HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s rival political camps have embraced a new tactic to woo potential voters as the city hunkers down during the coronavirus pandemic: free face masks.
Masks have been in desperately short supply in Hong Kong since the start of the year when the epidemic reached the financial hub.
Politicians from both the resurgent pro-democracy camp and their embattled pro-Beijing rivals have seized on the shortage, beginning a charm offensive with voters even before official campaigning kicks off for the city’s legislature elections in September.
Already riding high after last year’s huge anti-government protests, three pro-democracy parties were the first to pull off something of a public relations coup — securing 1.2 million masks form Honduras.
The move did not go unnoticed, and one week later the pro-Beijing camp announced that had one million masks of their own. — AFP
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