Alex Lo

My Take | ‘Partygate’ has blue camp circling the wagons

Members of the political elite have been trying to deflect public attention away from Witman Hung’s ill-fated birthday party and on to Cathay Pacific, whose crews have been blamed for starting the fifth wave of the highly contagious Omicron outbreak

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Why you can trust SCMP

About 170 people were present for Witman Hung’s party at the Spanish tapas bar and restaurant Reserva Iberica in Wan Chai on January 3. Photo: Handout

Alex Lo

Published: 9:00pm, 9 Jan 2022

At a meeting last week, Xia Baolong told newly elected Hong Kong lawmakers to remain united, despite their differences. The pro-establishment all-cast may be taking the word of the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office too readily.

The damning scandal of “partygate” has seen many in the “blue” camp circling the wagons and trying to deflect public attention to Cathay Pacific, whose crews have been blamed for starting the fifth wave of the highly contagious Omicron outbreak.

It’s doubtful this is what Xia meant by unity. The director himself could have been exposed when he met partygoer and lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, who was among the 170-plus guests of political VIP Witman Hung’s ill-fated birthday party.

Ho insisted he and other guests did nothing wrong by attending the mass gathering, at a time when the government told the public to practise social distancing and began to tighten rules on gatherings. Instead, he blamed Cathay, and the government for allowing travel loopholes for the airline.

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s only delegate who sits on the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, echoed the same criticism and said there was nothing wrong with holding a private party. Kwok Wai-keung, a unionist lawmaker, also said the public should focus criticism on Cathay.

This unified messaging seems to have been started by Chris Wat Wing-yin, the influential blue camp columnist. She has blamed the local media for “politicising a public health incident”. Wat said that instead of investigating potential misconduct of top officials at the party, as ordered by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the government should focus on probing wrongdoings by Cathay management and crews.