most of it.
RTHK is now my “go to” local news outlet. BTW, whoever is responsible for its tweets really deserves much credit.
With regards to the ongoing protests: I’m amazed that as many people go out for them since information for them seems to be sent out at pretty much the last minute — maybe to prevent police infiltration, as appears to have been the case for the last major events before the Wuhan coronavirus blew into Hong Kong.
I agree with YTSL. RTHK seems decent at providing pretty unbiased, timely reporting. The Standard is okay, too.
SCMP, on the other hand, has been absolutely horrid for the past year, and most recently with the influx of “commentaries” saying that the WuFlu is no big deal, hand-washing is the cure all, no need to shut down the borders because it’s racist, etc.
Excellent, RTHK, really excellent!
I’m bemused at the way China goes on about other countries, such as US, Aus, etc., who implement travel restrictions on Mainlanders as “… extreme measures which are overreaction indeed…” (and probably hurt the feelings of the Chinese people to boot). Yet, it is not the Chinese who have restricted the movement of tens of millions of their own citizens by locking them up in cities and villages in a bid to stop the virus spreading? Except, if the Chinese do it, it’s not overreaction, it’s “determined measures”, “political strength”, “quick response” and “heroic”, and lauded as such by the CCP stooge running the WHO.
Did anyone else hear the spoof RTHK government announcement of putting one foot in front of the other in order to move forward and get to your chosen destination? Absolutely brilliant and very well hidden.
Around the world how many people knew its name?
A mighty city on the Yangtze somewhere.
Now a place of evil fame.
No-one wants to go there.
Around the world they knew that on the China shore
Was one of the world’s most fair and glittery places.
But planes don’t fly there any more
And people hide their faces.