Sheung Wan Resident Who Tested Positive for Covid19 Hasn't Been in the City for Two Weeks

Yesterday, Centre for Health Protection officials locked down a Sheung Wan residence tower for mandatory testing, even though the person who has tested positive for Covid19 has a high antibody rate and returned from the United States last night. 

This would only suggest that he acquired the infection in the US, say experts. 

It seems that the catalyst for such urgency in testing is the knowledge that he carries the L452R variant, which is more contagious than other variants. 

The man works at a local company and was staying in the residence from June 27 to July 4. He left for the United States on July 4 and returned on July 19. 

Even though he hasn't been in his building for two weeks, and even though nobody in his building has tested positive for the virus, they are locking down his building and testing everyone in the building. 

Anyone who has spent more than two hours in the building from June 27 to July 19 is mandated to undergo testing. 

Hong Kong Instagram Star Sophia Cheung Dies in Waterfall Accident Taking Selfie

A local Instagram star has died in a waterfall accident while taking a selfie, according to several reports. Sophia Cheung died while trying to position herself for a photo while visiting Ha Pak Lai park. She was 32 years old. 

According to friends who were with her when she died last weekend, Cheung was hiking and taking photos near Tsing Dai stream, a popular tourist spot, when she wanted to get into another position on some rocks near a waterfall. She lost her footing and fell into a pool of water below. 

At the time of her death, she had amassed about 35,000 followers. 

She was pronounced dead on Saturday, July 17 at Pamela Youde Nethersole hospital. 

Hong Kong Continues with Covid19 Containment Strategy Even Though Local Expert Says 70% Vaccination Rate Will Not Be Enough

While countries like the US and the UK are moving away from a zero case and lockdown-driven COVID19 strategy, local experts in Hong Kong warn that 70% vaccination rate will not be enough to change the pandemic strategy for the city. 

We could be seeing the same zero tolerance policy and social distancing measures well into 2022. 

The reason for this, say experts, is that the government has done little to ensure strong vaccination rates in the elderly. Even with 70% of the population vaccinated, these groups will have still had very low vaccination rates and will be weak points in keeping Hong Kong from resurgences in Covid19 rates. 

Then there is the matter of the potential "booster" needed for recipients of the two previous jabs. There are concerns that the Sinovac vaccine does not offer as strong protection as the other two mainstream vaccines. 

All of this seems confusing for residents. If vaccination from Covid is not enough to ward off Covid, and if vaccination rates mean nothing, then why endure the strict policy of quarantine on arrival? Why not just stick with home quarantine and self-monitoring with rigorous testing? It seems that isolation and contact tracing work just as effective as vaccination does. 

Even with less than full herd immunity and less than 70% vaccination rates, other countries are opening up. As a world city, and one with a huge percentage of financial and trade jobs, Hong Kong needs to be a place that can endure the comings and goings of foreigners. Likewise, residents need to be able to travel for business. 

Rapidly Developing Tropical Storm Cempaka May Lead to Signal 3 in Hong Kong

Tropical Storm Cempaka, which began rapidly to develop last night and led to Hong Kong Observatory issuing the Signal 1, seems to be growing in intensit. Weather watchers may raise signal three later today.

What is now Tropical #Storm #Cempaka looks to be very quickly organising just southwest of #HongKong. Microwave, radar, and satellite imagery show a storm with an eye and robust hot towers curling inward. It is very possible that this is undergoing rapid intensification. #Tropics pic.twitter.com/SKOoba7wOm

— Storm’s Edge (@StormsEdgeWx) July 19, 2021

Hong Kong Observatory says they are monitoring the situation. The storm is currently growing over a body of water that is quite warm around 100 miles southwest of Macau and Hong Kong. The storm is moving at a west / northwest direction, so it is unlikely to bring a direct hit to Hong Kong. However, wind shear levels are very low, which means that the tightening bands will be given a lot of room and time to develop into something stronger.

For this reason, Hong Kong should be cautious, as it is likely that the city will experience the outer storm bands from this system, which could bring continual bouts of intense rain and wind into tomorrow. 

UK House of Commons Votes to Boycott 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing

The UK House of Commons has voted unanimously to stage a boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in China next February unless China addresses the "atrocities" taking place in Xinjiang. 

China has for several years denied that it is holding Muslims against their wills in massive internment camps, and more Western Governments are speaking out about the claims of abuse

The legislative motion demands that House of Commons politicians turn down any invitation to the Winter Olympics. The motion also mentions British citizens who have had sanctions put on against them for speaking publicly about the claims of abuse against Muslims by China in Xinjiang. 

Politicians say that China will use the Olympics to push a narrative that it is a liberal and humanitarian nation open to trade and relationships with all, while at the same time pursuing autocratic policies against cities like Hong Kong.

Cannes Unveils "Surprise" Documentary about Hong Kong Protests Called "Revolution of our Times"

The committee at Cannes Film Festival today announced the entry of a "surprise" documentary "Revolution of Our Times," which documents the 2019 protests against the government there. The documentary was not revealed earlier to protect the Hong Kong filmmaker, Kiwi Chow, who is in hiding. 

Chow's documentary covers a series of protests during what has been called the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement. These 2019-2020 protests were sparked by the Hong Kong government's move to amend extradition laws without the typical legislative consultative process. Hong Kong citizens, worried that the amendments would enable China authorities to transfer people to mainland China without due process, protested in marches that sometimes brought over 2 million people into the streets. 

Attempts to bring documentary attention to this movement have met with censorship and outright bans from the China government. This year's Academy Awards was not shown live in Hong Kong for the first time in its history because of the presence of another documentary about the Hong Kong protests in a list of nominees for Best Documentary. 

Chow's movie will be screened at Cannes on Friday. 

Yuen Long Councillor Resigns After Facing Arrest for "Criminal Intimidation"

The independent Yuen Long District Councillor Ben Ho, who was arrested this week for what police described as a threatening Facebook post in March 2020, has resigned. 

Ho is said to have stepped down from his post after charges were laid against him for posting a photo of a knife on Facebook last year and announcing a sweep of a local neighbourhood he was preparing to make to put an end to gambling and street crime. 

Police have said that they received an anonymous complaint about the post last year. The resident said they were scared and concerned. The police then consulted twice with the Justice Department and made the arrest this week. 

Covid19 Red Tape Cut for Hong Kong Returnees and Visitors to UK -- Chinese News Sources

The government have agreed a plan to let Hong Kong residents who are vaccinated against COVID19 to return to Hong Kong from the United Kingdom. 

This move is likely to most benefit students who have been unable to return to their families after completing their studies after the UK became a high risk COVID19 zone. 

This change in restrictions happens amidst a surge in the Delta COVID19 variant there and after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that safeguards against COVID19 in that country would be a matter of "personal choice" going forward.

photo screenshot from Ming Pao

In related news, the UK agreed a plan to let people traveling from Hong Kong to enter the country with only an antibody test. If they are shown free of COVID19, they will be allowed to visit and / or reside in the UK without having to submit to quarantine. 

These moves will certainly bring up lots of questions about other residents in other high risk areas.  Many countries have started to ease pandemic controls, while some, like Singapore and the Netherlands, have decided to stop announcing daily infection rates and to treat the disease more like the flu. 

Still, in many countries, vaccination rates are low, and it is believed that for as long as vaccination rates are low in Hong Kong and in high risk countries, there is little chance of quarantine and travel restrictions being lifted wholesale. 

Hong Kong PolyU Becomes Third University to Distance Its Administration from Student Union

Hong Kong Poly U administrators announced that they would no longer collect dues for the student union, following in the wake of City U and University of Hong Kong, which in recent days publicly removed their support for the independent groups on campus. 

The move comes during a troubled time for democracy advocates and student life stewards on university campuses. Hong Kong Poly U holds a particularly problematic place in the local city history during the pro-democracy protests two years ago, in 2019. 

Student protestors hurl molotov cocktails at police during the Poly U siege, November 2019 -- photo credit Wikipedia

It was during those protests that students barricaded themselves inside the campus and refused to come out, throwing molotov cocktails, bricks, and other heavy objects and chemicals at police. The siege lasted one week and five days. While a majority of students fled the campus during the standoff, a small number turned themselves over to police. 

University of Hong Kong administrators last weekend removed pro-democracy posters that were hung up around the campus there. And yesterday they announced they would no longer support the student union as an organization after student leaders publicly sympathised with a police attacker who committed suicide in busy Causeway Bay a few days ago. 

Yuen Long District Councillor Arrested for Alleged Criminal Intimidation

Yuen Long District Councillor Ho Wai-pan has been arrested for allegedly committing "criminal intimidation" for posting the picture of a dagger online on Facebook in March of last year and claiming to travel to Tin Shui Wai to end the forces of street gambling that he alleged were becoming problematic for the community. 

The post stated that Ho would rid the community of criminal activity such as street gambling. Ho allegedly used a photo of a knife to relay the message. In his message he said that property landlords and community stewards ignored the problem and that local police "pretended" to solve the problem. 

This is apparently the heart of the matter that seems to have landed him in trouble. 

The arrest draws attention to current sentiment around publishing information on social media. There is concern in the city that public-facing messages are drawing more scrutiny lately. 

Ho ran for his place on the district council as an Independent, according to government registration data. 

A series of photos related to the alleged criminal intimidation -- courtesy Sing Tao newspaper

Hong Kong International Airport Passenger Figures Show Cargo Flights Still Making Up for Huge Drop in Passenger Flights Over Past Year

Hong Kong International Airport newly published statistics for May 2021 show that cargo is still making up for the bulk of flights into and out of the airport, as COVID19 protocols still severely limit the inflow of foreigners and returning Hong Kong residents from overseas. 

The small uptick in passenger volumes year over year for the month of May have some wondering if an exodus of sorts is underway, as many Hong Kong families have made plans and have left Hong Kong in the wake of developments over National Security and China's increased dominance in daily life here. 

While it is hard to parse the data to find out granular details about the intake out and output for the airport, it is likely that many more passengers are leaving Hong Kong than are coming in, and this would be the reason for a slight increase Month on Month and Year over Year in passenger numbers and flights, though nothing that breaks the considerable decline over the past year. 

HKIA booked 8, 680 "passenger flight movements" since April 2021, a 9.4% increase in movements, though that statistic comes with the proviso that transit and transfer passenger movements are counted twice when tabulating the numbers. 

There was a 4.6% drop year over year when comparing May 2021 to May 2020, a move from 4,680 passenger movemements last year to only 4,465 movements this year. 

There was an increase year over year in number of passengers, from May 2020 to 2021, a move of 57.7%, but still not enough to make up for a 12 months decrease in passenger numbers of -98.2%. 

Cargo flights, which are calculated by metric tonnes and number of flights, continued their pace of increases in tonnes shipped,  growing from 266,000 tonnes to 275,000 tonnes. However, there was a decrease in number of movements of about -3.9% year over year for the month of May. 

The HKIA has still not published the statistics for June, but a spokesperson for the airport in an email said that they hoped to have these details out by the end of the week. 

China watchers have taken new interest in such figures, as there have been a noticeable increase in Hong Kong families leaving Hong Kong permanently, for destinations such as the United Kingdom and the United States, according to media reports. 

Hong Kong in 4K (via drone)

This video comes to us courtesy of Drone Snap 

Hong Kong Lags Behind Global Pace of COVID19 Vaccinations, Only 27% Fully Vaccinated

Only about 30% of Hong Kong's population has received a second Covid19 dose since the program started offering free vaccines nearly a year ago. 

In Hong Kong's continuing struggle to urge an apathetic public into getting a shot to protect them against strains of the virus, government data reveals that Hong Kong is well under the mass adoption levels needed to offer herd immunity. 

A total of 4.4 million doses of the vaccine have been administered Source: Hong Kong Government

Government data shown in the Hong Kong Vaccination Dashboard reveal that 1.8 million or about 26.9% of the city's population have received their second dose. 

While Hong Kong struggles to obtain the 67-70% vaccination rate that medical experts say is needed to help global attempts to secure herd immunity, local officials and even private businesses have tried their best to ramp up doses. 

There have been lucky draws meant to draw attention to vaccinations. One property management company was even giving away a multi-million dollar house in one of the luxury high rises in the city. 

Criticism of the government effort has centered on what seem to be arbitrary quarantine rules and dosage requirements. While visitors and Hong Kong locals who make it into the city from some areas are told they need to quarantine for up to 21 days (and pay for their own hotel rooms during the stay), some residents returning from China, for example, are not required to quarantine for that length of time and can also choose to self-isolate with family in their own homes. 

With no discernible difference between the treatment given to vaccinated and the non-vaccinated, as well, there hasn't been a consisten reason to get vaccinated. And this may contribute to the lagging rates in vaccinations compared to other cities and countries globally. 

LaLaMove Weighs Move to China IPO Market in Wake of China Crackdown on Tech Listings

In the wake of a recent heavy crackdown on tech listings in the American IPO market, LaLaMove is said to be weighing a cancellation of its potential US$1B US IPO.

Lalamove US IPO threatened -- Image courtesy Lalamove 

#LALAMOVE SAID TO WEIGH MOVING $1B #IPO FROM #US TO #HongKong

— 3Sigma Markets (@3Sigmamarkets) July 13, 2021

LaLaMove filed confidentially to list in June of this year.  Recently, other China tech heavy hitters also IPO'd but found a government crackdown waiting in the wings. Didi, the Uber competitor in China, launched an IPO last week but was taken to task for infringing on recent changes to China's privacy laws. It has been rumored that Didi officials, feeling pressure from foreign investors to list an IPO, disobeyed restrictions and qualifications imposed on Didi by China regulators. 

Didi's app was removed from China's app stores. 

Other companies like Tencent are being reviewed over concerns that certain lines of business have a monopoly in certain areas. Alibaba founder Jack Ma's Ant Financial also recently had their IPO yanked from the market by regulators after concerns were aired that it's credit services and other financial tools had a monopoly in certain areas of consumer finance. 

Biden to Warn US Companies of Risks of Operating in Hong Kong

The White House will deliver warnings this week to American corporations working in Hong Kong as Beijing seeks to control more of the financial dealings within the territory, a report says. 

The announcement will pertain to warnings about the storage of private data in Hong Kong and a Beijing plan to enable retalitory sanctions against individuals or groups that impose restrictions on Chinese companies, the report in the Financial Times said. 

US President Joe Biden will issue the warning as the White House seeks to update Trump era sanctions issued against China in retaliation for actions it is taking in Xinjiang to imprison Muslim citizens of that country. China has vigorously spoken out against these claims. Earlier today, China officials claimed that Hong Kong residents and foreign firms are not at risk in the entrepot. 

The warning will also highlight recent actions that the Biden administration believes curtail democracy aims in Hong Kong. China has said that actions that seek to penalise officials and the financial hub are infringements of China's sovereignty. 

University of Hong Kong Ceases Support for Student Union as Row Over Police Attacker Widens

The University of Hong Kong has ended support of its student union after some of its members were seen to sympathise with a local man who attacked a police officer with a knife in busy Causeway Bay and then killed himself. The local attacker had left behind writing that indicated he had attacked police in protest against police handling of protests in 2019.

Chief Secretary John Lee -- Source: Hong Kong Government

In the hours and days that followed the attack, locals flocked to the site of the attack and laid flowers as an act of remberance. The student union was one of a few groups that publicly expressed sympathy for the attacker. In the student union case, student leaders of the organization had thanked the attacker for his "sacrifice." 

At the time, Hong Kong's former Secretary for Security John Lee voiced strong opposition to these acts of sympathy and likened it to supporting terrorism. Lee has since been promoted to the territory's number two role, Chief Secretary. Unlike his predecessor, the recently retired Matthew Cheung, Lee's focus will be almost entirely on the National Security Legislation passed in Hong Kong last year. 

The attack attracted criticism from the mainland and protests against local company VitaSoy after it was learned that the attacker, who later committed suicide, was an employee of the company. 

A human resources manager had circulated a memo at the time offering condolences for the deceased. That employee was fired. And VitaSoy publicly placed itself at a distance from that memo, stating that the memo was circulated without consent or review from management. 

Sources: Hong Kong Police Will Formally Charge Teenager with Bomb Plot Conspiracy

Police will move to formally charge a 15 year old boy, surnamed Law, with conspiracy to commit terrorism, according to news reports. He is linked with eight others to a  bomb plot that Hong Kong police uncovered last week.  The plot was instigated by a local group that had taken shape during the anti-government protests of 2019.

The alleged bomb plot targeted infrastructure and sites of interest and was a protest against recent developments in Hong Kong pertaining to the new National Security Legislation. 

Hong Kong chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a weekly news briefing recently that she hoped that members of the public would "openly condemn threats of violence." 

It is not yet clear what other charges will be brought against other members of the group, which include a member of a local university and a staff member of a local property management company. The group allegedly recruited secondary school students and enlisted the help of a construction worker to source bomb making materials. 

The group's alleged bomb making laboratory was also raided last week. Officials there found ingridients that could be used to make powerful explosives. 

Prosecutors in Hong Kong's First National Security Legislation Trial Debate Malcolm X's Role as a Separatist

Prosecutors leading the case against Edward Leung in a trial dealing with the controversial National Security Legislation passed in Hong Kong in 2020 spent time arguing the finer points of American legal and political philosophy on day twelve of the trial. 

Defense expert Eliza Lee didn't get far in her line of reasoning, however.

While she used her time in court today to debate the role of Malcolm X as an African-American separatist, she was stopped by Judge Anthea Pang, who said the line of questioning and debate was "far, far removed from the issues before the court." 

Prosecutors apparently wanted to use the debate about the African-American racial justice proponent to set a backdrop against which they could characterise Leung as a separatist. 

Prosecutors in Hong Kong's first national security trial, on Day 12, briefly explored the question of whether Malcolm X was a separatist.

"How much do we need to venture into the complicated history of American racial segregation?" replied defence expert Eliza Lee.

— Holmes Chan (@holmeschan_) July 13, 2021

Leung is on trial for taking part in events that the government and police have characterized as riots during the pro-democracy protests that rattled Hong Kong through much of 2019.  Leung was a founder of this now-disbanded "nativist" advocacy group called Indigenous, which advocated for self-determination for Hong Kong's citizens. 

Hong Kong has since passed a controversial National Security Legislation that experts and lawyers have said is too broad and too ambiguous to be properly deployed against questions of national security. 

China Mainland Subject of Andy Lau Film Reunited with Missing Son After 24 Years

Guo Gangtang, a grieving father who traveled over 500,000 kilometers through China looking for a son who had been abducted by traffickers in 1999, has finally been reunited with his son after 24 years. 

Guo Gangtang finally reunited with his son on Monday, 24 years after he was abducted, with the help of the police which recently located the son and arrested 2 human traffickers. pic.twitter.com/XqGhcRKsqt

— SHINE (@shanghaidaily) July 13, 2021

According to Shanghai Daily, Guo was reunited with his missing son on Monday. Meanwhile, two human traffickers have been detained and charges are pending. 

Hong Kong film star Andy Lau, who played Guo in a movie  in 2015, sent his congratulations via video. 

 

#HongKong actor and singer Andy Lau, who played Guo Gangtang in the movie, sent his congratulations to Guo and expressed his gratitude to the police for their years of hard work after learning of the happy reunion. #AndyLau pic.twitter.com/BhnBVfsWVJ

— SHINE (@shanghaidaily) July 13, 2021