‘Mobilise all forces and resources’: mainland Chinese official reveals vast logistics of joint initiative to combat Hong Kong’s coronavirus outbreak
- Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call to action a ‘watershed moment’ in Covid-19 fight, think tank director says
- Mainland official says task forces need to submit daily progress reports on every aspect of Hong Kong’s pandemic-control situation to liaison office chief
As Hong Kong battles its most ravaging wave of coronavirus infections, Li, a mainland Chinese official, is among staff camped out at the central government’s liaison office in Sheung Wan and clocking long hours at work. He is a task force member under a joint initiative coordinating support for the city’s Covid-19 fight.
Li, who wishes to be identified only by his last name, said the long shifts were a norm. Last Wednesday, a pro-Beijing newspaper reported Chinese President Xi Jinping’s directive to mainland and Hong Kong authorities to “mobilise all forces and resources” to curb the city’s Omicron-fuelled outbreak.
Li said: “The long stay in office is also to minimise travelling and hence, the chance of infection.” He sleeps on a foldable bed, and gets food and much-needed tea and coffee from the office canteen.
“It is winter now, I don’t have to change my clothes everyday. I just have to bring my toothbrush and toothpaste to the office and I am good,” he said.
Like hundreds of his counterparts working across the border in the Shenzhen command centre, Li became a member of one of the five task forces under a top-level tripartite group comprising officials from Beijing, Guangdong and Hong Kong.