E‐government and the hurdle of the “digital divide”? Rethinking the responses of the underprivileged in COVID‐19 Hong Kong

The digital divide and insufficient social capital of aging, undereducated, and low‐income nonnetizens are usually explained by the underpopularization of e‐government. This review article moves beyond the mainstream concern over resources and technicalities and seeks to explore the reasons for reluctance, from digital vulnerabilities to e‐service. We examine the varying responses to the three e‐services launched by the Hong Kong government during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, online vaccination registration, electronic consumption vouchers, and social distancing apps in smartphones, and find that their perception of trust and security could be the major reservation of e‐service users. How could we understand the “values” they harbor, and in what circumstances would they be more accepting of the new inventories? Our findings from this developed society in the Asian context might assist policymakers in pushing e‐government forward in the post‐COVID era.

Fighting COVID-19 in Hong Kong: The effects of community and social mobilization

The globalized world economy has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since early February 2020. In the midst of this global public health crisis, a prompt review of the counterinsurgencies that have occurred in different jurisdictions is helpful. This article examines the experience of Hong Kong (HKSAR), which successfully limited its number of confirmed cases to approximately 1100 until early June 2020. Considering the limited actions that the government has taken against the pandemic, we emphasize the prominent role of Hong Kong's civil society through highlighting the strong and spontaneous mobilization of its local communities originating from their experiences during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the social unrest in 2019, as well as their doubts regarding the pandemic assessments and recommendations of the HKSAR and WHO authorities. This article suggests that the influence of civil society should not be overlooked in the context of pandemic management.

Electronic Waste Governance under "One Country, Two Systems": Hong Kong and Mainland China

China is one of the largest e-waste dumping sites in the world, and Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory in China, is also affected by illegal e-waste disposal and transfer. While the Chinese government implemented a waste import ban in January 2018, Hong Kong has not enforced Chinese policies under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework. Drawing on a policy network approach, this paper provides an explanatory framework for e-waste governance in Hong Kong and China, and identifies the major obstacles to shaping effective transboundary e-waste control and prevention. The paper argues that institutional arrangements play a dominant role in governing e-waste policy networks at the local level of governance in Hong Kong and China; however, a lack of accountability and capacity at the transboundary level can explain the different waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management strategies in these two places.