"Zen's remarks contrasted with those of former mainland vice-trade minister Long Yongtu during his stay in Hong Kong last week. Long said the Hong Kong media should be more ``impartial'' in its coverage of the disease.
He said: ``If Hong Kong newspapers are splashing with front-page stories about pneumonia for 10 days, 20 days or 30 days, who will dare come to Hong Kong? ... It would only be a panic situation if 500,000 people out of six million caught the virus. There are only several hundred at the moment.''
This sheds light on the PRC bureaucratic mentality that minimized the problem.