[NTDTV, Beijing time, February 17, 2022]The epidemic in Hong Kong is out of control, with thousands of new cases added every day. Xi Jinping recently ordered the Hong Kong government to make stabilizing and controlling the epidemic an “overriding” task. Experts believe that Xi Jinping’s public order to Hong Kong’s chief executive is highly unusual, and the outbreak could lead to the postponement of the upcoming chief executive election.
Pro-Beijing Hong Kong media reported on February 16 that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, recently entrusted Vice Premier Han Zheng to convey “important instructions” to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, asking the Hong Kong government to take the main responsibility and take stabilizing and controlling the epidemic as the overriding task.
“Hong Kong 01” said that Xi Jinping’s “high attention” this time can be described as unprecedented. In the more than two years since the outbreak of the CCP virus, Xi Jinping has only paid close attention to Wuhan, and he has not spoken to Xi’an, which was closed earlier. It can be seen that the severity of the epidemic in Hong Kong may be equivalent to the extent of the outbreak in Wuhan.
In addition, judging from Xi Jinping’s remarks, it seems that he is not satisfied with Carrie Lam’s anti-epidemic performance.
According to a report by Sing Tao Daily, Liu Zhaojia, vice-chairman of the National Association for Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said that in his impression, this is the first time Xi Jinping has publicly issued instructions to the Hong Kong Chief Executive, which is extremely unusual.
Regarding Xi Jinping’s instructions, Hong Kong’s political circles are concerned about whether the election of the new chief executive to be held on March 27 will be postponed.
The election of the chief executive is just over a month away, and the nomination date is 14 days from February 20 to March 5. At present, there is no more influential figure to stand for the election, and the situation is unprecedented.
The current chief executive, Carrie Lam, has yet to say whether she will run for re-election. Only pro-establishment businessman Xian Guolin and former DAB member and industrial and commercial property investor Hu Shiquan have announced their candidacy.
Chen Weiqiang, a lecturer at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, told Lianhe Zaobao that Xi Jinping has instructed the Hong Kong government to make stabilizing and controlling the epidemic an overriding task, which means that the chief executive election to be held next month is likely to be postponed, and the probability of Carrie Lam’s re-election is greatly reduced. .
Tan Yaozong, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said on a commercial TV program on the 17th that Xi Jinping instructed Hong Kong’s anti-epidemic work to be “overriding”. If elections are held now, and some candidates are in charge of the anti-epidemic work, it may have an impact on the fight against the epidemic.
Ye Liushuyi, chairman of the New People’s Party, also said that stabilizing and controlling the epidemic is the first and overriding task. She believes that postponing the election of the chief executive is “not a bad thing”. If the election date is postponed for 42 days, the epidemic will ease a lot by then.
News: Hong Kong’s severe epidemic will implement “zero mode”
When Xi Jinping instructs the Hong Kong government to fight the epidemic, Beijing’s “zero model” may also be transplanted to Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong 01” reported that the central government decided to establish a work coordination mechanism led by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the National Health Commission, and jointly composed of relevant central departments and experts, Guangdong Province and the Hong Kong government to prevent and control the epidemic in Hong Kong.
According to the report, reliable information has been obtained that Hong Kong’s 7.5 million citizens will be forced to undergo nationwide nucleic acid testing according to their ID numbers. The initial plan is to complete a round of testing within one week, and continuous testing for three weeks. The goal is to send the vast majority of patients to isolation by the end of March to avoid Hong Kong’s lockdown.
The Hong Kong government plans to discuss with the mainland, dispatching medical staff to Hong Kong to help with sampling, and the samples will be sent to Shenzhen for testing.
According to the source, national nucleic acid testing is mandatory, and if citizens do not test on time, they may violate the law.
Carrie Lam’s attitude towards mandatory universal testing has also changed. Before attending the Executive Council on the 16th, she said that in principle, she does not oppose wider or universal mandatory testing.
At present, the epidemic situation in Hong Kong is getting worse and worse. According to the “Hong Kong 01” report, about 5,000 new confirmed cases were added on February 17, a new high, and the number of confirmed cases continues to increase.
Hong Kong’s medical system has been overwhelmed, and many hospitals are running out of wards, so they have begun to set up outdoor treatment places, but there are still more than tens of thousands of patients who cannot be admitted to the hospital for treatment.
In the past week, a 3-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy in Hong Kong died of the virus. This is the first time that a child died from the virus in the two years since the outbreak began in Hong Kong. At present, about 4% of children in Hong Kong are infected with the virus. outside attention.
(Comprehensive report by reporter Luo Tingting/responsible editor: Wen Hui)
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