In Midst of Pandemic Carrie Lam Gets Pay Rise

Carrie Lam will be one of the highest paid leaders in the world... for what?

Over the past three years, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has demonstrated lacklustre leadership, particularly last year during the anti-government protests in which she hid behind the police to do her bidding, and now during the coronavirus, it is the community rather than her governance that has kept the numbers of positive cases relatively low.

So why does Lam deserve a pay raise of HK$120,000 for a salary of HK$5.2 million (US$670,671) a year?

She is one of the highest paid leaders in the world, more than US President Donald Trump (US$400,000 donated to charity), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (around US$265,000), and UK PM Boris Johnson (US$96,800).

Last summer protesters demanded Lam step down

Lam's pay raise was revealed when the Civic Party's Tanya Chan Suk-chong asked about it as the Legislative Council prepares to vet this year's budget.

Considering Hong Kong's economy continues to be in free fall because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Eunice Yung Hoi-yan of the New People's Party asked if the chief executive could take a pay cut to show solidarity with Hongkongers, as tens of thousands of them have lost their jobs or had pay cuts.

The response? The government replied Lam and her ministers will make "timely responses" should the situation deteriorate.

Isn't the situation deteriorating already?

Granted on February 28, Lam, her cabinet and other top officials donated one month of their salaries which was around HK$10 million to charities under the Community Chest.

Lam and senior officials donated their salaries to charity

But a month later she gets a pay rise?

How bad are the optics on that? And what has she done for Hong Kong to deserve that?

Even pro-establishment lawmakers must be shaking their heads at this tone deaf move. If she can earn more money, why do us citizens have to wait until at least July to get our HK$10,000 handout?

Perhaps she can single-handedly stimulate the local economy with her higher salary? 

Trying to Keep Safe with Coronavirus Threat

The Centre for Health Protection explains how to wash your hands thoroughly

The fears of the coronavirus spreading from people who are asymptomatic are scary because you can have no symptoms and yet carry COVID-19.

And it's that paranoia that can very quickly eat into your psyche.

Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks have the coronavirus

I checked in on a friend of mine I hadn't talked to in over a week and she feared she was being paranoid after hearing the news that Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the coronavirus, as well as the wife of Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

But I tried to reassure my friend that as long as she was cautious about her hygiene and washing hands regularly she should be OK.

I had my own freak out earlier this week too. I had stayed up too late on Friday doing a last-minute assignment and then packed in a full day on Saturday and Sunday before feeling wiped out on Monday.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife Sophie has the virus

It was made even worse Monday evening by some dishes I ate in a restaurant that claims not to use MSG, but I could feel heart palpitations and woke up around 4am and in trying to get back to sleep my mind started wondering if I had the coronavirus and what would I do. All these scary scenarios came into my head. It took a while fall asleep again.

I stayed home Tuesday to work from home, and actually I felt better psychologically and physically, ready to tackle the rest of the week.

Since just before Chinese New Year when the news of the coronavirus spread to Hong Kong, it's had a psychological impact on all of us. Fears of the virus are hovering over our heads everyday with no end in sight.

Trying to continue with daily life in Hong Kong with masks

Some people refuse to go to the gym to work out, others do but draw the line at going into the sauna and steam rooms, while others continue with their daily workout routines.

It's hard to say who is right, but as long as everyone takes as many precautions as possible, hopefully we can get through this soon, though some experts say the virus may be with us for the entire year!

All we can do is try to keep calm and carry on, with a lot of hand washing in between.

Trying to End "Harassment Tourism"

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Now we know why Kevin Garratt was released last week from Chinese after being detained for two years.

In a bid to reset relations between China and Canada, it seems Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is negotiating an extradition treaty so that China can request certain people it deems should be tried for crimes they may or may not have committed.

Immigration lawyers and opposition politicians are crying foul, wondering why Trudeau is willing to return people who may or may not be fugitives to a country that is known for torture and executions. Is this "Canadian" of him?

However Trudeau seems to think he has things covered.

"Extradition is certainly one of the things the Chinese have indicated they want to talk about," he said. "But any discussions around extradition, for example, will be very much in line with Canadian principles and Canadian values and Canadian expectations that are very high."

What exactly does that mean?

Lai Changxing returned to China in 2011

For many years, the Chinese government was frustrated by Canada's oblique responses to extradition requests of people, one of the most famous examples was Lai Changxing, a former businessman in Xiamen who was implicated in corruption scandals that involved smuggling.

He fled to Vancouver where he lived for many years until he was sent back to China in 2011 with promises he would not be executed by imprisoned for life.

In 2000, three secret police investigators applied for visas to come to Canada as workers for China National Pulp & Paper Corporation, saying they wanted to discuss "Chinese users' requirements for Canadian pulp and paper".

But instead they really came to Vancouver to try to pressure Lai to come back to China to face charges of smuggling and bribery, bringing his brother along.

Lai's lawyer complained about this through diplomatic channels and later on it has been revealed that many other alleged fugitives have been harassed by Chinese secret agents who come to Canada on tourist visas.

How far will Trudeau go to make China happy in extraditions?

Talk about abusing the system, and also butting into the internal affairs of another country without going through proper legal channels.

This is ongoing so-called "harassment tourism" is what promoted Trudeau to have talks between the two sides "which allow Canadian officials and Chinese officials to discuss specific cases, to discuss the principles and concerns that both sides have," he says.

While it's understandable Trudeau would like Chinese agents to stop applying for tourist visas to harass people on Canadian soil, will he be able to get the upper hand in what the extradition treaty will be like?

It's kind of like dealing with the devil that has his cards hidden behind his back.

On one level it's good that China and Canada are actively engaged in talks, but on another, does Trudeau know who he's dealing with?

Vancouverite Finally Free

Kevin Garratt hugging his wife Julia in Vancouver

We were relieved this morning to read the news that Vancouverite Kevin Garratt was released after spending two years in a Chinese jail on suspicion of spying.

The move comes soon after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Beijing earlier this month and raised the Garratt case with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a week before Prime Minister Li Keqiang comes to Canada next week.

Earlier this week Garratt was formally sentenced and then released on bail. According to his family, he was deported from China yesterday and was back in Canada.

Garratt in front of the coffee shop at Dandong

In August 2014, Garratt and his wife Julia were detained in Dandong, a city near the Chinese border with North Korea where the couple had a cafe called Peter's Coffee Shop which they operated as part of a Christian aid mission.

Chinese officials later said they were being held on "suspicion of stealing and spying to obtain state secrets".

"Kevin Garratt and his wife... are suspected of collecting and stealing intelligence materials related to Chinese military targets and important Chinese national defence scientific research programs, and engaging in activities that endanger China's national security," the Foreign Ministry said in a short statement at the time.

Their son Simeon said in Vancouver at the time that the charges "sound ridiculous". "Military secrets? It sounds like something out of a movie or something. Those are the accusations, but I have no idea where they are coming from or how it even came about."

Justin Trudeau shakes hands with Xi Jinping earlier this month

There were also concerns that China's relationship with then Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn't good, which made Garratt's situation harder to bring up and resolve.

Soon Julia Garratt was released on bail and allowed to leave China, but in January Chinese authorities announced Garratt would be tried on the charges. And now he's finally free.

He had originally said that God had told them to go to Dandong to spread Christianity into North Korea.

But after this two-year long wait and finally returning back to Canada, what's Garratt's next move?

Nevertheless, his release demonstrates Trudeau's ability to sway the Chinese, and scores the respect of Canadians for finally successfully dealing with this case which has been left idle for some time.

China's Soft Power Setback

China's Wang Yi with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Did China's foreign minister Wang Yi start the day on the wrong foot last week when he castigated a Canadian journalist in Ottawa for asking about human rights and the jailing of Canadian Kevin Garratt, who has been charged with espionage?

The Middle Kingdom's top diplomat lost his cool and started lecturing the reporter for almost two and a half minutes (including translation).

"Your question is full of prejudice and against China and arrogance... I don't know where that comes from. This is totally unacceptable," Wang said.

"Have you been to China? The Chinese constitution has written protection and promotion of human rights and China has pulled some 600 million people from poverty.

Kevin Garratt pictured with his wife, is charged with espionage

"Other people don't know better than the Chinese people about the human rights condition in China and it is the Chinese people who are in the best situation, the best position to have a say about China's human rights situation."

First of all, the foreign minister is on Canadian soil, so he must abide by the rules, which means upholding freedom of the press. Is he naive to think journalists in Canada will ask a softball question like they do in China?

Journalists in Canada can ask whatever they want, and apparently those covering the press conference agreed that asking about Garratt's situation was the most pressing one they wanted answered.

Wang could have just replied with a string of so-called facts for five minutes and then end the press conference. Why did he get so testy?

The foreign minister's rant revealed plenty about him and about China's irritation and insecurity about being asked about sensitive issues.

The reporter may or may not have been to China, but does that matter? She was asking the status on a Canadian in Chinese custody. What is wrong with that?

Wang lectures reporters about China during a press conference

China may have the second largest economy in the world, and yet it gets annoyed when people ask about its human rights situation.

When he says the Chinese are in the best position to comment about the country's human rights, he really is asking for it. Does he really think all 1.3 billion will sing the Chinese Communist Party's praises?

Some say Wang may have already been annoyed before the press conference, as the Trudeau administration had asked about the case. It was also revealed that Wang demanded an audience with the Canadian prime minister which is not the proper protocol.

In any event, Trudeau has expressed dissatisfaction to both Wang and the Chinese ambassador to Canada with the way the journalists were treated.

Perhaps Wang has forgotten there is a new administration in Canada, that has a different foreign policy from the previous Conservative one led by Stephen Harper.

I had hoped Trudeau would reach out to the Chinese government soon after he came to power, but it has taken almost eight months for the meeting to finally happen.

Trudeau will be lauded at home for keeping the heat on Wang, though there's going to be turbulent waters ahead in dealing with China...