HK SAR CHINA'S SARS It was the epidemic of 2002-03 that caught the world in whatis now known as SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) that started in thesouthern part of China, got Hong Kong between the rock and the hard place, andfrom there, its cosmopolitan reach stretched across the planet. The Ebola epidemic plagues Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone andjumped up to Lagos in Nigeria, which like Hong Kong is also a cosmopolitancenter with its extensive worldwide oil trade and commerce. Nigeria has been assuring the world that itis capable of handling the epidemic within its borders. Bravado or bravura, the world broils in thesame heat together especially now that Senegal has joined the fever! I had malaria in Nigeria in the early 80s and learned thatex-pats had twice a year at the hospital in their contract as the parasite camecalling every six months. In fact,non-human creatures (there are 8.7 million species in the planet) originated HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, and other germs andviruses. Humans also developedanti-microbial resistance. With the outbreak of the Ebola in the Congo (previouslyZaire where it emerged in 1976), the global health community finally raised thealarm that every place in the planet be prepared to combat the epidemic. Fatalities are projected to reach 20K beforethe "perfect storm" - the public health emergency, is subdued. China has its own tragedies, mostly landslides thatdevastate communal structures, recent disasters attributed to long-term mining,the frequent quakes that goes with the rain preceding the landslides barsaccess to many remote villages particularly in the south and southwest. But Mother Nature's convulsive behavior (a bridge underrepair collapsed) is not the only cause of China's distress. If SARS bedeviled Hong Kong in the past, itis its status as a SAR, Special Administrative Region, that captures the eveningnews; the election of executive officers in the former British colony has gotdemocrats roiled as Beijing weighed in on the nomination process. Margaret Thatcher thought that Westminster had something tosay about the city's future. Deng justwent to receive the return of Hong Kong, thank you! Xianggang has always been a part of China,like Taiwan and Macau. Deng promulgatedhis political philosophy of "two systems, one country", which applies to Taiwan as well. Those familiar with China's political divisions, its ethnicminorities are granted autonomous status not only to promote and protectcultural heritage but also to indigenize symbolic positions. Many in Hong Kong forgot that their politicalstatus is that of an administrative region, not an autonomous one. China's promise to England was that Hong Kong's economicbasis remains the same for the next fifty years. The Occupy Central movement that weencountered New Year in Victoria Island pushes for universal suffrage includingthe right to nominate anyone, with some vocally egging independence from China. We shall not speculate who is stoking the fire. HK never had universal suffrage. We used to say before the return of VictorianPeak to Beijing that political decisions were made with malt juice at the HKJockey Club by taipans rather than British colonial officials. Nor does HK have a Hakka Lee Kwan Yewto chart an independent course, and Beijing in disinclined to move in thatdirection. Inversely, Beijing supports the anti-Occupy forces that starteda million signature campaign to oppose disruptive activity in the island'seconomic system, marched a 190,000-warm-body presence in a street demonstrationfor peace and democracy in August. Familiar with powerful old Koumintang forces (9 of the top10 richest men in the Philippines are of Chinese descent) and Taiwan, we canonly speculate where Occupy Central in HK is getting its support. Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai in reform-and-opening-up drive started by Deng Xiao Ping drove many in China toexit to other parts of the world, including SF, Vancouver, NYC, and HK. There is a strong undertow of despair, desperationand frustration within 85 percent of China's population, some in the 15 percent opening Caribbeanbank accounts that Xi Jinping is now trying to unravel. Whether HK SAR becomes China's political SARS remains to beseen. One of the illusions China needs notto take too seriously is the western media's painting of it as the secondlargest economy in the world exhibiting the fastest economic growth. Maybe it is factually accurate, but a hugeportion of the mainland population do not experience the wealth it supposedlyhas, and most of it is in paper tied to a boom in construction annuallypredicted to burst. To Beijing'scredit, it has managed to manipulate the numbers. I know. I just became a reluctant home owner in a new development area. The vitality of trade and commerce is never far from thespecter of a few filthy rich, and that is China's present SARS! Some in HK are whining and lots in Manilawill oblige to stoke the fire. j'aime la vie pinoypanda2031@aol.com yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!