Dear Supreme Leader made his presence felt to every resident in Hong Kong by causing a massive traffic jam.
Under extremely strict security control and scarce media access, Chinese president Xi Jinping’s (aka Dear Supreme Leader) visit to HK is perhaps most widely felt now by ordinary residents who are trying to go home in thunderstorm but run into massive traffic jam triggered by road blockage. (Now/Usual).
People recall that 25 years ago, the weather was very similar: massive rain on June 30th and July 1st.
The road block seems to be unplanned, “without warning”, according to this twitter thread (in English).
The truth is, it is actually quite hard to plan because just a few days ago, people were still second guessing if Dear Supreme Leader shall come to Hong Kong or not. So I guess the traffic control only knew in the last minute of the security measures needed to block major highways in Hong Kong. Very well done.
He came by train, so there is a ceremony to “welcome, hotly and intensely welcome” him there. There is nothing more CCP than the crowd repeatedly saying “welcome, welcome, hotly and intensely welcome” in unison to me. What a familiar sound!
And the sight too, very CCP:
And also thanks to Twitter, someone had a video footage of the motorcade heading into the tunnel to Hong Kong island. Just a few seconds, but you get the idea of how important our Dear Supreme Leader is.
The little red podcast is my favourite podcast on China. It is hosted by scholars on China affairs in Australia. Today they released “Cheongsams and Coppers: Beijing’s Stealth Infiltration of Hong Kong”, just in time for the 25 anniversary of handover. Enjoy it here if you have time.