Hong Kong has achieved initial success in containing the novel coronavirus, with public facilities like community libraries partially resuming services on March 11.

Nonetheless, since the coronavirus has gained a foothold in many countries and regions, the fact that Hong Kong is a highly open city means the battle is not over. Worse, the city is beginning to witness a wave of corporate or retail closures, unemployment, and salary cuts. All these imply that Hong Kong is facing unprecedented social conditions.

In the history of Hong Kong, there have been public health emergencies that not only threatened the lives and health of local residents, but also caused economic recessions that led to unemployment and greatly affected people’s incomes. The most recent one was the outbreak of SARS in 2003, which happened under the dark cloud of the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. Back then, many companies in Hong Kong reduced salaries if they chose to retain their employees; the second-term SAR government began to implement the Principal Officials Accountability System and push for enactment of a national security law in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law. The ensuing civil unrest, combined with the health crisis and economic downturn, led to a massive turnout in the July 1 rally that year and a split in the pro-establishment camp. Thus, the SAR government had to shelve the enactment of the national security bill.

Since the coronavirus has gained a foothold in many countries and regions, the fact that Hong Kong is a highly open city means the battle is not over. Worse, the city is beginning to witness a wave of corporate or retail closures, unemployment, and salary cuts. All these imply that Hong Kong is facing unprecedented social conditions

Now, the combination of the coronavirus pandemic, economic recession and a “black revolution” is not a recurrence of the 2003 debacle, but rather a far more serious, intricate and severe development.

To begin with, the coronavirus has developed into a global pandemic, whereas severe acute respiratory syndrome was only a regional outbreak.

In terms of global politics, the US has adjusted its global strategy from primarily targeting terrorism in 2003 to treating China as one of its major rivals. It is trying hard to contain China’s rise and is an external factor that has contributed to the city’s current economic recession and “black revolution”.

Locally in Hong Kong, political confrontation began to surface in 2003. Since then, it has undergone an incubation period during which it gradually evolved into social division and confrontation.

Meanwhile, the reputation of the civil service has been tarnished by a series of blunders over the years, such as substandard piling in a public housing project, the lead water scandal, and construction delays, cost overruns and safety issues in railway projects. Currently, the private sector is facing a wave of bankruptcies, closures, downsizing and salary reductions. In comparison, civil servants are spared from the repercussion of the economic recession; not only do they enjoy employment stability, but they have recently been given a pay raise.

Civil servants are entitled to an annual salary increment according to the established mechanism. However, the pay rise has raised eyebrows — especially when the private sector is suffering such hardships. The Hong Kong Business Community Joint Conference (HKBCJC) held a meeting with political parties, such as the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, New People’s Party, Liberal Party and Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong. Aaron Shum, secretary-general of the HKBCJC, said after the meeting that SME owners felt uncomfortable about the recent salary increment for civil servants. He said that the SAR government should take the lead by implementing a pay cut for civil servants, who should stand with the business community and their employees to ride out the current difficulties.

Implementing a pay cut for civil servants is a very sensitive topic. The second-term SAR government initiated a pay cut for civil servants to cope with a fiscal deficit. As a result, the then-financial secretary paid a political price. Since then, pay cuts for civil servants have been taboo. Now that the HKBCJC secretary-general raised this sensitive topic on behalf of SME owners, how will the government respond to it?

Under the current mechanism, the MTR Corp, of which the government is a major shareholder, is entitled to a fare increase this year. Taking into consideration the difficult social conditions, the company has decided not to go ahead with the fare adjustment. The Hong Kong chief executive and her governing team should realize that Hong Kong is drifting into uncharted waters and facing daunting challenges. These include a prolonged threat to public health posed by the coronavirus pandemic; a severe recession initially caused by the Sino-US trade row and then exacerbated by the “black revolution”, which is part of the US efforts to contain China’s rise; public anxiety about employment stability; and deteriorating living conditions.

Consequently, it is imperative that the chief executive and her governing team adopt new ideas and come up with innovative solutions to tackle these unprecedented challenges and to ease the suffering of residents.

The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.