1. This is a very irresponsible tweet, not least because it comes from a public-health influencer followed by many anxious people amid a global pandemic. What’s happening in #HongKong is emphatically different from your characterization, @DrEricDing, and you should delete it. https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1358047376326488074

2. First of all, there’s nothing close to a Covid “defeat,” so I have no idea what you’re on about. There aren’t “zero” cases either. That figure, in fact, is over 10,000, leading to 186 deaths so far — much higher than countries with larger populations like Taiwan and Vietnam.

3. And if you’re referring to the many instances of “zero” cases detected in residential buildings where the cops have locked down (literally with locks), then the reason is simple: There was never an on-site infection to begin with. In other words, the premise is nonexistent.

4. Do you know what else is nonexistent? Carrie Lam’s vaccination strategy. At a time when Macau — with just 48 cases and no deaths — possesses 100,000 doses, Hong Kong doesn’t have any. Her incompetence is exacerbated by her refusal to take the coronavirus seriously early on. https://twitter.com/xinqisu/status/1357946369684557825

5. She refused to close the border with China last year even after medical professionals staged a massive strike and begged her to do it so as not to overwhelm the fragile healthcare system. Loyal to Beijing, she never fails to put politics above Hong Kongers’ wellbeing.

6. These daily “ambush lockdowns,” as she calls them, is about fear. Amid the shitshow, the only improvement she can think of is on preventing “leakages,” so the press doesn’t report ahead of time which neighborhoods will be sealed off like some kind of biohazard zone.

7. Imagine being a Hong Konger in an age of secret police, mass surveillance, and arbitrary arrests. Imagine the trauma of going home to this scene, which happens to be not far from where I used to live in Hong Kong. Or imagine wandering the streets all night with nowhere to go. https://twitter.com/galileocheng/status/1357869973146726400

8. Everything is pure spectacle — not a serious program based on reason and science, but one that strengthens the national-security apparatus in the name of disease control. Also, what’s with the “no exception” bullshit? What about white expats? What about the rich?

9. Ethnic minorities and the poor shoulder the greatest burden, although there’s no proof that they’re any more contagious. If you don’t see the obvious, you either are supportive of a discriminatory policy or are oblivious to life in one of the most unequal cities in the world. https://twitter.com/jeffreychngo/status/1353297565329072130

10. I can only suspect the latter is true as you talk about a “normal life” in Hong Kong. This really is offensive. What kind of alternate universe are you in? Every time you turn on the international news, you see stories of democracy fighters facing persecution and prosecution.

11. Sure, at the end of the day, Hong Kong is still relatively successful in combating Covid-19 compared to America, where sensible advice from authorities is ignored. But step out of your U.S.-centric framework for a second before making stupid comments about foreign places.

12. Because when you automatically give governments credit and assume they must know better than suffering individuals, you sound condescending as hell. Hong Kongers are confronting the twin crises of public health and rising authoritarianism. Your disinformation isn’t helpful.