8 | Tuesday, July 21, 2020 HONG KONG| EDITIONCHINA DAILY COMMENTHK

TO THE POINT Five Eyes Alliance: Trade STAFF WRITER Political zealots put partisan trumps truth every time interests over people’s lives Some members of the opposition human intelligence and human dig- Grenville Cross says the intelligence alliance has turned camp on Sunday staged an illegal nity, as it was held despite that the protest rally in Yuen Long and, inten- city was under a new wave of attack into an anti-China coalition where members subordinate tionally or not, signifi cantly boosted by the coronavirus. The fact that the the risk of spreading the COVID-19 number of confi rmed COVID-19 cases themselves to the US for favorable economic treatment pandemic in Hong Kong. Incidentally, rose dramatically in the past week the special administrative region gov- and peaked on Sunday could be a he Five Eyes intelligence ity, racial profi ling and the treatment of ernment the same day reported 108 result of the unauthorized poll, which alliance is the world’s migrant families, the US response, shortly more confi rmed cases of the disease, allegedly collected a total of about oldest such grouping, after Pompeo’s appointment in 2018, was a new single-day record. There is no 600,000 votes at more than 250 poll- dating back to the 1940s. not to put things right, but to announce doubt a new wave of novel coronavirus ing stations. Whether all those ballots Comprising Australia, its withdrawal from the council. Had the infections is sweeping through the city, were “clean” notwithstanding, that Canada, New Zealand, the report been taken seriously, many of the and local residents are already in dan- event certainly put a lot of people at United Kingdom and the Grenville Cross problems associated with the killing of ger and must follow personal hygiene risk of coronavirus infection. United States, it provides a comprehensive The author is a senior counsel, law pro- George Floyd in 2020 might have been and social-distancing rules to the letter The Sunday illegal rally and the espionageT network. It collects and shares fessor and criminal justice analyst, and avoided, although none of the Five Eyes to stay safe. By organizing unlawful “primary election” held on the previ- all types of information, including signal, was previously the director of public dared mention this to Pompeo. activities in violation of quarantine ous weekend were further evidence defense and human intelligence, and, most prosecutions of the HKSAR. If, moreover, the Five Eyes really wanted rules, the opposition camp and radical that the political zealots prioritize recently, geospatial intelligence. to do something positive about human groups in particular will achieve noth- partisan interests over Hong Kong Under President Donald Trump, the US which we have in place”. Despite this, Pom- rights, they could, for example, raise with ing except putting numerous people’s residents’ health and lives, a move has withdrawn from many of its global peo was pacifi ed when, on July 14, Johnson, Pompeo the situation of the prisoners held as well as their own supporters’ health transgressing the loosest moral involvements, including the World Health who had given Huawei a 35 percent share for years without trial at the US military and even lives in danger. boundaries. Whoever is behind Organization, the United Nations Educa- in the UK’s 5G network on Jan 29, abruptly prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, given The illegal gathering on Sunday such illegal assemblies must be held tional, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization, changed his mind, pledging to end its that this would be abhorrent in their own was held in the wake of another responsible for violating the social- the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action involvement by 2027, a volte-face for which countries. In 2018, Trump even signed an unlawful assembly of a much larger distancings rule and thus endanger- on Iran, the Paris Climate Agreement, and Trump promptly claimed credit. Indeed, executive order, keeping the prison open scale on July 11 and 12, when the ing public safety. the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership. By contrast, on Jan 30, Pompeo had reacted furiously indefi nitely, prompting Daphne Eviatar, opposition camp staged a so-called The illegal gathering on Sunday however, it has signifi cantly enhanced its to Johnson’s original decision, even telling the director of security for Amnesty Inter- primary election to produce fake also featured separatist advocacy involvement in Five Eyes, for reasons that him to take a “relook”, a telling insight into national USA, to say he had “opened the popularity for the candidates they in addition to endangering public are now clear. Driven by Secretary of State how he sees the legendary “Special Rela- door for a whole new era of horrifi c human favor for the September Legislative health. The culprits were blatantly Mike Pompeo, US foreign policy is largely tionship” between the two countries. rights violations to take place”. In Janu- Council election. That political farce challenging the new National Security directed at challenging China, and the Australia, meanwhile, also announced ary, there were still 40 detainees there, all was not only devoid of a legal basis Law. They must face the full force of Five Eyes is seen as a ready-made, English- that it would o¡ er “pathways” to citizen- Muslim men, many of whom have under- but also an insult to common sense, the law. speaking alliance that the US can mold ship to about 10,000 Hong Kong people on gone torture. However, the US’ Five Eyes into an anti-China coalition. student and temporary visas, and suspend partners know that, if they brought this up Originally a partnership of equals, Five its extradition treaty with Hong Kong. New with Pompeo, it would upset the puppet Eyes is now dominated by the US, which Zealand, moreover, declared that it was master, and it is safer by far for them sim- uses its trade clout to get its way. Whereas reviewing its relationship with Hong Kong, ply to gang up on little Hong Kong. Stricter quarantine measures the UK, which fi nally exits the European which would include extradition arrange- In Australia, meanwhile, the government Union on Dec 31, is desperate for a gener- ments, the export of strategic goods, and a has just introduced its Australian Security ous free-trade deal with the US by year’s travel advisory. Intelligence Organization Amendment Bill, end, Australia has had one since 2005, All this must have delighted Pompeo, which gives sweeping new powers to the needed to stop virus spread which has been of huge benefi t to its econ- whose crusade against China dates back ASIO, including the power to compulsorily omy, and it is keen to develop it further. many years. What, however, is extraordi- question people not only for terrorism- have always maintained that the right The Canada-United States-Mexico Agree- nary is that, although the Five Eyes all have related threats, but also for espionage, for- approach to dealing with COVID-19 ment, moreover, only came into force on their own national security laws, they wish eign interference and politically motivated must include strict quarantining for July 1, and Canada is now more deter- to prevent Hong Kong from having any violence. The age at which the ASIO can arrivals from areas with new infec- mined than ever to cement its ties with the of its own. As it lacked basic protections, compulsorily question minors is, moreover, Itions at all our border points and those in US. For its part, New Zealand is anxious to Hong Kong was left largely defenseless in to be reduced from 16 to 14, if they are sus- close contact with infected patients. I have have a free-trade partnership with the US, the face of those who, over the past year, pected of planning a politically motivated been hoping that by doing this, combined Ho Lok-sang and, in 2019, its foreign minister, Winston tried their best to destroy “one country, two attack. The bill also gives the authorities with social distancing, widespread use of The author is a senior research fellow Peters, declared that “the United States’ systems”. the power to force digital platforms and masks by the public, and temporary shut- at the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong limited engagement in trade agreements in Whereas none of the Five Eyes would service providers abroad to surrender downs in order to cut the chain of local Economic Research Institute, Lingnan the Indo-Pacifi c is of real concern to New ever tolerate parts of their own countries personal and business data belonging to infections, we would eventually come to the University. Zealand”. being denied essential national security Australians. At the parliamentary inquiry stage of zero local infections. Provided that Quite clearly, therefore, the other Five laws to defend themselves, they hypocriti- on July 10, David Neal, the co-chair of the we keep zero local infections for 28 days, drivers, captains, or pilots (who are exempt Eyes members are beholden to the US, cally expected China to countenance this in Law Council’s National Criminal Law Com- then it will be safe to open up our borders from quarantine) spreading the disease in and, when it says “Jump”, they reply “How Hong Kong, even when terrorist-type out- mittee, described some of these powers as with those countries or regions that have the community? high?” In May, when Pompeo asked them rages were being committed by people who being broader than those in Hong Kong’s achieved the same. This is exactly what has My third question is: Wuhan was able to to sign up to a joint rebuke to China for its wanted Hong Kong to secede from China. National Security Law, which was clearly happened to Macao, which declared that as test all its 11 million residents for COVID-19 proposed National Security Law for Hong Massive damage was caused to public true. of July 15, quarantine is no longer required infections — we have a much smaller popu- Kong, they quickly fell into line, the excep- facilities, infrastructure and businesses by However, the ASIO’s Director General, for visitors traveling between Guangdong lation; why can’t we do more tests? The tion being New Zealand, which meekly armed mobs, with, for example, 91 percent Mike Burgess, justifi ed the bill as Australia province and Macao. This is great news Wuhan massive test campaign as “10 days apologized that it “couldn’t agree in time”, of the railway stations being vandalized, is facing unprecedented levels of espionage for Macao’s tourist and gaming industries. of battle” began on May 14 after Wuhan despite its “deep concern”. something the Five Eyes would never allow and foreign interference, a terrorist threat The stock prices of all operators of Macao’s reported a cluster of six new cases on the Once, however, the law was enacted on on their own soil. that remains at “probable”, and an “escalat- hotels and casinos jumped. The outlook for weekend of May 9, after 35 days without June 30, there were no stragglers. After The US, of course, has numerous ing threat of violence from extremists”, and the Macao economy suddenly brightened reporting any new infections in the city. In Pompeo had fi red his opening salvos, national security laws, many draconian his words exactly describe the threats that up. order to complete the task in 10 days, the promising sanctions on all and sundry, the and intrusive, and a battery of agencies to Hong Kong also faces. But although it is Sadly for Hong Kong, we are not as for- city adopted a pooled testing method that other members tamely joined in, unveiling enforce them, including the Department of fi ne, in the Five Eyes book, for Australia tunate. Even though zero local infections enabled health workers to assess as many a raft of preplanned measures. Whereas the Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of to take tough defensive action to protect had been achieved and even though we had as 10 samples simultaneously. If a positive UK was the fi rst out of the traps, announc- Investigation, the National Security Agency its citizens, it is not alright for China to do sometimes been able to maintain the record result came from a batch, authorities then ing that, in an attempt to gut Hong Kong, and the Secret Service. However, even likewise, which is rank hypocrisy of the for 14 days, each time, our hope to maintain followed up with assessments on each per- it was planning to grant a “path to citizen- though, for example, the USA Patriot Act worst sort. zero local infections was dashed. In the last son in the group. Testing pooled samples ship” to up to 3 million holders of Hong 2001 violates the US Constitution’s Fourth Quite why any self-respecting nation week, we even saw serious local outbreaks enables more tests with existing kits while Kong BNO passports, Canada was hot on Amendment right to judicial protections would wish to throw in its lot with an with unknown origins. still providing su¬ cient diagnostic accu- its heels, declaring that it was suspend- against illegal searches, and the Cybersecu- alliance which so brazenly promotes Some people blame this on weariness of racy, according to a recent article in The ing its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, rity Act 2015 rides roughshod over privacy double-standards beggars belief. It appears our social distancing and mask wearing. Lancet. blocking the export of sensitive military protections, its Five Eyes partners turn a judgment and morality have been subordi- But the holes in our current quarantine A poor African country, Rwanda, has also items, and issuing a travel advisory. blind eye, treating it as an internal matter nated to greed and self-interest, which suits policy also play a part. Unless we plug these adopted this method, and its achievement In a rare show of defi ance, however, the for the US. Pompeo down to the ground. However, the holes, all our e¡ ort at social distancing, all in containing the pandemic is truly impres- UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, while Indeed, after the UN Human Rights Five Eyes would do well to remember that our e¡ ort in giving away money to alleviate sive. According to Sabin Nsanzimana, assuring everyone that Britain was “exam- Council issued a scathing report on the US all that glitters is not gold. the pain from the economic hemorrhage, director general of the Rwanda Biomedical ining” its extradition arrangements with human rights record in 2015, and made will come to naught. There will be no end Center, an arm of the Ministry of Health Hong Kong, nonetheless made clear that 348 recommendations for improvement, The views do not necessarily refl ect those of to the economic pain, and we can expect that’s in charge of tackling COVID-19, also “there are already signifi cant safeguards covering such areas as police brutal- China Daily. that many businesses will fail, and that the used “pooled testing”. There, nasal swabs unemployment rate will see a spike. If the from 20-25 people are pooled and tested for economy does not recover, our fi scal defi cit the virus. If they get a positive result, then To curb will not disappear. We will drain out all our all the swabs that went into that initial vial fi scal reserves. are tested individually to identify who is the virus There are some questions and they must infected. be answered. Since recording its fi rst case in mid- A man who came The fi rst question is: Since we all know March, the country of 12 million has record- to the immigration that home quarantine is highly unsafe, why ed just over 1,200 cases. Aggressive testing office in Wan Chai with his documents do we still opt for home quarantine instead and dedicated quarantine facilities have on Monday carefully of quarantining at dedicated sites? Hong allowed Rwanda to achieve this, notwith- reads a notice Kong is noted for its dense population. Even standing a per capita GDP of merely $825 the department if the quarantined person does not violate last year. If Rwanda can do this, there is no posted. Some of quarantine rules, his family members reason why Hong Kong cannot do it. the department’s who live in the same house do not need to I am sure Hong Kong has the resources services have been observe quarantine. We must not ignore the to contain the pandemic. Resources spent suspended or moved chance that the virus will be passed on to a on containing the pandemic must come online because of the family member who then will pass it to oth- fi rst. If we do not have the will and com- COVID-19 pandemic. ers in the community. We have many hotels mitment to contain the pandemic, the cost PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY that have very low occupancy because we upon all of us will be much greater than any have no tourists. Why don’t we reserve savings from not committing the necessary some hotels for the purpose, as is done on resources to do so. This is also the view of the mainland? Dr Zhang Wenhong, head of the center of My second question is: Although we do infectious diseases, Huashan Hospital of need to keep our city open, because our Fudan University. supplies have to be fl own in, trucked in, or shipped in, can we do better in containing The views do not necessarily refl ect those of the risks of possible infected crew members, China Daily.