Hongkongers' Coronavirus Concerns Grow

Even the MTR is very quiet, with not many people using public transport

Hong Kong is very quiet.

There aren't many people out on the streets, on the MTR, in shopping malls.

It's really eerie.

Yesterday I overheard some women in the gym discussing if Hongkongers' reaction to the coronavirus was an overreaction or not. One thought it was, the other not. Interestingly they were diplomatic about it and didn't get heated like the protests that had consumed the city months earlier.

Shopping malls like Times Square have few customers

Maybe it's because the epicentre is in Wuhan and not Hong Kong.

In the evening my relatives who were here during SARS are taking every precaution to protect themselves as much as possible.

When they heard the news that a Chinese doctor claimed to have contracted the coronavirus through his eyes, my relatives stopped wearing contacts and only wears glasses now. If there is a period where the coronavirus is so virulent that they can't go out for a few days, they have bought enough cup noodles and noodles to keep them alive.

However their biggest worry is sourcing masks. Not just any mask, but masks not made in China. "Do you dare to wear one made from China?" my uncle asked.

They are heading to Japan for a trip they had planned months ago and will scour every stop they go to for masks. This is their main mission now.

Almost everyone wears a mask out in public

Then today a friend and I met up for brunch and he is mentally overwhelmed by it, probably exhausted after dealing with eight months of protests and seeing the economic impact it has had on Hong Kong and now the coronavirus.

He wants to take a break and leave Hong Kong before more countries make it harder for us living here to get out. The United States, European Union, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore have all banned or restricted the entry of Chinese citizens and foreigners who have visited China recently. The list could keep growing thanks to the World Health Organization declaring a global public health emergency.

As we were discussing this, we heard gales of laughter and shrieks coming from the tables behind us, diners who seemed completely unaware or oblivious to the health crisis in the city.

Meanwhile I had dinner with another friend who is hoping that not all the shows for the upcoming Hong Kong Arts Festival will be cancelled. But the Boston Symphony Orchestra which was supposed to open the festival on February 12 and 13 has bowed out due to concerns of the coronavirus, and with a number of Leisure and Cultural Services Department venues closed indefinitely, it's hard to tell if the festival will continue at this rate.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has cancelled its Asia trip

After dinner we walked through IFC mall and at 8.15pm it was a ghost town. Most of the shops were already closed. I wandered through the supermarket CitySuper and usually it's busy with people getting their food shopping done for the week, but there was less than half the crowd.

For Hong Kong this is only the first week of the coronavirus. The statistics are staggering, with so far over 14,500 confirmed cases globally, 305 deaths, including one in the Philippines.

A Whatsapp message is going around today, a voice message apparently from Dr Ho Pak-leung recorded yesterday, who says the coronavirus could be transmitted through faeces and that people should close the lid of the toilet before flushing.

He also suggests pouring some water in the drain in the bathroom floor everyday, though I couldn't understand the reasoning except perhaps to ensure the pipes are functioning?

This just adds to more anxiety for everyone with more things to do and worry about.

Meanwhile Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor refused to meet with members of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance today, and so the strike will go ahead tomorrow. This is contrary to what Lam has said before, that she would be willing to listen to what others had to say.

The health care union said Carrie Lam didn't come to meet them

The fact that she didn't even want to meet the union suggests she is not interested in trying to understand the healthcare sectors' concerns, even if they are complaints about how the government has handled this crisis so far. It is the least she can do.

But perhaps she has other things to do, like get her hair done.

Everyone is frustrated by the government's inaction. My friend at brunch kept saying how the Macanese government was decisive in making sure it sourced 20 million masks for its residents and they could get 10 masks at a low prices every 10 days, while the Hong Kong government has done nothing of the sort.

At the same time he upset by the price gouging by opportunistic businesses, or having to wait in line for hours.

And this is only the start of the coronavirus crisis... it maybe a few months yet before Hong Kong and the rest of the world are in the clear...

Ilham Tohti's Award for Humanism

Academic Ilham Tohti was awarded the EU Parliament's top human rights prize

Ilham Tohti, a respected Uighur academic, economist and writer who has been jailed for life since 2014, has been awarded the Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament's top human rights prize.

We wrote about his being charged for separatism and at the time were shocked by this -- he is considered a moderate voice and urged the Chinese government to invest in minority populations, to promote more Uighur cadres to positions of real responsibility, and establish a framework of legal protections for ethnic autonomy.  Instead the Chinese authorities deemed him to be a "separatist" and sentenced to life in prison.

EU Parliament President David Sassoli

The EU Parliament said Tohti, who was a former professor at Minzu University, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to "foster dialogue" between Chinese people and Uighurs. "The parliament calls on the Chinese authorities to release him immediately," EU Parliament President David Sassoli said.

"By awarding this prize, we strongly urge the Chinese government to release Tohti and we call for the respect of minority rights in China," Sassoli said.

The Sakharov Prize for free speech is awarded annually by the EU Parliament in memory of Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. The award was created in 1988 and awarded to "those who carry the spirit of dissident Andrei Sakharov", who dedicate their lives to the peaceful struggle for human rights.

Andrei Sakharov won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975

It is hard to find out how Tohti is doing. According to liberal EU legislator Phil Bennion, the Uighur academic has been in solitary confinement for years and hasn't seen his family since 2017. Bennison hopes Beijing will allow a delegation of EU legislators to visit him in prison to tell him the news of the award. However, it seems highly unlikely.

Last month Tohti was also awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights prize by the Council of Europe, which is not an EU institution, but acts as Europe's human rights watchdog.

The Andrei Sakharov prize will be presented in Strasbourg, France on December 18.

Perhaps his daughter, Jewher Ilham, who is now living in the United States, will accept the award on her father's behalf.

She says the award recognizes the "suffering that Uighurs have gone through.

Tohti's daughter, Jewher Ilham who lives in the US

"Everyday I wake up worrying about my family members in China, and of course, I'm afraid. When my dad first started speaking up for the Uighurs, he knew he could end up in prison. But he decided to take on this fight and continue on for other people's sake."

Sadly, Tohti's imprisonment was a foreshadowing of what was to come. In 2017 China began building "schools" in Xinjiang for Uighurs to undergo "reeducation". Academics have estimated at least 1 million people have been held in these camps where Uighurs are forced to undergo indoctrination programs, like studying Chinese propaganda and learning about Xi Jinping thought.

When will this horrific nightmare end for Uighurs? When will Tohti be free?

The world must continue to press for Tohti to be released, as well as his fellow compatriots who are stuck behind the walls of these camps. The Vaclav Havel Human Rights prize and now the Andrei Sakharov Prize are highlighting Tohti's plight and the need to push China to stop this inhumane treatment of its own people.

Benny Tai in the Hot Seat

Benny Tai believes Beijing wants to make an example out of him

Last week Benny Tai Yiu-ting was in Taipei speaking at a seminar organized by the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps.

He said that if "dictatorship" ends in China, the country's various ethnic groups could exercise the right to self-determination and decide how they could link up with each other.

"We could consider going independent, being part of a federal system or a confederation system similar to that of the European Union," he said.

Only a small minority want Hong Kong independence

Afterwards the pro-Beijing establishment in Hong Kong swiftly condemned Tai, hinting again that he was not qualified to teach at the University of Hong Kong, while the Hong Kong Government said it was "shocked", claiming Tai was invoking separatism.

The State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) spokesman said it believed "a small number of people in Hong Kong have colluded with external separatist forces" to advocate the city's independence.

"They have fully exposed their attempts to split the country and violated the national constitution, the Hong Kong Basic Law, and the relevant laws in Hong Kong. They are challenging the bottom line of 'one country, two systems'. Such activities must not be ignored or tolerated," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile Tai was "shocked" by the criticism heaped on him by numerous pro-Beijing lawmakers and the HKMAO, saying his comments were not new, and were "imaginations of the future" and did not violate any criminal laws. Chinese state media also chimed in that someone like Tai should not be given a platform.

Grenville Cross says Tai is not criminally liable for his speech

He believes he is being condemned and made an example to intimidate others from discussing the possibility of democracy in Hong Kong.

"It is a calculated plot against me... to [declare] that any discussion on Hong Kong independence -- albeit not directly endorsing [the notion] -- will not be allowed in society and universities," the HKU law academic said.

Former director of prosecutions Grenville Cross also says Tai's comments are not criminal.

"Tai has not actually advocated independence in his Taiwan remarks," said Cross. "He simply suggested it as one of several possibilities if certain hypothetical events were to happen. This falls short of being criminal under either the existing sedition law or the 2003 [national security law] proposals."

He adds even if someone were to publicly advocate independence, no law would be broken if it was done peacefully, and if someone were to be prosecuted for sedition, there would need to be proof of inciting violence, promoting hatred and stirring up ill will.

Hong Kong's freedoms must be protected

However Tai won't be surprised if the government pushes through a bill to make any talk of independence -- violent or not -- punishable under Article 23. That would severely limit people's right to freedom of speech according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, he says.

This is the pro-Beijing camp's attempt to further shred the credibility of the pro-democratic camp, which is still reeling from the recent by-elections in which its results were disappointing.

Nevertheless, 24 pan-democratic lawmakers issued a joint statement backing Tai, vowing to "resolutely defend academic freedom" and insisting the law scholar was entitled to his academic analysis.

They urged all parties to stop attacking Tai and warned that "Hong Kong will no longer be Hong Kong" without free speech.

This pathetic need to destroy Tai isn't working -- it's not good for the city nor society to kill freedom of speech over hypothetical ideas.

We need to do whatever we can to protect the freedoms we have left.

Li Ka-shing's Global Observations

Li Ka-shing talked to the media about his outlook on the global economy

Even Hong Kong's Superman, tycoon Li Ka-shing is feeling the pinch.

In today's press briefing following CK Hutchison's announcement of profit earnings, Li said the city is experiencing some of its harshest economic conditions in two decades amid global weakness, adding that the downturn in property and retail sales was worse than during the SARS epidemic.

"The global economy in 2015 experienced mounting deflationary pressures resulting in a collapse in commodity prices and slow global trade," he said in a filing to Hong Kong's stock exchange.

Hong Kong only makes up 6 percent of his investments

"In addition, volatility in global equity, debt, commodity and currency markets may increase against a background of continued monetary easing in Europe, increased global political uncertainty, economic and refugee issues in Europe, as well as increased geopolitical risk in the Middle East and African regions.

"I am confident that Britain will stay in the European Union. If it leaves the EU, we will be more cautious and reduce our [future] investment in Britain," he told reporters."

In Hong Kong, he said the economy is experiencing some of its toughest moments in two decades, with "property sales and retail sales [at times] worse than during the SARS epidemic [in 2003]."

But despite these challenges, CK Hutchison, the revamped conglomerate that includes Li's non-property assets, posted a better than expected net profit at HK$31.2 billion, slightly higher than the HK$31 billion estimate in a Thompson Reuters poll of 14 analysts.

Li believes Britain will not leave the EU. Is he right?

Only 6 percent of its earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) came from Hong Kong, compared to 34 percent in Britain, 19 percent from Continental Europe, 13 percent from China, 8 percent from Canada, and 18 percent from Australia and the rest of the world.

About 35 percent of CK Hutchison's investments were in infrastructure, 24 percent in telecommunications, 16 percent from retail, 13 percent from port and related services, 10 percent from energy, and 2 percent from finance and investment.

Interesting Li should comment about the challenging economic climate when his company is doing so well.

But alas we're not in the same league as the tycoon. Interesting to note he does not think Britain will leave the EU. We'll have to see if he's right or not.