Wen | Lingde
The fifth wave of the epidemic is severe, the central government came to help, and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Li Jiachao, led a number of officials to Shenzhen to attend the second thematic exchange meeting on the new crown pneumonia epidemic between the mainland and Hong Kong, but what attracted the attention of the public was not only what assistance the central government provided to Hong Kong, but also the internal uncoordination and non-uniformity of the SAR government after Li Jiachao's return to Hong Kong. The problem of the SAR Government's inconsistent thinking and uncoordinated actions is the core problem of the failure to fight the epidemic.
After returning to Hong Kong, Lee Ka-chiu met with reporters and announced the division of labour among officials to implement the outcomes of the exchange meeting between the two places, including the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Chan Fan, in charge of material supply and stability; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Tsang Kwok-wai, who was responsible for liaison with the Mainland, including the establishment of a task force to coordinate, coordinate with the Mainland, and enhance testing capacity; and the Secretary for Security, Tang Ping-keung, was responsible for following up on customs clearance arrangements for personnel and materials.
However, a day later, the Chief Executive issued a press release late the next night, pointing out that a high-level internal meeting had been held to determine the convener of the HKSAR Government for five working groups, which was different from the content announced by Lee Ka-chiu. After the redistribution of personnel positions by Carrie Lam, the Secretary for Food and Health Services, Chan Siu-chiu, is in charge of the Working Group on Epidemiological Experts; Tsang Kwok-wai is responsible for the Working Group on Enhancing Nucleic Acid Testing Capacity; Chen Fan is responsible for ensuring the arrival of domestic supplies from the Mainland; the Secretary for Development, Wong Wai Lun, is responsible for contacting and cooperating with the Working Group on Community Isolation and Treatment Facilities in the Mainland; and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Yau Teng-wah, is responsible for the Working Group on Medical Supplies.
The inconsistencies between the Chief Executive and the Chief Secretary for Administration reflect what kind of realities exist within the HKSAR Government and have attracted the attention of the public. To fight the new crown epidemic, it is necessary to mobilize a large number of social resources, mobilize the strength of the whole society, and even more must seize the opportunity, pay attention to strategy, coordinate relations, and stabilize the situation, so many people regard the fight against the epidemic as a battle, and the SAR government is regarded as the commander-in-chief of this battle.
Therefore, when Hong Kong had insufficient testing capacity, poor material supply, and lack of human resources, the central authorities quickly responded to the request of the SAR Government and provided corresponding assistance in accordance with the request made by the Hong Kong SAR Government. However, relying solely on the assistance of the central authorities and the support of manpower and material resources in the interior is obviously not enough, and it still requires the SAR Government to have a firm will, strong leadership and enforcement ability.
However, just when the whole of Hong Kong is encouraged and the confidence of the whole Hong Kong people to help the central government to help fight the epidemic has been greatly enhanced, how can it not be worried because of the serious problems of internal incoordination and disagreement of the SAR Government? How can the public be reassured by the SAR Government?
The Omicron variant virus case appeared in the Hong Kong community at the end of December last year, community transmission in early January, outbreaks in individual communities began in mid-January, and by the end of January, it had rapidly expanded to all districts in Hong Kong.
In this process, the HKSAR Government has more than once exposed the problems of internal disagreement and uncoordinated action, first of all, more than 10 senior government officials, including Secretary for Home Affairs Xu Yingwei, disregarded the chief executive's warning and attended the birthday banquet of NPC deputy Hong Weimin held on the evening of January 3. Subsequently, when a number of infection cases were discovered in Kwai Chung Estate, the Government's delay in implementing the decision to test the enclosure led to a one-day delay in implementing the enclosure, and the epidemic had spread outwards amid differences of opinion and hesitation within the Government.
Should we insist on "dynamic zeroing" or should we "coexist with the virus"? There is also disagreement within the SAR Government, which not only leads to confusion in social information, but also attracts the attention of the central and mainland media, and a number of commentaries have been written to correct it.
The incongruity and inconsistencies that have been repeatedly exposed within the SAR Government are precisely the biggest deficiencies and problems in the Government's response to the fifth wave of the epidemic, and now the central government has come to support Hong Kong, and if the SAR Government still does not change the problems of ununified thinking and uncoordinated actions, I am afraid it will still be difficult to lead Hong Kong to defeat the epidemic.
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