My Take | As Hong Kong opens up, the new normal will not be the same as the old
- The city has been transformed during the pandemic. While it has a reputation for quickly bouncing back, this time is likely to take longer
The long-awaited opening of Hong Kong’s border with mainland China today marks the beginning of a new era for the city.
Cross-border travel was reduced to a trickle during three years of tight immigration controls and sweeping social-distancing measures. Opening up seemed a remote prospect only a couple of months ago.
But Beijing’s surprise decision to drop its tough “zero-Covid” policy was like the waving of a magic wand. Suddenly, everything changed. China’s plans to downgrade Covid-19, abandon quarantine and open its borders were revealed on December 26. Two days later, Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, announced the lifting of most of Hong Kong’s remaining measures.
The border opening comes as a great relief to those needing to travel for work, study or family reasons. Some will see relatives for the first time since the pandemic began. Places in the quota were snapped up by more than 340,000 people.
This welcome development will give Hong Kong’s hard-hit economy a boost, with mainland tourists returning. But the transition requires careful handling. Covid-19 cases are soaring on the mainland and Hong Kong’s health system is already under pressure. It is surprising there is no vaccine requirement for mainland visitors.
The city must also prepare for broader changes as it emerges from three years of near-isolation. Mass tourism from the mainland took off in 2003 when Beijing made travel to Hong Kong easier, to spur an economic recovery after the deadly outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
A flood of visitors began, quickly reviving the local business sector. The tourism industry flourished. Ten years later, a third of all retail sales in Hong Kong were to mainland tourists. One Post headline in 2005 read: “Mainlanders in single-handed economic rescue.”
