CCP-Style Disaster-Response Tactics Emerge in Hong Kong: Civilian Press Conference Cancelled, Support Wall Erased, Grassroots Efforts Co-opted
中共式應災手法在港顯現：民間記招和災民打氣牆被消除 民間自發力量遭收編
The No. 5 alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po has so far killed at least 156 people. Problems with the maintenance works have become one area of scrutiny. However, a civil society group’s press conference on high-rise maintenance policies, scheduled for yesterday afternoon (2 December), was cancelled after it was notified by “a department”; the group’s person in charge, Bruce Sing Lee Liu, was also asked to meet the Police National Security Department. All the encouragement notes at the “Wang Fuk Support Zone” set up by Hong Kong people near the disaster site were removed on the same day. In addition, a foreign journalist was refused entry, while stalls where Hong Kong people had spontaneously collected and distributed supplies on the day of the fire also withdrew after the Hong Kong government said it wanted to handle the matter centrally. These developments resemble the way mainland Chinese governments handle disasters by highlighting only the official line.
至今已造成至少156人死亡的大埔宏福苑五級火災，維修工程的問題成為檢視範圍之一，不過，民間團體昨日(12月2日)午欲就高樓維修政策召開記者會，卻因“有部門通知”而被取消，團體負責人廖成利更遭警方國安處約見；港人在災場附近設立的“宏福打氣區”，同日的打氣便利貼已全被清除；另外，有外籍新聞工作者被拒入境，而火災當日由港人自發籌集和派送物資的攤位亦因港府聲稱要統一處理而退場。凡此種種，均與中國內地政府處理災情時只突顯官方主旋律的手法相似。