The measures introduced in Hong Kong to contain the coronavirus outbreak are working because the city learned its lesson from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

That was the consensus of a panel of guests who discussed the physical and mental challenges facing Hong Kong since the outbreak at the start of this year.

Professor Keiji Fukuda, Director and a Clinical Professor at The University of Hong Kong School of Public Health; Dr. Arisina Ma, Chairperson of the Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association; Elizabeth Cheung, health reporter at the South China Morning Post; and Odile Thiang, Anti-Stigma Projects Coordinator at Mind Hong Kong, all agreed the Hong Kong government had so far been effective in preventing a major community outbreak.

Dr. Ma said that Hong Kong was one of the only places in Asia to continuously invest in infectious control research since the SARS crisis of 2003.

As of February 26, there were 85 confirmed cases in Hong Kong. For perspective, Prof. Fukuda pointed out this was an average of two people infected per day. Odile Thiang of Mind HK added that during the week of February 10, Hong Kong reported 13 deaths contributed to influenza.

SCMP’s Elizabeth Cheung said that the government’s communications over the virus had improved, with daily press conferences to update the media. She said it could do better, however, in how it collaborates with other information providers to update the press on the status of Hongkongers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, for example.

Longer-term, the panel agreed that more research was needed on these types of viruses. Prof. Fukuda pointed out that with SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the incentive to develop a vaccine wasn’t there because the viruses died out relatively quickly. He called for governments to work to develop vaccines in the period between outbreaks.

“Other crises come up and attention wanders,” he said.

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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam must step down or be removed by Beijing if the city is to begin rebuilding itself after months of anti-government protests, says former Chief Secretary for Administration, Anson Chan.

In a panel discussion on how Hong Kong can move forward and bring an end to the protests that have gripped the city since June last year, Chan and Dr. Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, Legislative Councillor for Kowloon West and member of the Committee for the Basic Law, both agreed that Lam’s government was weak and that an independent inquiry was required to get to the heart of the reasons behind the protests.

“We cannot wait for the government, we have to rely on ourselves,” said Leung.

Chan added that she condemns violence, but believes that a large number of the protesters are “reasonable people” who only want universal suffrage, as promised under the Basic Law.

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The poetry and art of Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese dissident and Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, was shared by the first Western writer to interview her when she arrived in Germany having been released from house arrest in Beijing.

Nick Frisch was writing for The New Yorker when he met Liu Xia, who was beginning to rebuild her life and career following almost a decade under the watch of Chinese plain-clothed police officers. He shared photos at the January 21 club lunch of Liu Xia’s art and poetry while discussing her life before and after meeting Liu Xiaobo, a literary critic, professor, human rights activist, and fellow poet. Liu Xiaobo died in prison in 2017 having spent the last 10 years of his life in prison for his involvement in campaigns to end the one-party Communist rule in China.

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China and the United States are embroiled in a Cold War in which a naval showdown in 2025 is plausible, according to historian and author, Professor Niall Ferguson.

This was one of several predictions made by the Harvard fellow and visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing during a conversation with club president, Jodi Schneider, on January 9.

Prof. Ferguson, author of 15 books including The Pity of War: Explaining World War One, discussed global current affairs such as the ongoing Hong Kong protests, the Iran/US tension, the Middle East, Brexit and Scottish independence.

Among his other predictions was the belief that the Hong Kong unrest would reach an “uneasy equilibrium” with no long-term damage to the city’s economy, and that Boris Johnson would still be British Prime Minister in 2025.

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What does it take to become a dictator these days? Creating the illusion of democracy helps, as does surrounding yourself with sycophants.

These and other telling characteristics of some of history’s most infamous dictators – fear and violence included – were scrutinized by Professor Frank Dikötter, author of a new book called How To Be A Dictator.

He told a sold-out club lunch on December 4 of a number of measures that need to be in place to create a successful dictator. Above all, he said, dictators including Hitler, Stalin, Mao, “Baby Doc” Duvalier and Mengistu of Ethiopia all benefitted from the cult of personality.

“The cult of personality was there to destroy common sense, to enforce obedience, to isolate individuals and crush their dignity,” Prof Dikötter said.

He also examined today’s dictators, including Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Xi Jinping.

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Former Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung warned that the consequences of the recent district council election results, which saw pro-democracy candidates take more than 80% of seats, “may be far greater than we imagine”.

The vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference used his November 28 appearance at the FCC to reflect on China’s rise since the founding of the Communist Party. He spoke at length about the current unrest in Hong Kong, in particular highlighting what he saw as the foreign interference in the city’s politics. Leung, who was Hong Kong’s third Chief Executive, also accused Western politicians of misunderstanding the Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – and advised them to study it.

Referring to protesters’ calls for universal suffrage, Leung said Hong Kong was not a country, comparing it instead to a city like London which has a mayor who answers to the central government.

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Democracy has been in decline globally in recent years, exacerbated by the arrival of digital technology, the emergence of demagogues, the rise of assertive autocratic states, and a failure in too many places of democracy to deliver tangible results.

This was the message delivered by Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, and former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar, when he discussed reinvigorating democracy around the world at the November 26 club lunch.

He began by congratulating Hongkongers for having their voices heard in the recent district elections, which saw a landslide victory for the pro-democracy camp. Ambassador Mitchell also discussed the rise of authoritarianism.

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