Mainland representatives lash out at critics of mass Covid-19 testing scheme, accusing them of ‘slander’ and ‘despicable behaviour’
- The central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and Beijing’s liaison office in the city accuse local activists of undermining the testing scheme
- Linking criticisms to last year’s unrest, HKMAO warns those supporting ‘black violence’ will ‘suffer heavy blows’ under new national security law
Two Beijing agencies overseeing Hong Kong affairs have condemned local activists for “slandering the mainland’s efforts to aid the city in fighting the epidemic”, as some health care workers and several activists called for a boycott of the government's universal coronavirus testing plan.
A few hours after the calls for boycott emerged, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) and Beijing’s liaison office in the city issued statements on Sunday evening saying such actions disregarded the safety and health of the Hong Kong public.
“Those very few people with ulterior motives in Hong Kong have taken good for evil, slandering and discrediting the mainland's assistance to Hong Kong in fighting the epidemic,” an HKMAO spokesman said.
The office maintained that the activists had groundlessly slandered the qualifications of the mainland experts, the quality of testing reagents and the safety of the laboratory, falsely claiming the citywide testing, which will be handled by mainland-based testing companies, was merely aimed at financially benefiting certain firms – or worse.
“They even made up stories and spread rumours of ‘genes being sent to China’, with the intention of creating social panic and repeating the ugly scenes of rumours in the extradition bill crisis,” the office said.