First Chinese-born MP in the UK

Yang on election night after she won her seat

The results of the UK election are devastating -- the Conservatives were literally booted out of office and Labour is in, led by Keir Starmer.

But while Labour won by a landslide, a closer look at the numbers reveal the party won 63 percent of the seats with 34 percent of the vote.

It's not a confident position for Starmer, which is why he knows he needs to get to work right away to fix the UK.

Yang's book profiles four women born in 1990s

One of those helping him do that is Yuan Yang, the first Chinese-elected MP. She was born in China and at the age of four moved with her family to the UK. She is in her mid-30s and is a former journalist, having worked at the Financial Times in the UK and in Beijing as deputy bureau chief. 

Not only that but she has just published a book called Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order, profiling four women who were born in the 1990s and how they faced overwhelming odds to find success, or they clinched success and now find the current economic atmosphere very challenging. 

She had a planned book tour to promote Private Revolutions because she had to go campaigning for the election that was on July 4.

On NPR she talked about her book, but also her time in Beijing, and how she felt going back and forth between the UK and China. She said people in the west don't appreciate what they have until they lose it. 

Yang said she was answering questions from residents and one remarked how she had an optimistic disposition when she talks about the future.

"I thought about this and I think I'm optimistic by personality but I also think that my optimism, my hope, a renewal of British democracy comes from seeing the exact opposite, which is the rise of authoritarianism in China, the crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong in 2019 and onwards, and the tightening of restrictions around speech, around what journalists can do, and the closing down on China from the outside world. 

"And coming back to the UK has been a breath of fresh air in terms of our ability to write, to knock on somebody's door and ask them who they might vote for and what they think of the prime minister. These are the kinds of things that are unimaginable for activists and journalists in China," she said.

We're excited to see how Yang does as MP for the new constituency of Earley and Woodley in Reading. She won the seat with 18,209 votes, just beating Conservative candidate Pauline Jorgensen with 17,361 votes. 

Hong Kong Not Over, says CY Leung

Are HK's days over? Leung says it has "irons in the fire"

Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying wants to have a chat with former Morgan Stanley Asia Head Stephen Roach to tell him Hong Kong's still got its mojo.

Last week Roach wrote in the Financial Times that China must fix its economy and allow Hong Kong to run itself if it wants the financial hub to have a better future.

"The most important thing Beijing can do is, number one, fix its own system," said Roach, a senior lecturer at Yale University.

Roach says Beijing needs to leave HK alone

"Beijing also needs to be more aggressive and transparent underscoring its commitment to the 'one country, two systems' model."

In his column he said Hong Kong's embattled stock market was a sign of the end of the city's economic success over the past 20 years, and Beijing's grip on the former British colony and China-US tensions made the case that it is fast declining.

"It pains me to admit it, but Hong Kong is now over," he wrote. "A city I once called home and have cherished as a bastion of dynamism has had the world's worst-performing major stock market over the past quarter of a century."

Leung has the opposite view.

"I think it's out of date and also out of touch. I'd very much like to sit down with him and have a conversation with him as to the new irons in the fire that Hong Kong has," Leung told RTHK.

Leung says HK can build marine insurance sector

"There are so many new economic sectors and sub-sectors that I personally have identified running around in the mainland of China in the past six years," he said. "What about maritime insurance? China is a major shipbuilding and maritime nation in the world nowadays. And Hong Kong is the most competitive international financial centre of China."

Is this one of the "hot irons" Leung is referring to?

He said the English language, fully convertible Hong Kong dollar, the legal profession and independent judicial system can help build a robust maritime insurance sector.

And? What of the other irons?

He also pointed to the audit business.

"In the high quality development of the country, many manufacturers and exporters need third party, independent, standard, and testing and certification services. And Hong Kong is very good at this. Hong Kong has the goodwill, has the credibility, and that's the reason why we have such a thriving audit business," he said.

Right...

China's Chaotic U-Turn on Zero-Covid

Men dressed in hazmat suits don't have much to do these days

After Beijing lifted several Covid-19 restrictions, people in China are terrified of going out or they have caught the virus and are self-isolating themselves.

If people are out on the streets, they are desperately trying to secure medicine to treat their symptoms, and in some cases are scouring supermarkets because they believe canned peaches can somehow cure them of Covid-19 even though the government has debunked the rumour.

Canned peaches rumoured to cure Covid-19

Meanwhile, hospitals are overwhelmed by patients coming in, some Covid-19 positive, others fearing they have the symptoms; healthcare workers have no choice but to continue working even if they have Covid.

At Haidian Hospital in Beijing, there was a sign at the pharmacy window that read: "All pharmacists on duty are sick -- please bear with us."

"A lot of doctors are sick with Covid-19 as well but have to report for duty because otherwise the hospital cannot open," a hospital administrator said, declining to be identified. "We must keep the hospital up and running."

The chaotic sudden U-turn on zero-Covid has resulted in businesses unable to open or function properly, affecting not only small shops, but also factories supplying to global supply chains.

Health officials and state media have urged people not to panic and manage their symptoms at home unless they are seriously ill. In its news stories and editorials, state media have tried to play down the virus, when for almost three years it had repeatedly told people to be fearful of the virus and how it was deadly.

Long lines to buy medicine in pharmacies

But it seems China had no plan for a gradual opening by making sure a higher percentage of the elderly were inoculated and in particular with foreign-made mRNA vaccines. Instead people are left to their own devices and many are terrified.

The Financial Times is reporting that Hong Kong health experts were consulted about how to reopen just before the protests happened in China. What advice did they give and was it followed exactly? Winter is not the best time to reopen with influenza going around too, along with not enough people vaccinated. It's a right royal mess.

One has to wonder -- is Beijing doing this to say to the people, "You are tired of the Covid-19 restrictions then fine! Now you can have your so-called freedom! Do you see how chaotic everything is? Is this how you want your country to be post-Covid?"

The abrupt changes are so overwhelming for everyone that one wonders if Beijing actually knows what it's doing, or it is using this opening up to punish everyone?