Book Launch "How COVID-19 Took Over the World | Lessons for the Future" - by Division of Public Policy

Name: Book Launch "How COVID-19 Took Over the World | Lessons for the Future" - by Division of Public Policy
Start: 2023-03-23
End: 2023-03-23

23 March 2023

2:00pm - 4:45pm

G02, Shaw Auditorium, HKUST

ABOUT THE BOOK TALK

Two perspectives arising from the wealth of socio-political revelations linked to the policies and handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Mainland China and Hong Kong will be presented in this Book Talk. Two legal experts and authors of the chapters “Pandemic Control in China’s Gated Communities” and “Hong Kong and Greater China Response to COVID-19” will review a range of issues. These include: how the pandemic as a typical crisis case study magnified and exposed interconnected issues such as the authoritarian/ democratic political systems and people’s reaction due to social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders; the role of high-tech surveillance in a pandemic; political trust under rigid enforcement of zero-Covid policies. Rigorous censorship such as rumor-mongering punishment; grassroots urban management, and grid monitoring will also be discussed. Furthermore, by unfolding the chronicle of the pandemic in Hong Kong that is still vivid in our memory, including the vaccination controversy, divided opinions between zero Covid vs Living with Covid, and differing social contracts across Greater China, we will be able to reflect on our socio-political situation and the lessons learned.