On January 8, China and Hong Kong resumed customs clearance for the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic three years ago. The picture shows the Lok Ma Chau Port. (Image credit: Getty Images)
[Look at China News, January 10, 2023](See Chinese reporter Yuan Haiyin’s report) On January 8, the seven border ports between China and Hong Kong officially resumed full operation, and mainland China resumed handling travel and business trips for mainland residents.HongkongAt the same time, the restrictions on the passenger load factor of flights between Hong Kong and the Mainland will be cancelled. That is to say,epidemicIn the three years since the outbreak, China and Hong Kong resumed quarantine-free customs clearance for the first time.it came out of nowhereClearanceWhat will it bring? Deutsche Welle guest commentator Zeng Zhihao analyzed,China and Hong Kong customs clearanceThere is a political meaning behind it, and it is said that there is a foreseeable consequence that only God knows.
On January 9, Deutsche Welle published a comment and analysis of “The Politics of Customs Clearance between China and Hong Kong” by Hong Kong media personality Zeng Zhihao. The article first analyzes the political meaning: During the epidemic, the two chief executives from Carrie Lam to Li Jiachao all regarded “customs clearance” as the top priority, as if Hong Kong people were looking forward to customs clearance all day long. So why do some people say “Great! Finally passed the level” and others say “Oops, finally cleared the level”? ?
The article believes that the Hong Kong government intends to exaggerate three political meanings: first, “China and Hong Kong are of one mind”, and Hong Kong people are looking forward to going north. The second is “great powers attract”, Hong Kong cannot do without the warmth of the motherland. The third point is to prove that the mainland’s fight against the epidemic is more successful than Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has become a breach of epidemic prevention that Beijing dislikes and guards against.
On the surface, China-Hong Kong customs clearance was “finally realized” under the circumstances of Hong Kong’s constant pleading and Beijing’s constant rejection. As we all know, in the past three years, Hong Kong has been blocked by the mainland due to various reasons such as the vaccination rate, the utilization rate of safe travel, and the lack of red and yellow code tracking functions for “safe travel”. Therefore, Zeng Zhihao believes that Hong Kong has been used as a reference point to set off the success of China’s epidemic prevention in the past three years.
One thing that slaps the face of “Hong Kong people look forward to going north”
What are the facts? Zeng Zhihao’s article said that compared to Hong Kong people who are eager to go north, visit relatives, do business, eat and drink, etc., another activity of Hong Kong people is special, that is, immigration. Bloomberg has reported that in recent years, due to political turmoil and epidemics in Hong Kong, especially the implementation of the National Security Law, Hong Kong has triggered a wave of immigration. Over the past year, more than 110,000 people have moved out on a net basis, many of whom come from key industries such as financial services. According to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management last fall, immigrants accounted for 37% of resigned managers, and 24% at the grassroots level. The talent gap in Hong Kong has widened.
Customs clearance vs immigration for Hong Kong people
The article continues to analyze from a political point of view. The Hong Kong government’s vigorous promotion of “going north to customs clearance”, including policies such as integration into the Greater Bay Area, is based on the “merit” of the Hong Kong government. However, the wave of immigration has slapped the Hong Kong government’s performance. Officials at all levels have always mentioned immigration as “we don’t think there is an immigration wave”, “permanent departure from Hong Kong does not mean immigration”, “there are many reasons for immigration and we don’t know the specific reasons. “. Officials want to downplay the number of immigrants from Hong Kong and vilify the situation of immigrants.
Zeng Zhihao believes that immigration is a Hong Kong activity that reflects the characteristics of the times. Before 2019, Hong Kong people only went north, and only people sang “Xiao Ming went to Guangzhou” (a nursery rhyme doctor in Hong Kong to promote Guangzhou and Hong Kong’s family song), but after 2020, Hong Kong is the most attractive The notable activity is “immigration”.
China’s customs clearance to the world?
What is highlighted by the confrontation between the official customs clearance and the spontaneous immigration of Hong Kong people? Zeng Zhihao said that customs clearance is a dependence on China, and immigration is a rejection of the CCP. So “customs clearance” is used to fight “immigration”. But in the political calculation of “customs clearance”, Hong Kong actually sacrificed a lot.
He analyzed that in terms of epidemic prevention, first, Hong Kong does not have any right to speak, and is just a pawn played by Beijing. Second, Hong Kong has followed suit. Senior officials in Hong Kong have always insisted that they did not adopt the opinions of experts to cancel “safe travel”, vaccine permits, restrictions on gatherings, etc. when Beijing announced the new ten and new twenty, the Hong Kong government suddenly abandoned a series of measures overnight, calling Hong Kong people to wake up : “When the mainland blows the whistle, the Hong Kong government will kneel down. There is no ‘one country, two systems’ in the epidemic prevention policy.” If the national policy is to be relaxed, Hong Kong cannot insist on it alone. Hong Kong’s “autonomy” is completely lost.
Third, he pointed out the sacrifices that Hong Kong must make after customs clearance. For example, grabbing medicine and getting a vaccine. There are also people who are worried that Luke will push the Sheung Shui area again.
At the end of the article, it pointed out that the saddest thing is that because of the opacity of the epidemic situation in China, all parts of the world have resorted to anti-entry measures; Hong Kong was implicated in this, and Japan “restricted the number of entry airports” for Hong Kong tourists, causing an uproar. The logic behind this: “The world is not at ease with China, but Hong Kong is very at ease with China. Hong Kong, China has a close relationship, and Hong Kong is equal to China. Therefore, to restrict China, Hong Kong must also be restricted.”
Conclusion of the article: Clearing the customs with China almost closed the customs with the world. Only God knows the calculation of gains and losses.
Source: See China–All rights reserved, any form of reprint needs to see China’s authorization. Mirror sites are strictly prohibited.
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