Xinhua, People’s Daily take Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority to task over its response to a doctor’s arrest during Sunday’s protests

The authority overseeing Hong Kong’s public hospitals was criticised by two mainland media outlets for being “biased” and “harbouring violence” over its response towards the arrest of a doctor on Sunday.

People’s Daily and Xinhua fired their criticisms at the Hospital Authority two days after a doctor from Tseung Kwan O Hospital was arrested on Sunday at Popcorn mall in Tseung Kwan O. The mall was one of the shopping centres which had been vandalised.

It was unclear whether the doctor had joined any protest or taken part in any vandalism.

In a statement released on Sunday night, the Hospital Authority said Tseung Kwan O Hospital expressed its “concern and sympathy” to the employee involved and “would provide appropriate and feasible help”. It also declined to comment further on staff’s out-of-work matters.

On Tuesday, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said in a commentary that the authority was “biased” in its statement.

“In view of violence such as vandalising shops, it was perplexing and hard to agree with the biased stance of the Hospital Authority, which downplayed and neglected the violence,” the commentary said.

It added that statutory bodies, including the authority, should adopt a clear stance in stopping violence.

“If they do not distance themselves from mobs but intend to harbour them … they could become the accomplices of those violent people who are upsetting the order in Hong Kong,” the commentary said.

It cited the MTR Corporation as an example of standing boldly to support police enforcing the law, adding “such courage and accountability was the true devotion to public interests”.

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Separately, Xinhua also made similar comments in an article published on Tuesday. It said that the response of the Hospital Authority was “biased” and could lead to suspicion that it was “harbouring violence”.

“Is the authority standing with mobs and violence, or standing on the side of the Special Administrative Region government and law and justice?” the article said, questioning whether the authority was encouraging more health care workers to join “riots”.

“Regarding hospitals that obstructed police enforcing law … and health care workers joining violent illegal activities, the authority must not take a soft stance when handling them,” it said.

The Hospital Authority said on Tuesday evening that it hoped “recent violent incidents in society could stop as soon as possible, and order and peace could be resumed”.

It said that providing assistance to staff who had got involved in legal matters outside work did not mean agreeing with the relevant behaviour of the employee.

The Food and Health Bureau said the authority must provide services equally regardless of a person’s stance or background.

Dr Arisina Ma Chung-yee, president of Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association, said she did not understand why the two state media outlets would make such comments.

“That doctor did not appear to have any violent behaviour or participate in any vandalism, according to video footage available online. I don’t understand how those mainland media would describe the authority as condoning violence from this case,” Ma said, adding that an open and fair legal process would be needed to determine whether the doctor had broken any laws.

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Ma described the authority’s Sunday statement as appropriate.

“It did not deny any possibilities that [the] doctor had committed crime, or made any judgement whether he was right or wrong,” she said.

She added that it was the right of everyone, including those who were arrested, to receive help such as medical and legal assistance.

“[People’s Daily] and [Xinhua] have been describing matters in Hong Kong from their perspectives and might not be based on facts,” she said.