My Take | Pan-dems stoke fear of the PLA bogeyman
- Opposition lawmakers have resorted to the usual insults and scaremongering by questioning why soldiers from the Hong Kong garrison were allowed to help in the Typhoon Mangkhut clean-up
Lawmakers who represent Hong Kong people should thank the army garrison for sending hundreds of soldiers to help clean up debris and felled trees in country parks after Typhoon Mangkhut battered the city in September.
It wasn’t their job, only a charitable act. Cynics may call it a public relations exercise. Whatever it is, the 400 or so People’s Liberation Army soldiers had performed a useful service for the city.
But at a formal meeting in the legislature, opposition lawmakers Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and Claudia Mo Man-ching resorted to the usual insults and scaremongering by questioning why the soldiers were allowed outside their barracks, and to wear uniforms.
Chan asked whether the government would urge soldiers not to wear uniforms while performing volunteer or charitable work, the implication being that such appearances would scare the living daylights out of ordinary people.
Mo wanted to know whether the clean-up operation meant PLA soldiers could now go anywhere they wanted in Hong Kong.
She asked: “Has the government thrown its door wide open to allow PLA soldiers to walk around the city?”