‘Hong Kong will claim victory over Covid soon’

The chief of China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong says the SAR will triumph in its fight against Covid-19 with “robust support from Beijing”, adding that One Country, Two Systems will play a part in helping the city “claim victory soon”.

In an article published in the South China Morning Post on Wednesday, Liu Guangyang wrote that Hong Kong’s battle against the fifth wave of Covid-19 was “a matter of deep concern” for the central government.

He wrote that while Beijing is happy to come to Hong Kong’s aid by dispatching medical supplies and staff, the central government was also happy to let the SAR government take the lead in coordinating its anti-epidemic response.

Liu encouraged the SAR authorities to “ramp up effective measures by putting into perspective its past experience, suggestions from diverse sectors and the situation on the ground”.

He noted business owners, charities, social groups and private organisations have all offered different forms of help, and this showed that if “the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that true love can withstand any disaster”.

He responded to arguments that big cities should live with the virus, saying that it is “divorced from the reality of a densely populated city with high mobility and a serious ageing issue”.

The commissioner also underlined comments made by senior mainland health official Liang Wannian, who said on Tuesday that Hong Kong’s priorities should be protecting the elderly, as well as reducing infections, serious complications and deaths from Covid-19.

He also said that foreign nationals and institutions living in Hong Kong also have a part to play, and that stopping the fifth wave was in the best possible interests of both local and international residents.

“We are all in the same boat and have a common destiny. Everyone in Hong Kong – regardless of community, ethnic group or nationality – is a shareholder in its prosperity and stability, and they should do their bit in this fight,” he wrote, adding that foreign residents should also “understand, support and comply with anti-epidemic measures to safeguard their common home.”

Liu ended his piece by saying that Hong Kong is moving into “a period of stability”, and that once it rides out the Omicron wave, it will be in a stronger position as an international trade and finance centre.