Coronavirus: Hong Kong leader keen on quarantine-free business travel, but ‘Beijing mum on bid’; travel bubble plans with Singapore on hold
- Sources say final decision on reopening border rests with mainland Chinese officials, and ‘unfortunately, Hong Kong can only passively wait for answers’
- Meanwhile, local leaders are calling for planned travel bubble with Singapore to be scrapped as it may jeopardise arrangements with mainland
“We told Beijing that the situation in Hong Kong has stabilised now, but it really depends on mainland authorities’ judgment on the local situation, especially since we have had some variant cases from time to time,” one of the sources said.
“All the government can do is to continue to boost vaccination rates – hopefully reaching 70 per cent of the population – while waiting for an opportunity to hold further discussions with the mainland.”
The government source said Beijing was previously worried about a resurgence in cases once the border reopened, which was why talks between mainland provinces and the city had been put on hold.
“Now, Guangdong province and Macau are waiting for top-down instructions from Beijing, and even Macau has stopped mentioning criteria for reopening the border with the city.”
