Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
The latest border closing measures are practically useless as far as getting on top of the coronavirus spreading situation is concerned. All it will do is reduce the volume of Hong Kong - China traveller volume by a bit, but all remaining travellers will simply be consolidated to those 3 remaining ports of entry.
Furthemore, the airport and Shenzhen Bay entry points are the highest volume ports of entry for Mainland Chinese visitors anyway, so little is changed.
The way Carrie Lam is handling this is exactly like how she absolutely fxxked up the China extradition law fiasco. At first it was steadfast refusal, then she gave in a little, calling it postponement instead of outright withdrawl, then she gave in a little more, saying the bill is dead, and then she uttered some more nonsense while still refusing to formally withdraw it. Just like the CCP hasn't learned shxt from 2003 SARS, Carrie hasn't fxxking learned shxt from the extradition bill either.
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The thing that the "100% closed borders" people aren't taking into account is that HK kind of needs a somewhat open border in order to keep logistics flowing. We rely on China for food and quite a few essential goods. Shutting down the border completely means none of this will be able to make it through anymore.
Sure middle class people and above can go to the supermarket and buy food from other countries, but poorer people rely on low cost meat from China, and especially vegetables.
I guess we could look to other countries for produce, like Thailand, but will the cost be as low? Do countries like Vietnam even export many goods?
I am 100% in favour of strict border controls, but I'm against the idea of a 100% closure to China. I think leaving SZ Bay bridge and Macau bridge can allow things to flow through, while at the same time severely limit the amount of potentially infected people from coming in. Be extra strict with temperature checks and scrutinize their travel. There are plenty of people who NEED to come in, to Hong Kong's benefit, and are at relatively low risk of having the virus.
This current closure should bring daily mainlanders crossing via land down to 2000, from like 20-30K before. That's not zero, but it's pretty damn significant and maybe manageable.
If the government wasn't literally evil, then maybe people would be willing to work with them. But it seems to be that only the most extreme solution will do because of their history.
If they would have done THIS closure on DAY ONE, HK may be at like 5 or 10 infections instead of 20, and people wouldn't be as freaked out.
But nope. Carrie Lam just kept admonishing people, calling them "radicals" while stubbornly closing the borders more and more each day