Carrie Lam spells out her (or her bosses’) Covid travel reopening priorities…
Hong Kong’s ties with mainland China are more important than international business and global travel connections, according to the Asian financial hub’s leader.
“Of course, international travel is important, international business is important, but by comparison the mainland is more important,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a regular press briefing…
“…the most important thing is to open the border”.
No-one’s saying opening the border isn’t important, though note that Beijing seems to be in no rush at all to do it.
More here.
If I have both toothache and an ingrown toenail, do I postpone calling my dentist because the podiatrist can’t see me for a month? If I am running out of both toilet paper and beer, do I deliberately not buy any toilet paper until and unless I’ve bought the beer? Do I justify letting unwashed dishes stack up in the kitchen sink for days on the grounds that I still need to vacuum the floor this week?
It would be bad enough if Beijing was imposing this on Hong Kong simply for the sake of appearances, because they don’t want Hong Kong to look (or feel) different/autonomous from/better than the Mainland. Or as a pretext to (say) access residents’ personal and medical info. But – as the tone of the Bloomberg piece suggests – the insistence that we stay closed off until the (decoupling) Mainland eventually deigns to open up to the world seems more like a way to de-internationalize Hong Kong.
* glances nervously at floor and kitchen sink *
Speaking of household chores, there’s one type of international travel Hong Kong must allow at all costs.
Just in: please remember in your prayers.
Having read through as much of Carrie’s address as I can stomach, I’m left wondering whether she truly believes what she is saying, or she knows it’s total shite but she also knows she has to say it, or else … and I don’t know which would be worse.
Delude yourselves into thinking the CCP and Shit Jumping have “got your backs”.
More Patrick Boyle comment FYI
https://youtu.be/ih8hDsqKcTU
@Big Al,
After much thought and many discussions about that question I’m of the opinion, she is a happy and willing executioner.
My post-it note window display for 21 days quarantine will be wrote large:
FUCK
U
C. LAM
I doubt they will be able to take it down for the duration.
With the way things are going in HK these days, running out of beer would be a bad idea.
Victor So is only 49, which seems a bit young for heart disease. One wonders if someone has been taking lessons from the FSB, Mossad or other promulgators of unexpected illnesses or deaths.
“If I am running out of both toilet paper and beer, do I deliberately not buy any toilet paper until and unless I’ve bought the beer?”
Now that’s just cruel, Hemlock. You know 777 has no idea where to buy toilet paper, despite the fact she’s flushed her career and the city down the toilet.
Indeed, given her track record thus far, I doubt she or her entire so-called administration could even find their own arses with both hands let alone wipe them. It’s also no doubt why her boss needs so many people to lick his.
@Paul: In the past, the fallacy in the West was that Chinese food was naturally good for you because Chinese people were mostly thin and healthy “looking”. Later on it was discovered Chinese people, despite thinness and appearance of health, had a LOT of walking time bombs (NSL alert!) in the area of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure/cholesterol.
Perhaps Victor is a time bomb.
@Chinese Netizen
That is a great point. It’s something I often wonder watching locals eat food in Hong Kong, which tends to be extremely carb-laden (e.g. one dish meals where noodles or rice comprises >80% of the dish) with little in the way of protein or fibre.
I’ve asked locals about this over the years, and their response is invariably that they eat fruit and other, healthier items at home. Admittedly, lots more veggies are consumed when locals cook for themselves at home. Unfortunately, however, it seems that there are also lots of sugary drinks consumed, and the choice of fruit seems to be on the low-fibre, high-sugar side of things.