Letter to Ms Boseley, The Guardian

Dear Ms Boseley,

I would like to provide some feedback on your article "Test and trace: lessons from Hong Kong on avoiding a coronavirus lockdown" published on 17 April 2020. (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/test-trace-lessons-hong-kong-avoiding-coronavirus-lockdown#maincontent)

There is nothing you can learn from Hong Kong unless you want your country to degenerate into a failed state. The reasons why we could cope with the coronavirus better than other places are simply that (1) Hongkongers have lost all trust and confidence in our government; (2) we know by instinct that Chinese figures are fake. We know in our heartsthat the Hong Kong government is ignorant, incompetent and totally untrustworthy, that it has been blind and deaf for many months, that it would never put the interests of Hongkongers in any priority. To survive, we must rely on ourselves solely.

The terrible experience of SARS in 2003 definitely helps raise the awareness of personal and public hygiene. You are quite right to point it out. When we heard about the outbreak in China in late January, we knew instantly what we needed and which items of personal protective equipment (PPE) were the most essential. Everyone rushed to buy face masks and alcohol hand gel between late January and the entire February. And I must remind you that WHO said wearing masks had little to no effect in preventing the coronavirus infection. Ordinary Hongkongers have doneall we can to find PPE from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, India, North America, South America andthe whole Europe.

I need to emphasise it is "ordinary Hongkongers" because our government has never assisted the people of Hong Kong to acquire any PPE. Frontline health workers repeatedly said they did not have sufficient masks (doctors and nurses had to reuse their masks all day long). It was "ordinary Hongkongers", many of whom donated a few boxes each time to the medics. When we learnt that elderly people and low-income families could not afford to buy masks as prices went up more than 10 times, residents and shop owners in the neighbourhoods volunteered to provide free resources, such as masks, gloves, alcohol, liquid bleach, etc. In the time of coronavirus we have created an economy and a culture of mutual self-help. The solidarity of Hongkongers, the spirit and willingness to fight for the benefits of our fellows (by acquiring PPE from around the world and sharing it with others), the determination and sense of urgency to protect this place that is our home, these have nothing to do with WHO guidelines.

When Taiwan, followed by Australia, decided to ban all visitors from China from entering their countries, WHO said it did not recommend border closures as this would prevent the circulation of information.However, the most effective way to curb the spread of the virus is to cut the source off. Quarantine becomes useless if suspected patients keep coming in. In Hong Kong, I am not sure whether you know, it is because of the sustained efforts of our health workers, thousands of them were on strike in early February to demand border closures with mainland China, that the arrival of suspected patients from China could be reduced to the minimum.(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/hong-kong-medical-workers-strike-demand-total-border-closure-200203165501416.html) When the whole world is paying tributes to all health workers for their courage and dedication, our health workers who, for the safety of the entire Hong Kong, demanded for border closures are now threatened with punishments by the hospital authority.In the midst of the coronavirus, our government is occupied with seeking revenge. Please think twice before you want to learn from us.

Ms Boseley, we know that China has been covering up its figures, such as its death toll, does WHO ever criticise its deceptive practice?We know that China has been trying to rewrite the coronavirus narrative by attributing its origin to the US, does WHO ever make any clarifications?We know that Taiwan warned WHO in 31 December last year of the possibility of human-to-human transmission, did WHO take the warning seriously and promptly inform its member states of the imminent threat of a large-scale outbreak?Besides Dr Li Wenliang, who was arrested for sending warning messages and later died from the coronavirus, another whistle-blower Dr Ai Feng mysteriously disappeared for two weeks in early April, does WHO ever express any concerns over the disappearance?(https://nypost.com/2020/04/01/whistleblowing-coronavirus-doctor-mysteriously-vanishes/)

There is certainly a lot of politics going on. And some people are affected by politics more than others. I understand that at present we need to cooperate together to fight the coronavirus. But we are not just confronted with the virus, we are also confronted with a country that is so eager to create a new order by withholding, manipulating information, suppressing different voices, spreading lies and falsity as if they were truths and no one would care about.There is such a thing as being too late. Britain, its European allies and friends of the free world should recognise it today rather than tomorrow. That’s a lesson for everyone.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and healthy.