A game changer? Hong Kong leader performs ‘difficult balancing act’ on easing strict Covid-19 measures
- Lifting of flight ban partly result of rare plea from more than half of Carrie Lam’s de facto cabinet in an attempt to retain city’s status as international finance hub, sources say
- Observers say they expect Lam to continue to face mounting pressure on whether administration is decoupling from mainland’s dynamic zero-Covid strategy
The lifting of a flight ban on nine countries from April 1 was partly a result of a rare plea from more than half of the city leader’s de facto cabinet in an attempt to retain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial hub amid the Omicron-fuelled epidemic, the Post has learned.
But observers said they expected Lam to continue to face mounting pressure over whether her administration was decoupling from mainland China’s dynamic zero-Covid strategy and putting aside its previous priority to pursue cross-border quarantine-free travel. The city leader gave no indication on this front at a press conference on Monday.
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“The government doesn’t have many cards in hand. It must tame escalating grievances on international travel before rethinking routes to pursue border reopening with the mainland, which has now become impossible due to outbreak in major cities,” said Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
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The expatriate community and business heavyweights welcomed the lifting of the flight ban, with Lan Kwai Fong Group chief Allan Zeman describing it as “a game changer” to restore the faith of the international business community in Hong Kong.
“This was a pragmatic, sensible move as Lam took note that many people were leaving Hong Kong for elsewhere,” the entertainment tycoon told the Post.
Lam said flight suspensions were “no longer timely” as the epidemic situation in the listed countries was often “no worse than Hong Kong’s”. The city reported 14,068 new Covid-19 infections on Monday.
The chief executive stressed the government was not moving towards “living with the virus”, but the measures, including the phased easing of social-distancing rules, were more of a progress report that left the city’s options open.
Since the fifth wave of infections hit in late December, Hong Kong has struggled to maintain its international connections with tough travel restrictions while trying to stay in line with the mainland’s dynamic zero-Covid strategy.
A source close to the government revealed that nearly 10 of 16 non-official members of the Executive Council, Lam’s de facto cabinet, had drafted a note for submission during an Exco meeting last Tuesday, warning that the stringent pandemic-control measures had undermined the city’s status as an international financial centre.
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The source said the petition was shelved eventually, and instead, Exco convenor Bernard Chan conveyed the members’ core message to Lam.
Lam did not indicate on Monday when the border with the mainland could be reopened, leading some businesses with mainland connections to question whether it was no longer a priority for the city government.
At the briefing, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said authorities were well aware that relaxing travel curbs with the mainland would help retain Hong Kong’s competitiveness.
“We will continue to strive for quarantine-free travel with the mainland in line with the dynamic zero-Covid policy,” he said, without elaborating.
Exco convenor Chan told the Post the government’s decision to ease restrictions on incoming travellers was a difficult balancing act.
“Hong Kong is in a dilemma. Some people may criticise the government for not doing enough in reopening our borders with the mainland,” he said.
“We are actually not relaxing, but aligning the quarantine requirements for arrivals with that for locals resuming their normal life after testing positive. But some expatriates may still consider our new requirements too stringent.”
Zeman said he believed Beijing would relax its travel restrictions with Hong Kong as long as officials could control the epidemic situation on the mainland and get more elderly vaccinated.
“This is something totally up to China. I don’t think resuming international travel would jeopardise our progress to open up to the mainland one day,” he said.
But lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun suggested that Hong Kong authorities should be more proactive in persuading Beijing to resume cross-border travel, instead of waiting for the mainland outbreaks to subside.
“Citywide compulsory testing should go ahead as planned, as it could be seen as a prerequisite of resuming cross-border travel. How can the mainland authorities trust Hong Kong’s official Covid tally when residents are now allowed to report their infections on a voluntary basis?” he said.
Executive councillor Wong Kwok-kin, from the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, disagreed, saying it was only “wishful thinking” that conducting mass testing would increase Hong Kong’s chances of reopening the border with the mainland.
“I think Beijing has given the green light to the Hong Kong government’s decision to ease the restrictions on incoming travellers. Beijing is fully aware of Hong Kong’s value as the [connector] between China and the rest of the world in financial services,” he said.
But Ronny Tong Ka-wah, also an executive councillor, said that as the fifth wave had peaked the government needed to reconsider its priorities and strike a fine balance between public health, the economy and people’s daily lives.
“The importance of Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre cannot be overstated,” he said.
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Pro-Beijing businessman Irons Sze Wing-wai, who is currently in Shenzhen, said he believed it would still take some time for people to move freely across mainland provinces, considering the stringent travel restrictions there.
“Cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai are now categorised as risky places, so if I head to other mainland cities like Beijing or Wuhan, I will need to be quarantined again,” said Sze, a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Last month, he was travelling from Hong Kong to Beijing for the annual session of the nation’s top advisory body when he was found to be infected with the coronavirus.
Sze was discharged from hospital earlier this month, and had expected to receive a “green code” last Thursday so he could travel to other parts of the country. He said he had yet to receive such a code.
Additional reporting by Tony Cheung
