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  • New Zealand Listener

    KIDNAPPED BY POLAR BEERS

    Feb 21, 2021 4 minutes

    Close to midnight at Auckland Airport, a few masked passengers and staff move past shuttered shops and restaurants, lost in their own thoughts, or in the glow of their phones. The passengers are furtive, and as we board the plane for Guangzhou, anxiety is palpable.

    During an intended short visit from Beijing, where I’ve been based since the mid-1980s, I’ve become marooned for a year in my homeland and city of birth, Auckland. I’ve strengthened bonds of family and friendship, and experienced the uncommon community of New Zealanders facing Covid.

    New Zealand went into isolation more out of fairness to the vulnerable few than fear of authority or becoming ill. Now, I’m

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