The coronavirus is fuelling tensions in protest-racked Hong Kong
An unprecedented strike by medical staff is piling pressure on the government
“THERE IS NO reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade.” So declared the World Health Organisation’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on February 3rd after several countries, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, had closed their borders with China or (like America and Australia) announced that foreign citizens who had recently visited China would be barred from entering. Yet many people in Hong Kong want the territory to seal itself off from the Chinese mainland. Their demands are putting new political pressure on the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, after months of pro-democracy unrest.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Keep out”
From the February 8th 2020 edition
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