Border control measures imposed due to the pandemic indicate potential gaps in the Greater Bay project, because governments in the region lacked the ability to coordinate and unite against a common adversary. This is what is read in a study on the “anxious immobility” generated by the epidemic of the new type of coronavirus in Macau.
Dennis Zuev, one of the authors, argues that the public health crisis has brought up rivalries, both between Hong Kong and Macau, and between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and has highlighted the challenges that the regional integration project still faces.
“[The Grande Bay plan] is an emerging project. [The pandemic] did not show that there was a very well-defined coordination plan, in terms of residence permits or even emergency management: how to deal with the emergency? They are different places, with different regulations: how to get a common name? Yes, it failed. There were so many checkpoints on either side of the border … The rivalry is a big challenge, including the growing rivalry between Hong Kong and Shenzhen – which will be the most important city? For the Grande Baía project to be a true example of integration, this type of ‘small politics’ has to be put aside. It is necessary to look at the global image ”, defends the professor of the Cidade de Macau University, speaking to TDM – Rádio Macau.
Read more in Portuguese at TDM – Rádio Macau.
