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In 1997, rule over Hong Kong was passed to China after many years of British rule. In 2003, tensions rose in Hong Kong as people feared the passage of Article 23. They believed Article 23 might inhibit important freedoms including the freedom of speech. Protests continued throughout the years, and in 2012, these began to be centered around education. The 2012 protests concerned a new requirement whereby schools in Hong Kong were forced to teach propaganda supporting the Chinese Communist Party. In 2014, protests centered around a new requirement that candidates for office in Hong Kong be preselected by the Chinese Communist Party (Butts, Dylan, et al. “Hong Kong’s Timeline Since the 1997 British Handover to China.” NBC News, 2022).

In 2019, China passed a new law for Hong Kong that came as a result of mounting protests over the years. According to this law, China would have the authority to put Hong Kong citizens in prison for life for crimes such as terrorism and collusion. Those accused could be tried in China rather than in Hong Kong. Many people have been arrested and imprisoned because of this law, and numerous organizations have spoken out against it.

While none of these political conflicts are specifically spoken about in the novel, there is tension in Hong Kong against the government and people of mainland China. The tension in the novel involves whether to allow people from mainland China into Hong Kong during the days when the virus is present in China, but not in Hong Kong. Because of the fraught relationship between Hong Kong and China, however, the current of anti-mainland sentiment about COVID-19 was most likely influenced by these larger political movements.