By Tom Fowdy
Earlier this week Hong Kong demosisto general secretary and pro-Democracy activist Joshua Wong mocked world renowned genetic scientist Richard Dawkins after he praised the city’s response in combating the virus and extraordinarily low death rate. Writing on twitter, Professor Dawkins cited an article from the Guardian and stated: “Hong Kong, with a population of 7.5 million right next door to China, has had only 4 deaths. They followed WHO guidelines.”
However, Wong was ardent that he knows better. Brushing aside the author of the award winning selfish-gene and Blind Watchmaker books, Joshua insisted: “it’s clear he has no idea what he’s talking about here. Hong Kongers have actively defied the WHO and its lies. That’s how we managed to contain the outbreak. The world needs the truth, not disinformation.”
Wong’s point however is logically flawed as it focuses solely upon the politics of the organization and does not assess whether Hong Kongers combated the virus with methods approved by experts. Despite being one of the most densely populated places on Earth, the city is deeply experienced in epidemic management especially since the SARs outbreak of 2002-2003.
As recommended by the WHO, Hong Kongers have engaged in mass testing and contact tracing, social distancing, all wear masks and take personal hygiene extremely seriously. To say that this all stems from a distrust of China and the WHO obviously does not make any sense, and is moot to the point. This forms a wider culture of where expert individuals and organizations have been attacked by activists for failing to conform to anti-China narratives.
