Groups supplying the bulk of the 7½ million surgical masks donated in the city have suggested following their lead by sourcing the masks from countries which do little trade with China and re-routing consignments through other jurisdictions to avoid export controls.

The Post has looked into how the government is procuring masks, as well as the purchasing tactics of the donors, amid heavy criticism of the administration’s failure to obtain enough of them.

Property giant Sino Group’s charitable foundation has given more than 3.5 million masks to the Hong Kong government and non-governmental organisations in the city, while political party Demosisto and actor Louis Koo Tin-lok are handing out more than 1 million each.

The 7½ million figure does not include the many retailers and online platforms that have sourced masks and sold them to the public.

Pro-democracy party Demosisto bought 1.2 millions masks from Honduras in Central America, saying it targeted countries which did not trade much with China.

“Many of the Chinese can just buy in bulk with millions in cash paid up front. We can only wire money after confirming the deal, and that makes it hard for us to get supplies,” the party’s secretary general Joshua Wong Chi-fung said.

“Choosing a country that has less of a trade connection [with China] minimises the competition.”

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With help from the Hong Kong Democracy Council in the United States and a Hong Kong woman living in the US, the party managed to reach a surgical mask company in Honduras able to sell it masks at a relatively cheap rate within two weeks.

“To avoid the export controls, we transported the masks from Honduras to Miami in the US, then to Taiwan before arriving in Hong Kong,” Wong added. “We looked for routes that could send us the supplies right away.”

He accused the government’s Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices working overseas of “failing to do their jobs” by not finding a way around the export challenges.

The Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, established by the late founder of property giant Sino Group, also donated 3.5 million masks to the government and NGOs.

Daryl Ng Win-kong, director of the foundation, said he had sourced masks from far-flung locations including South America.

“The surgical masks have been sourced globally, including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, Brazil [the furthest],” he told the Post.

“We have been working around the clock very closely with our network of international suppliers. The efforts are ongoing.”

A picture of the 91-year-old billionaire Li Ka-shing sitting on his private jet looking at boxes of masks went viral online last Wednesday.

In an interview with international media, Li said he got hold of 5,115 protective gowns from health care organisations when he visited New Zealand.

The foundation has also sourced some N95 respirators through the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University in Canada and received a donation from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Community Anti-Coronavirus Link, a group newly established by pro-establishment figures, said on Sunday it handed out up to 1 million masks at more than 400 locations across the city, with another 100,000 masks available from them online.

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Pro-government lawmaker Eunice Yung Hoi-yan said she had succeeded in overcoming export controls by sending four of her colleagues to Indonesia to bring back 50,000 masks.

“We are worried that the boxes were unable to export, so we arranged four colleagues to fly over and to get the 1,000 boxes,” she said.

“It was a difficult time as you have to compete with many countries in the world, thus we have to try every method.”

James Henry Lau, secretary for financial services and the treasury, said on Friday the administration had ordered 52 million masks after sourcing them from more than 400 suppliers in 20 countries, but only 5.5 million had so far been delivered.

Lau said the procurement operation was huge and had been delayed by export embargoes, quality issues and inflated prices.

Executive councillor Dr Lam Ching-choi told the Post the government had also bought five mask-producing machines from the mainland, two of which did not arrive this week because of delays. “As expected, hurdles are everywhere,” he said.

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A government source said departments were asked to return extra masks so resources could be prioritised for frontline staff at the Department of Health and the police force.

Using Sino Group donations, the administration distributed masks to some NGOs and elderly homes on February 17. None have been given directly to the general public so far, unlike in Singapore, Macau and Taiwan, where rationed supplies have been handed out for free or at low prices.

“The public has to understand we are dealing with an epidemic, and resources should be given to our medical staff and civil servants,” Dr Lam Ching-choi said. “If the health care system falls, it would pose huge consequences to the whole city.”

Textile and garment industry legislator Felix Chung Kwok-pan of the Liberal Party said the government had missed the boat when it came to overseas procurement.

“Carrie Lam said on January 25 that she had written to the State Council asking for help, probably at the time still thinking the mainland could assist her government and provide masks,” Chung said.

“And once you are delayed by a week or days, you fail to get masks because everyone is competing with you.”

Compared with the commercial sector, Chung said the government lacked flexibility because its purchases were limited by red tape.

“All we will do is send employees to the mask production factory, and they will make the purchase if the company approves the quality, but the government cannot do that as it has too many procedures,” Chung added, suggesting the government could seek help from the commercial sector.

Former secretary for the civil service Joseph Wong Wing-ping said it was “ridiculous” the government was in competition with residents for masks.

“The government responded too late and now they might lose opportunities to source them easily when all countries are also in need,” he said.