AN INFERNO IN the Wang Fuk Court housing complex set seven tower blocks aflame on November 26th. It killed more than 150 people and left another 2,100 homeless. Dozens are still missing. In the days after, authorities made 15 arrests for suspected manslaughter and 12 for suspected corruption (it remains unclear whether some people were detained on both counts). With public outrage mounting, John Lee, Hong Kong’s leader, announced on December 2nd that a judge-led, independent committee would review the cause of the blaze.
In the past, huge fires have led to policy overhauls in the city. In 1953 a blaze in Shek Kip Mei, then a slum, left 58,000 people homeless. It prompted the creation of Hong Kong’s public-housing programme, which now houses a third of the city’s residents. And in 1996 authorities reacted to a fire that killed 41 people by launching an independent investigation commission; its findings prompted an overhaul of building regulations and safety standards. But this time no such reforms appear likely. The government instead seems determined to control the political heat around the catastrophe—a demonstration of Hong Kong’s new intolerance for dissent.
The housing complex had been undergoing renovations when the blaze broke out on a section of bamboo scaffolding and rapidly spread through substandard cloth, netting and styrofoam used by the contractor. Fire alarms had been switched off for the workers’ “convenience”. For over a year residents, more than a third of whom were aged over 65, had complained about poor construction materials and smoking on site. They had also noted the contractor’s previous record of safety breaches. Discussion of graft abounded.
All this might have proved inflammatory among Hong Kong’s citizens. But public protests have in effect been banned since 2020, when a national-security law was imposed on the territory following massive pro-democracy marches. Jumpy authorities have moved quickly to pre-empt any possible unrest. Mr Lee has vowed to crack down on those who use the fire to “sabotage” the city. In recent days volunteer groups ready to help victims of the fire were reportedly ordered to disband.
The police arrested a petitioner calling for an independent investigation on suspicion of “seditious intention”, a crime under the national-security law. They also detained a volunteer and a former district councillor on suspicion of “inciting hatred against the government”. And a civil-society-led press conference about the fire was cancelled after several of those due to speak at it were summoned by police.
Mr Lee has also fudged questions about local governance and instead vowed to accelerate plans to phase out bamboo scaffolding (one of the few parts of Hong Kong’s construction industry not dominated by mainland companies). That is in spite of the fact that much of the scaffolding on the towers survived the blaze intact. Troublingly, it is also unclear what Mr Lee’s commission will achieve. It lacks the power to summon witnesses or to declare criminal liability. Regina Ip, a pro-government lawmaker, suggests it will “produce outcomes sooner”. But critics wonder whether it will enable the authorities to have more sway over the findings.
Instead the government’s main priority seems to be maintaining public order ahead of elections to the Legislative Council on December 7th. It is only the second time such elections have been held since the central government in Beijing restricted participation in them to “patriots”—cheerleaders for China’s Communist Party. Hong Kong officials had been coaxing residents to vote even before the fire. The first election, in December 2021, saw a record-low turnout of 30.2%, which was widely considered a quiet protest against the electoral overhaul.
“Turnout will be lower than originally desired,” predicts Ms Ip, whose New People’s Party is fielding eight candidates. That will displease the governments in Hong Kong and Beijing: both want a hearty turnout to endow the vote with a veneer of legitimacy. Instead it may offer insight into the depth of anger over the blaze. ■
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