Zhong Nanshan Urges China to Learn mRNA Vaccines

Zhong says China can learn to mix and match vaccines

China's top disease expert says the country needs to learn from the West about advanced mRNA vaccine technology, countries should work together, and explore how to mix and match vaccines.

Respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan was speaking at the Greater Bay Science Forum in Guangzhou on Saturday.

"We should learn about the good things in other countries, such as mRNA vaccines. They have spent years on the research and managed to develop mRNA vaccines [for the coronavirus] in just a few months," Zhong said.

mRNA vaccines teach immune system to fight virus

"The urgency of the disease has accelerated the work in this regard. We should learn [from other countries] aspects such as the technology and delivery mechanism [of mRNA vaccines]."

China originally had reservations about mRNA vaccines but is now developing its own, though late stage trial data has yet to be released.

There is also no news about whether China's drug regulator will approve the mRNA vaccine by German company BioNTech, which has signed a deal with Fosun Pharma to distribute and produce the jabs for greater China.

"In other countries, there are mRNA vaccines and vectored vaccines and there aren't too many choices. In China, we have protein subunit vaccines [like Sinovac that don't contain live pathogens]. If mixing and matching vaccines can yield better results, then we should not feel uneasy about it. We can run together and work together in this regard," he said.

Over 82 percent of China's population vaccinated

Zhong said international cooperation was also required in other areas, such as tracing the origin of the coronavirus and transmission routes.

This need was highlighted by the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the many unknowns about its behaviour and origin," he said.

So far China has fully vaccinated 1.17 billion people, or 82.5 percent of the population. More than 120 million booster shots have been administered, according to the National Health Commission.

HK Delegates Told Not to Come to Beijing

Tam was told Friday not to come to Beijing next week

To illustrate how paranoid Beijing is about Covid-19 coming into the Chinese capital, Hong Kong's only delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee Tam Yiu-chung has been strongly advised not to come following one untraceable Covid-19 case.

It is that of a 48-year-old cargo handler who was infected on October 8 and the source of the infection is still unknown.

Tam's chances of coming into contact with this person is so small and yet Beijing has told him not to bother coming on Monday for the session from Tuesday to Saturday.

A cargo handler was infected on October 8

Three other NPC delegates from Hong Kong won't be going either: Choy So-yuk, Nicholas Chan Hiu-fung, and Wong Kwan-yu.

"I got a notification from the country's epidemic control office informing me that I would not be allowed to attend the NPC Standing Committee meeting," Tam said in a video clip posted by his party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. 

"Recently there was one unknown case in Hong Kong. The mainland attaches great attention to unknown cases," Tam said, adding that no Hong Kong-related items were on the agenda anyway.

Nevertheless, it signals Beijing is not ready to open its borders with the city anytime soon.

"Beijing's prevention and control measures are very stringent. When there are changes to the pandemic situation in Hong Kong, especially when there are cases with untraceable origins, they will be even stricter," Tam said.

Hui says Beijing concerned of untraceable cases

While Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was able to go to Guangzhou for the opening of the Canton Fair a few days ago, Beijing is even more stringent when it comes to Covid-19. 

Government pandemic adviser David Hui Shu-cheong says measures for meeting top officials is even stricter, as they are worried of untraceable infections coming in.

"I am not too optimistic about the progress of reopening the border between the two sides, given what has happened," Tam said.

Neither are we.

Carrie Lam Snubbed by Shenzhen?

The Canton Fair is the largest and oldest trade fair in China

Just days after her policy address highlighting the Northern Metropolis as a major infrastructure project to bring Hong Kong closer to the mainland and the Greater Bay Area, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was snubbed by Shenzhen officials today.

Earlier in the day she was in Guangzhou for the opening of the Canton Fair, the largest and oldest trade fair in China. She joined some 600 officials and business leaders from the mainland and overseas, with the event officiated by Premier Li Keqiang.

Premier Li Keqiang opened the Canton Fair

Lam met with Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhang Shoufu, city mayor Wen Guohui, and other local government officials, briefing them on her policy address.

Then later in the day she was supposed to meet with senior Shenzhen officials to brief them on the "Northern Metropolis" plan and how it would interface with Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area. 

However, in a press release issued on Thursday night, the Hong Kong government said: "After [Lam's] arrival in Guangzhou, [she] noted that the meeting with the Shenzhen leaders in Shenzhen originally scheduled for [Thursday] afternoon had to be cancelled. The governments of the two places will fix another date for the meeting."

Lam met with Guangzhou officials

The Shenzhen side pulled out citing unexpected commitments... though one wonders why the last minute change as Chinese officials like everything to go according to schedule...

Sadly Lam had to go home empty handed, leaving behind Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, who will attend a forum tomorrow in Guangzhou.

Zen Moment with Lui Shou-kwan

Lui's Zen Painting (1971) with lively strokes

 

After looking at the disturbing art work at the Surrealism exhibit as documented in my previous post, my friend and I were relieved to see the perfect counterpoint on the same floor -- "When Form Matters: Following the Path of Lui Shou-kwan to Zen Painting".

Lui (1919-1975) was born in Guangzhou, and his father Lui Canming was also a painter. Lui junior studied economics at Guangzhou University then moved to Hong Kong in 1948. His day job was an inspector for the Hongkong and Yaumatei Ferry Company until 1966.

Lui could paint traditional Chinese paintings

But Lui was very involved in art and could paint traditional style paintings as evident in a few works shown in the exhibition (After Ni Zan's Riverside pavilion by mountains is an example), but he was also keen to experiment with ink and composition, which resulted in him being a leading figure in the New Ink Art Movement in Hong Kong.

This resulted in his Zen painting series, creating a new style of painting that was refreshing, minimalist, and encapsulated aesthetics of East and West through modulating his brush and ink.

And his Zen paintings really are fantastic works of abstraction created with powerful brushstrokes that are deliberate with texture and depth. They are minimalist in composition, but bring up many possibilities of the meanings behind them.

Tablet shows how Shek O, Hong Kong was painted

However, I do prefer his not so abstract paintings of Hong Kong. There's a horizontal landscape painting called Shek O, Hong Kong (1964), depicting the district as a quaint small village by the water that looks frothy and white in contrast to the dark hills in the background. 

Lui also painted scenes of places like Rennie's Mill, Kowloon typhoon shelter, and Kellet Island. These works show life a generation ago that seems nostalgic and slow, and feature lots of water that surrounds Hong Kong.

I also enjoyed looking at Cliffs of Ali Shan, Taiwan (1971), an ink painting that almost looks like a black and white photograph. Does the far right show a waterfall? Or where the cliff disappears into the water? It's hard to tell, but Lui seems to paint it as a beautiful idyllic place to take in the scenery.

Cliffs of Ali Shan, Taiwan painted in 1971

One irritating thing about the exhibition is its use of technology to make the art seem cool when it already is cool. 

In some of the works, visitors are invited to use a special tablet to scan the painting and it will automatically pretend to paint the work for you. How is this interesting or make the work more comprehensible?

At the end of the exhibition, visitors are invited to scan a QR code for Lui's abstract butterfly to fly around on the smartphone screen. How does this enhance the viewer's visit to the show? Not at all except it is a sad gimmick. Lui did not paint the work to have more than one butterfly flying around!

The museum seems to rely too much on computer animation to make the shows more interesting when it should be up to the curators and how they present the works to make it worthwhile to see the shows. Children's attention spans may be short, but animating paintings is not going to inspire them.

Computer animation is an unwelcome gimmick

When Form Matters: Following the Path of Lui Shou-kwan to Zen Painting

Until April 10

Hong Kong Museum of Art

10 Salisbury Road

Tsim Sha Tsui

 

 

 

Word of the Day: Lying Flat

White collar workers to university students are "lying flat"

A new phenomenon has emerged among young people in China. It's called "lying flat" or 躺平 (tang ping). 

From white collar workers to university students, they are tired of the rat race of having to work long hours for little pay that will not get them any closer to owning a home, let alone a car or start a family. Hence they are "lying flat".

There are even T-shirts that read: "Do nothing lie flat youth" that are selling online.

Young Chinese people are tired of the rat race

 Elaine Tang works at a Guangzhou-based tech firm and says the term resonated with young Chinese who saw the odds stacked against them.

"In recent years, property prices have skyrocketed, and the gap between social classes has become wider and wider," said the 35-year-old, who has been married for seven years but has yet to have children.

"The rich and the authorities monopolize most of the resources, and more and more working class like us have to work from 9am to 9pm, six days a week, but still can't afford a down payment [on a flat] or even the cost of having a child."

Comments like this are making the Chinese authorities nervous because they don't want young people to stop being productive members of society. How else are they going to pay for pensions and taxes? And what about encouraging families to have three children per family now?

But the domestic economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic and trade tensions with the United States have made people more receptive to the "lying flat" idea.

Young people feel income inequality is too great

"Local officials and scholars are concerned about the phenomenon of lying flat [because] it reflects young people's resistance to the current social and economic model, as well as their confusion about the political order," said Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, a think tank connected to the provincial government.

There's also another word called "involution" making the rounds. It was originally used in anthropology to describe agrarian societies that stagnate because, while their workload increases, a person's output does not or cannot.

This is what is happening now because of the pandemic and the trade war, where everyone has to work harder than before, but they are faced with stagnating incomes, unemployment concerns and soaring costs for housing and child care.

Tech workers were among the first to comment on the involution in their lives, because those at big firms often work at "996" culture, working from 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Others have joked about the new work ethic as "007" -- where one works from 00am to 00pm, seven days a week.

While the Chinese government is trying to suppress this movement online and using celebrities to denounce it, too many young people relate to this relentless work schedule for little pay and they will definitely find other ways to show they are "lying flat".

Lam Tells Youth to Go to Hainan

Lam (left) in Boao for the annual forum for Asia

 

Hong Kong's dear leader is in Hainan Island or "the Hawaii of China" for the Boao Forum for Asia. It was cancelled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but back on this year.

Lam suggested a solution for young Hongkongers looking for an alternative place to developing their careers in the Greater Bay Area -- move to Hainan.

Lam says HKers should enjoy the coconut trees

She said people could not only "enjoy the shadow of coconut trees", but they could also feast on Hainanese chicken rice -- a dish that has its roots in Wenchang, Hainan, but is more popularly associated with Singapore and Malaysia.

Lam said Hainan island's leaders have noted Beijing's plans to entice young Hongkongers to other parts of the Greater Bay Area, and they are also taking the initiative to give opportunities to them.

"My colleagues and I were very moved," she wrote on her Facebook.

She wrote that she hoped young people of Hong Kong would move to Hainan to pursue work or internships, and added the island has a friendly local population and is rich in agricultural products.

However, not everyone was impressed by Lam's suggestion.

The Singaporean version of Hainan chicken rice

While some thought the Chief Executive's idea was a good one, pointing out Hainan is a beautiful place and Hongkongers would love it there, others posted sarcastic remarks, accusing her of failing to "fact check" her promotion of Singaporean cuisine.

"Just because the name of the dish has the word 'Hainan' in it doesn't mean it is a Hainan specialty. It's the same with pineapple buns having no pineapples in them, or Swiss Chicken Wings having nothing to do with Switzerland," one wrote.

However that person is incorrect -- Hainan chicken rice is well known in Hainan, though it is a different version from the Singaporean and Malaysian one; it is originally from Wenchang in the northeast of Hainan, and it refers to the breed of the chicken which is quite lean and so the meat is tougher than what most would expect. There are also aren't condiments like chilli sauce or soy sauce, but is rather eaten bland with some chicken stock (and no chicken oil) flavoured in the chicken or the rice.

Meanwhile others had biting remarks like this one: "As an international city, we've got all sorts of different cuisines and we can get any food we want here. Hongkongers should stay in Hong Kong."

The original Wenchang version of the dish

Perhaps Lam could have a rethink another way of enticing young people to the Greater Bay Area? Hainan is basically a tourist mecca and not an economic powerhouse like say Guangzhou or Shanghai... unless her intention is for Hongkongers laze around coconut trees and eat Hainan chicken all day?

The Perils of China's Delivery Workers

One courier loaded with bags of deliveries during the pandemic

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the Chinese bought a lot of items online, from takeaway food to clothing and had them delivered to their doorsteps.

When it comes to food deliveries, companies would use algorithms to determine how fast the food could be delivered, and if the courier was too slow, they would be punished financially. And they would be rated by the customer too, thus affecting their chances for a bonus or pay rise.

That is starting to change after Ren Wu, or People magazine did an expose about the plight of food delivery workers, sometimes risking their lives or being involved in accidents while trying to ferry food to people as fast as possible.

Three delivery workers waiting for orders at a fast food eatery

For example in 2019, the average delivery time was 10 minutes shorter than two years earlier.  

Food delivery platforms like Ele.me and Meituan automatically plan the shortest routes for their delivery workers using real-time intelligent dispatch systems. In order to follow the designated routes, sometimes delivery workers will ride against traffic or run red lights, putting themselves at a greater risk of being in a traffic accident.

A report said in the first half of 2017, a delivery worker was seriously injured or died every 2.5 days in Shanghai. And in September 2018, over half of the 2,000 traffic violations in Guangzhou were committed by couriers from Meituan and Ele.me.

That's because the algorithms don't take into account the real-life situation on the ground, such as road blocks, construction, or even last-minute changes of address by the customer.

Not only that, but late deliveries are not allowed. Typically a delivery worker will make 5 to 6 yuan per order (US$0.73-US$0.87) and deliver about 20 to 30 orders a day. However, if customers don't receive their food on time, delivery workers can be docked 200 to 300 yuan -- practically a day's wages gone.

In addition, if delivery workers receive negative reviews and reduced wages from being late, they can be fired. And if they are in traffic accidents, the delivery workers cannot obtain insurance claims either.

Meituan couriers may see improvements in work conditions

China's food delivery industry is worth 300 billion yuan (US$44 billion) and employs more than 6 million couriers, mostly young male migrants from rural areas. This army of nameless and faceless people were hailed as heroes during the pandemic for being a lifeline for individuals and families during lockdown.

The story published by Ren Wu quickly went viral, garnering 100,000 views on WeChat within a few hours and over 100,000 people sharing the story.

In response, Ele.me [acquired by Alibaba] was the first to announce it will add a feature on its mobile app to allow customers to grant five or 10 additional minutes to delivery workers. It would also exempt couriers with good records from being punished for late deliveries.

"The system is dead, but human beings are living," Ele.me said in a statement. "We want to do better (to protect our workers) in addition to ensuring that the deliveries are on time... Every hardworking individual deserves to be respected."

But why should it be the customers giving couriers an extra few minutes, when the problem lies with how the algorithm is created? Perhaps the programmers who wrote the algorithms should go along with these delivery workers for a day to see how their apps work in reality?

Ele.me pledges more time for delivery workers

Meanwhile hours later, Meituan [owned by Tencent], also vowed to optimized its algorithms to ensure the safety of its delivery workers. The company said it would add an eight-minute "buffer" so delivery workers can slow down in traffic, as well as Bluetooth-linked helmets for hands-free communication while driving.

However, readers were divided on the opinions of couriers. Some felt giving delivery workers extra time would make them lazier and take their time, but this is nonsense, when they make more money by making more deliveries. Others felt giving couriers extra time did not address the main problem which is the algorithm.

This serious undervaluing of couriers has to stop -- only allowing them to earn less than US$1 per delivery is outrageous -- especially when they are risking their lives everyday on the road.

Life No Longer a Bowl of Cherries in China

Last year when Chilean cherries were on sale in China, it was "cherry freedom"

Last March I wrote about "cherry freedom", where people boasted on social media how they could afford expensive foods to show off their wealth. It started with imported cherries, and then a vegetable called xiangchun that cost 80 yuan to 100 yuan for 500 grams, which equated to a lobster, 10 abalone, or 39 crayfish.

But it looks like those "cherry freedom" days are over following the coronavirus pandemic that has made a huge dent in the Chinese economy, let alone the entire world.

Previously there was a big demand for Chilean cherries and Peruvian avocados by the Chinese middle class. But now sellers at the Jiangan wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Guangzhou are feeling the effects of battered consumer confidence due to declining job prospects and incomes.

These were the first batch of Peruvian avocados sold in China

"Demand has plummeted since the outbreak started. Retailers are very cautious about placing orders... most of us have been losing money, whether selling imported fruit or domestic fruit," said Li Xiaoqiang, a fruit importer at Jiangan market.

"We keep reducing the prices. Take Chilean grapes. The wholesale price used to be 180 yuan (US$25.37) for 8kg, and it is now just 100 yuan or even 80 yuan. Our importers' losses could be up to 800,000 yuan for a container."

Egyptian oranges used to be 100 yuan for 15kg around the same time last year, but now are only 70 yuan.

"Imported cherries are even harder to sell," Li added.

While the market's operators claim 80 percent of China's imported fruits first stop at Jiangan, these days vendors are passing the time playing games on their phones.

80 percent of China's imported fruits go to Jiangan Market

One merchant surnamed Wang said last year the market used to sell 60 to 80 containers of imported oranges a day, but now only sell 15 containers with the price slashed to 50 percent.

"Imported oranges are mainly for hotels, restaurants, clubs and karaoke lounges -- if oranges don't sell well, it means China's service industry is still in deep trouble," Wang said.

Over the past decade China's fruit imports had been steadily rising from US$1.63 billion in 2009 to US$10.3 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Patricia Lin is a white-collar worker in Shanghai and had her pay cut last month, while friends were laid off due to the pandemic. "To be honest, the only thing in my head these days is how to cut spending and save enough money to pay my home mortgage.

"Fruits are good and necessary for health, but I think I won't be able to afford imported cherries or Japanese grapes for a long while. Instead I will turn to local fruits like apples and pears," she said.

How will Li steer China's economy out of the pandemic?

Imagine how many millions of other people have the same thinking as Lin and then you have a serious cascade effect on not only the fruit business, but every other sector as well, particularly luxury, fashion, and restaurants.

Beijing may have hoped people getting back to work would help get things back to normal, but it won't be like before. Wonder if this will be reflected in Premier Li Keqiang's work report later this week when the "two sessions" start on May 22, and what the country's economic road map to economic recovery will be.

Hong Kong Finally Takes Action

Carrie Lam and her senior ministers briefed the media on the latest measures

Things are (finally) getting serious in Hong Kong with regards to the Wuhan coronavirus that has now claimed 106 lives and over 4,680 cases worldwide. There were 1,200 new cases in Wuhan alone today. Hong Kong has eight confirmed cases.

Railway services will be cut, while flights will be halved

Today the Hong Kong government has instructed civil servants who aren't frontline service staff that they can work from home until at least February 10; some companies are following suit. In many cases, these employees don't have company laptops or access to the special computer systems they need to use, which means they will have an extended holiday.

Late this afternoon Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor held a press conference with senior members of her cabinet and announced travel to and from the mainland would be drastically cut, with flights reduced by half, all ferry services suspended, and trains from West Kowloon and the through train to Guangzhou from Hung Hom would be stopped.

While tour groups to Hong Kong have already been suspended, no more individual visas to the city will be issued.

This high-speed train will stop service from Thursday

It's not a complete closure of all border checkpoints (only about 9 percent), but it is finally a start for Lam to act on the advice of the infectious disease experts and legislators from the entire political spectrum who are urging her to do the right thing for the safety of Hongkongers.

However, she really needs to do more to combat against fake news, and spent the first part of her press conference berating people for spreading rumours.

She really needs to be more transparent, which means speaking more frequently and clearly. At the very least Lam or her ministers should update the media once a day, twice would be better... or is she too busy to consider doing that?

The more you communicate, the more your message comes across.

Newly refurbished Museum of Art will be shut temporarily

Or maybe because the government keeps flip flopping that the Lam administration is unclear on its own position?

In addition the government will not use the newly-completed housing estate in Fanling for quarantine purposes... perhaps a decision made too late. Some people in the media have thrown out the idea of using Disneyland as a quarantine area. It's isolated, self sufficient and hey, it's cheerful too. Why not?

Just saw news that the Hong Kong-Macau ferries will be suspended from Thursday, while all Hong Kong libraries, museums, sports centres and swimming pools will be closed until further notice.

Meanwhile in China, Dr Zhong Nanshan who discovered SARS over 17 years ago believes the current coronavirus will peak in a week to 10 days, which is much earlier than what Dr Gabriel Leung at the University of Hong Kong had predicted, which was April or May.

Dr Zhong Nanshan predicts the coronavirus peaking very soon

Who is right? We will find out soon enough.

Cryptically, Lam said in the press conference: "If you asked me a week ago, I might not have the determination to roll out the measures we rolled out today and yesterday."

Does that mean she didn't think she had to take the Wuhan coronavirus that seriously?

Where was she in 2003?

Shocking Estimates of Wuhan Coronavirus

Gabriel Leung (left) says there could be as many as 44,000 cases in Wuhan

Today is the third year of Lunar New Year, and in Chinese superstition, you're not supposed to go outside for fear of starting up arguments that could result in bad luck and ruin the rest of the year.

And it would be pretty justified to stay in considering the mounting fears of the Wuhan coronavirus spreading faster and further than currently reported.

This afternoon infectious disease experts from the University of Hong Kong estimate that the number of patients in Wuhan had reached 43,590 by Saturday, including those in the incubation stage of the virus, which causes pneumonia.

The Wuhan market that maybe ground zero for the coronavirus

So far the number of reported cases in the country is 2,880 as of Monday, and 81 dead. That's a huge discrepancy, but lead researcher and dean of HKU's faculty of medicine Gabriel Leung said his team estimated there were 25,630 patients showing symptoms in Wuhan, and that the number would double in 6.2 days. This is according to mathematical modelling based on infection figures worldwide as of Saturday.

The big issue is that unlike SARS, the Wuhan coronavirus is difficult to detect because it is infectious during the incubation period, and that those who are infected may not show any symptoms like elevated temperatures.

If there are 44,000 cases in Wuhan alone, how many could there be nationwide and worldwide? 

Leung and his team's research showed self-sustaining human-to-human transmission was already happening in all major mainland cities and warned a pandemic might be close. 

The Forbidden City in Beijing is closed indefinitely

"We have to be prepared, that this particular epidemic may be about to become a global epidemic," he said.

The team's model predicted the number of infections in five mainland megacities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongqing, would peak between late April and early May. At that time, as many as 150,000 new cases could be confirmed everyday in Chongqing because of its large population and the intense travel volume with Wuhan.

Leung said the estimates could be too pessimistic,  as it only took into account the lockdown in Wuhan and not travel and health advisories in other cities and provinces, but in the meantime he is advising the Hong Kong government to take more severe measures to stop the virus from coming into the city and spreading.

"So, the question is not whether or not to do more... Yes, we must do more. The question really is, how can we make sure that is feasible, implementable and enforceable," he said, adding the government's task now was to study practical plans, like the logistics of importing food and supplies.

Premier Li Keqiang visited medical staff, patients in Wuhan

Meanwhile I am hearing from relatives and friends who are currently vacationing abroad that they cannot find masks in pharmacies -- they are sold out in places like London and Taipei. While the Hong Kong government claims it has enough masks, locals have trouble finding them, or are in shock as the inflated prices.

Maybe shops will have supplies by Wednesday when business is supposedly back to normal after Chinese New Year?

What Happened to Simon Cheng?

Simon Cheng works at the British Consulate, but went missing on August 8

Hongkongers are reeling after the news yesterday of local man who had disappeared after he crossed the immigration checkpoint at the West Kowloon terminus of the high-speed railway on August 8.

It seemed things were complicated by the fact that Simon Cheng Man-kit was also working at the British consulate in Hong Kong, which led to speculation that the UK was being dragged into a diplomatic spat with China.

Only yesterday did Cheng's family and Taiwanese girlfriend reveal to the media that he had been missing for almost two weeks. The 28-year-old had been traveling to Shenzhen on business and when he arrived at the station, he texted his girlfriend, saying "Passing through [immigration]".

And then she never heard from him again.

This afternoon, the Chinese Foreign Ministry finally confirmed Cheng was being detained in Shenzhen for violating a law.

"My understanding... about this person is that Shenzhen police ordered him to serve 15 days of administrative detention for violating public security management regulations," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, without elaborating further.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang

"I also want to stress that this worker is a Hong Kong citizen -- not a British citizen -- and he is Chinese. And this is entirely an internal matter of China."

This came after the British government sought answers about Cheng, saying it was "extremely concerned by reports that a member of our team has been detained returning to Hong Kong from Shenzhen".

Cheng has worked as the trade and investment officer of Scottish Development International at the British consulate since 2017.

Perhaps because he works at the British consulate, the media were able to get a response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, because Cheng's family had hired a mainland-based  lawyer who could not find any record of him in any detention centre in Shenzhen or Guangzhou.

The Mainland Port Area is under Chinese jurisdiction

Regardless the case is shocking, as this is exactly the scenario people were worried about regarding China having an area of jurisdiction in the West Kowloon railway station.

Under the so-called co-location arrangement, the zone beyond the Hong Kong immigration checkpoint at the railway station is a mainland port area, where China's national laws are fully applicable.

On August 9 Cheng's girlfriend and his older sister contacted the consulate about him being missing and the consulate told them to file a report to the Hong Kong police and immigration authorities.

The following day the consulate and immigration department separately confirmed to Cheng's family that he was being detained but had no further details. On August 11, a Hong Kong police investigator assigned to the case couldn't get more information either.

To say this is frightening, shocking and terrifying is an understatement. Surely this is going to stop a lot of Hong Kong people from crossing the border into the mainland if they don't need to. International coverage of Cheng's story will not only put pressure on China, but also confirm suspicions the country is opaque in handling cases of a legal nature.

After his 15 days of detention, Cheng may not necessarily be released -- his family has been told a a criminal investigation could be launched.

What did he do wrong? Can someone tell us?

Two Sessions in Gobbledygook

The Two Sessions, the annual political meeting is on now in Beijing

China's big political event, 两会 or "the Two Sessions" annual meeting is on, and I can't keep track of all the new legislation that's coming down, but a relative told me on a recent trip to Guangzhou that online monitoring was so tight that the couldn't even use WeChat to communicate with their relatives to arrange when to meet up.

They had to resort to either calling their phone number, or SMS... Seems like an aim to inconvenience over a billion people for a few days...

But perhaps the biggest irony is a propaganda rap song about the Two Sessions released by Xinhua news agency. The song that runs 4:48 was composed by rapper Su Han who became famous from being on the reality show Sing! China.



His song, called "Two Sessions", is a total cringe fest because the lyrics are utterly grammatically incorrect and Su seems to have looked up a lot of words in the thesaurus and tried to use bigger words to sound more sophisticated. However it has the opposite effect in showing he does not know exactly what the word means.

For example one line says: "Eject all the rapaciousness like shaking of nephrolithiasis".

Rapper Su Han singing his heart out in unintelligible English

What?

The chorus is also mind-boggling: "We've got two sessions, we've got two sessions/ For the fragrance we're blessing, to the world we show our affection."

Yeah, OK...

Or how about: "See the Larch rolling miles upon miles/ when we meet satisfied Popeye".

What does Popeye have to do with China?

And the song keeps going for over four minutes without making any kind of sense.

Who put Su up to this? And what was his time line? Did they ask him to write it in a day?

Perhaps the most ironic thing is that the Chinese government is wary of hip hop, and while there is no full ban in place, since last year it has been considered not to be politically correct to be associated with that genre of music.

How does this hip hop song make China cool?

Why then, has the government released this atrocious song in the style of hip hop?

It probably thought co-opting hip hop it would make the authorities sound cool to the younger generation, but it's kind of like once your parents like what you like, you move onto something else...

A Portrait of a Left-Behind Child

Jia Yi shows what life is like for a left-behind child in Hunan province

I recently saw a documentary at Asia Society called Jia Yi, which focuses on a family from a farming village in Hunan province. The parents make the decision to go to Guangzhou to make more money to provide for the family, but that means leaving behind seven-year-old Jiayi and her younger brother with their grandparents.

The film gives a rounded portrait of the family, though mostly following Jiayi as she walks several kilometres to go to school, a bare room with antiquated wooden desks. After school she has to take the cows out to graze before dinner, wash clothes in the river, and then feed her young brother his food before doing her homework.

For us in the city folk to watch this child do this and then come home to a dirt floor with no running water and very little electricity is a rude awakening to realize people in China still live like this, that there are still tens of millions who have yet to benefit from economic reforms.

Jiayi does her best with her chores and cares very much for her younger brother, but she gets scolded for getting low grades -- her grandmother says she watches too much television, and yet the television is on all the time in the room... how is she supposed to concentrate on her studies?

Jiang Nengjie has made several docs on left-behind children

Director Jiang Nengjie follows her, her younger brother and grandfather as they make the long trek to Guangzhou by train to visit her parents. While her father is excited to see them, their mother is alternately exhausted and upset -- she works the night shift in the factory and the children interrupt her sleep, and at the same time she feels guilty for leaving them behind.

Jiayi's father explains his wife got pregnant before they got married, and so they had to find other means of income to raise a family as farming wasn't enough. He can't get a good job because he doesn't have much schooling. Meanwhile his wife misses her children terribly and she cries a lot. She worries they won't even know who they are as they only see their children a few times a year.

These are the sacrifices the parents make when they leave home to work -- tens of millions of them doing mind-numbing work in factories to make more money than they would tilling the land. As a result there are millions of left-behind children all over the country, left behind not only because the parents aren't there, but because they do not have access to good education and other resources which makes them even more behind than their counterparts in the cities.

Jiang brings these issues to light and in stark focus -- there have been many news stories about left-behind children but hardly a face to them, and Jia Yi gives a very good picture of the situation for many of them.

What's also interesting is that Jiang himself is a left-behind child. In fact his family is neighbours with Jiayi's family, which is why he was able to film so much of the family for many months.

He recalls as a child his mother was away the whole time he was in primary and secondary school, and even university, while his father left later to earn more money to pay for Jiang and his younger brother's school fees.

A typical rural school with left-behind children

While us city folk may think Jiayi may need more financial resources, Jiang disagrees. He believes what she lacks the most is a good education, not just academic, but also family education; this is hard to remedy as her parents aren't there to raise her.

The parents also believe others look down on them, thinking they have deserted their children, when in fact they are doing whatever they can to keep in touch with them via video chats or phone calls. Remote parenting may not be the best solution, but technology has allowed them to correspond often with their children.

It is hard to figure out what the solution is, except to somehow create industry near the places where the families are so that the parents don't need to go so far away. But factory owners aren't going to do this due to the lack of good transportation networks for distribution and so on.

While the Chinese economy is slowing down, some factory workers have returned to their villages to farm -- at least they can feed themselves. However this leaves the state off the hook for providing a safety net despite the huge sacrifices these people have made.

It's a story that won't go away right away, but it is a plight we should all be aware of and the consequences that will result from having so many left-behind children in China.

Fact of the Day: 1,600 Coaches Cross the Border Daily

The high-speed trains from Hong Kong will go to many mainland destinations

Hong Kong will soon get two major transport links -- the high-speed train and bridge -- to link with the mainland even more.

The West Kowloon train station starts service September 23

For some people these infrastructure projects are further evidence of the mainland forcing Hong Kong to be closer to the motherland, on the other they are two other options to get to destinations across the border.

What I didn't know was the existing business in buses that ferry people back and forth to various places in Guangdong daily.

A staggering 583,075 coaches crossed the border from Hong Kong last year, or almost 1,600 coaches per day.

What's also interesting is that one bus company reports 60 percent of its customers are Hong Kong people who need to cross the border daily, the remaining 40 percent are mainland tourists.

There are already many coaches taking people to Guangdong

It turns out the current rail and ferry routes don't help these commuters much and so they rely on these coaches. They go to destinations like Guangzhou, Futian in Shenzhen, and Panyu in Guangzhou.

However, now with the new high-speed rail station at West Kowloon opening later this month on September 23, this will be direct competition for the coaches, cutting the commute times; though with the opening of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, this will give coach companies other routes they can go that the high-speed rail doesn't, like Taishan, Zhongshan, Kaiping and Enping.

Will this mean over half a million bus rides daily or even more?

The Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge will open soon

Either way Beijing is probably pleased that Hong Kong people are embracing the saying, "build and they will come"... to the Greater Bay Area! No it's not San Francisco, but an amalgamation of several Chinese cities, along with Hong Kong and Macau.

We don't want to get left behind, do we?