Hong Kong’s leader has asked pro-Beijing politicians in a rare virtual meeting to help persuade mainland Chinese officials to resume quarantine-free cross-border travel after the city’s current coronavirus outbreak subsides, the Post has learned. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor conceded on Monday that Hong Kong was caught “in a dilemma” between meeting Beijing’s expectations and catering to the interests of foreign investors as it struggled to contain the recent fifth wave of infections. “According to Lam, it is difficult for Hong Kong to meet both sides’ requirements – achieving the mainland’s goal of dynamic zero-Covid while taking care of the interests of foreign businesses. She said Hong Kong was in a dilemma and solutions were needed,” a source said. The video conference, initiated by the pro-establishment bloc, was attended by some 60 politicians and businessmen, including Hong Kong deputies to China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the nation’s top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Leaders of several prominent mainland organisations also took part. Some attendees described the atmosphere of the 90-minute conversation as “direct, yet non-confrontational”. Most of the 15 who were given the opportunity to speak raised practical questions about her administration’s policy direction as daily infection numbers continued to fall, but did not grill her on the mishandling of the outbreak or ask if she would seek a second term as city leader. According to a politician who attended the meeting, Lam said her administration was well aware of the concerns of local and international businesses about the city’s chances of reopening its border with the mainland, and mounting calls from overseas to further ease travel restrictions. Cross-border travel could resume later this year, Hong Kong finance chief says “One CEO of a large private firm applauded our recent moves, and told me they had asked their overseas colleagues to return to Hong Kong,” Lam was quoted as saying, one week after she announced lifting flight bans on nine countries and shortening the hotel quarantine period for Hong Kong residents returning from abroad. Lam urged national lawmakers and political advisers to “play a role” in the border reopening. “She said that under ‘one country, two systems’, Hong Kong was the most internationalised city in the nation,” another politician said. “The threshold for achieving border reopening is not low, so she hopes we can help with that, and promote communication with mainland authorities and the central government.” Hong Kong’s daily infections continued to dip to 7,685 cases on Monday, while the mainland recorded 1,219 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases NPC delegate and lawmaker Maggie Chan Man-ki was said to be one of the few lawmakers who asked “critical questions” by requesting Lam to explain the aircrew quarantine “loophole” after a Cathay Pacific pilot with the Omicron variant entered the community in December. Chan said she had asked Lam to explain how to prevent history from repeating, as well as the government’s contingency plans, with the flight ban and social-distancing measures set to be eased next month. Lam was quoted as saying authorities had managed to control the epidemic until late January when “the unexpected, unfortunate outbreak” in Kwai Chung Estate emerged. She took the chance to thank the central government for offering support by building makeshift hospitals and supplying fresh food to Hong Kong during the surge in infections. One attendee hoped Lam could better recognise traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong’s public healthcare system. “Don’t just use them in the worst moment of a crisis,” the politician was quoted as saying, referring to the government’s plan to deliver Chinese medicines to 3 million households next month to alleviate Covid-19 symptoms. Lam said she would review such use but did not give details. Hong Kong Covid death rate ‘could be lower than thought’, 7,685 cases logged NPC deputy David Wong Yau-kar said he urged the government to continue boosting the vaccination rate, and strike a balance between economic revival and border reopening. “We cannot wait until we open our border with the mainland before we revive our economy,” he said. “So I support the government’s plan to relax social-distancing rules in three phases over three months from April 21. I also hope that such rules can be imposed more precisely in the future, as we need to avoid the unnecessary closure of some business premises.” CPPCC delegate Lai Tung-kwok, a former security chief, said he urged the government to make the most of the rapid antigen test kits in the anti-epidemic packages that would be distributed to residents next month. “There are 20 test kits in each package, they should not be saved up by residents for future use. Authorities should make good use of them and initiate a three-day universal self-testing to identify more infected people as soon as possible,” he said. 16,000 Hong Kong patients receive new oral anti-Covid drugs Lai said he also proposed a broader use of antiviral drugs molnupiravir and Paxlovid, such as encouraging private doctors to prescribe them and allowing residents in need to get them from designated government clinics or pharmacies. The Hospital Authority had earlier this month started administering the oral drugs to patients. “We should strive to let patients take these drugs within the first five days of infection, this will help reduce the number of serious cases and the pressure on hospitals,” he added. How raging Covid fifth wave laid bare Hong Kong government deficiencies Nick Chan Hiu-fung, a deputy to the NPC, hoped that there would be more regular, formal exchanges, saying Monday’s meeting was constructive. “Some offered practical solutions, while others gave sincere, friendly reminders on how Hong Kong should be positioned after this wave subsides. This kind of interaction can be extended to the policy bureau as well,” he said. The meeting was coordinated by NPC deputy and lawmaker Chan Yung. In a statement, he said delegates in the meeting urged Lam and all civil servants to step up efforts in fighting the pandemic even though the daily caseload had gone down, and pay attention to the socio-economic impact of the outbreak.