LettersCoronavirus in Hong Kong: to truly get back to business, extend quarantine pass beyond board rooms

It is difficult to see how the government can allow the heads of listed firms to enter without quarantine from mainland China, but not people from countries that have contained the pandemic just as well, if not better

Much of Hong Kong’s economy indeed depends on China, but it is still an international financial and legal hub and must continue to make decisions accordingly

1-MIN READ1-MIN

Flags fly outside the Hong Kong stock exchange at Exchange Square in Central on June 2. Hong Kong on June 8 relaxed its 14-day quarantine rule for executives of 480 of the largest companies listed in the city. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:10am, 12 Jun 2020Updated: 7:10am, 12 Jun 2020

I note with concern and surprise that the government is considering permitting people who are senior executives of major Chinese and other listed companies into Hong Kong from the mainland without quarantine (“Executives of big firms get pass on quarantine”, June 8).

How on earth can they exclude similar people from other jurisdictions that have had a good track record of managing the pandemic? For example, I have been in lockdown for months in Australia where there have only been about 100 deaths for 25 million people. New Zealand and other jurisdictions have done even better.

Surely there must be some interest in kick-starting Hong Kong’s economy as quickly and as safely as possible. While I appreciate that much of Hong Kong’s economy depends on China, it is still an international financial and legal hub and must continue to make decisions accordingly.

As a Hong Kong resident for more than 40 years, I find it unfathomable to think that I cannot return to the city without quarantine by now.

I also wonder whether foreign judges on the Court of Final Appeal get an exemption. As dispensers of the rule of law according to the Basic Law, I would have thought that they qualify as essential workers who buttress Hong Kong’s economy and form the fabric of the legal system in Hong Kong.

02:39

PM Jacinda Ardern dances for joy as New Zealand lifts lockdown after coronavirus 'eliminated'

By extension, I would also think that arbitrators coming to Hong Kong for arbitration should receive similar treatment. This especially when mainland, Macanese and Taiwanese citizens are permitted to come to Hong Kong for arbitration without quarantine.