bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Letters

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.
I refer to the letter published on April 5 headlined “Mainland essential to Hong Kong’s future”.
Part of Hong Kong’s advantage is that it’s within a five-hour flight of half of the world’s population but the city is now almost completely cut off from the rest of the world, mainly by our own design.
What made me choose to stay in Hong Kong was the opportunity to fly home to visit my parents twice a year and take short weekend getaways around the region without decimating my bank account or taking long leave from work. Over the past two years, I’ve missed funerals, weddings, two Chinese New Years and am about to miss the birth of my sister’s firstborn while the rest of my family are making plans to visit her in London.
I’m sure a lot of non-locals who call Hong Kong home have faced similar situations. Not all of us have high-paying jobs that make two weeks or even seven days in a quarantine hotel possible.
Stop the dynamic zero-Covid travel restrictions – I want to get off
For people who have received at least two doses of approved vaccines, international travel is largely back to normal in major cities and countries around the world. If Hong Kong wanted to, it could lift quarantine and flight restrictions for travellers from the rest of the world tomorrow with minimal impact on local infection numbers. The only reason it has not done so is because it prioritises reopening the border with mainland China. While Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor professes a neutral stance, she appears to me to have clearly taken a side on the border reopening issue.
I am not here to debate the mainland’s role in Hong Kong’s future but rather which reopening is a more attainable goal.
Without a doubt, if other variants emerge in other parts of the world, they will arrive in Hong Kong unless we completely suspend international travel indefinitely. We may also need to suspend international trade as variants may arrive on parcels or goods. Even if we continue to restrict our contact with the outside world, as long as we maintain some sort of contact, permanently reopening the border with the mainland could still be months or years away.
What we need to recognise is that it is out of the Hong Kong government’s control when the central government decides it is safe enough to have unrestricted travel between Hong Kong and the mainland. What Hong Kong’s government can decide is whether it wants to salvage what little is left of its status as Asia’s world city.
Jack Yu, Mong Kok
Reporting negative results should have been encouraged
Once again the government of Hong Kong has missed an opportunity to make the population feel good. There could have been a simple webpage to allow people who tested negative in the voluntary programme to also register the fact. It would have required only a very simple adjustment, just a way to select Friday/Saturday/Sunday and a space for a Hong Kong identity card number.
Just imagine, instead of a declaration like “X thousand tested positive” we could have had: “Y million tested negative, thank you all those who registered”. This could have been an opportunity to show the world that Hong Kong people are not as inconsiderate as they are made out to be.
David Jones, Shouson Hill
Lifting of flight ban let down by poor preparation
For more than two years, Covid-19 has cast a shadow over our lives, especially our ability to travel – the most recent instance being the flight ban on nine countries introduced in January, and lifted just this month. Many Hong Kong residents still cannot make their way back as there are few flights available and the time and monetary costs of returning are high. Nearly four months of flight suspension has caused untold distress for Hongkongers stranded overseas and affected business activities. The flight ban also had a significant impact on the supply of foreign domestic workers.
The easing of restrictions was very much welcome by Hongkongers overseas who were travelling for personal or business reasons when the fifth wave of Covid-19 hit the city. However, a few days after the flight ban was lifted, new imported cases also increased. Flights by some airlines were suspended after more than three passengers per flight tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival, proving that imported cases remain a risk to Hong Kong. After all, the current Covid-19 wave started with several imported cases including aircrew.
The lifting of the flight ban is a pressure release and a big help to many. But given that it is still early days since infections peaked, the Hong Kong government should learn from previous experience: nobody wants a sixth wave due to imported cases.


There should also have been adequate planning and preparation. When the supply of quarantine hotel rooms is limited, the lifting of flight bans is of little help. As airlines resume flights to and from Hong Kong, demand for quarantine hotel rooms is surging. The Hong Kong government should have been planning in anticipation of problems, not trying to fix them after the fact.
Chau Cheuk Yin, Quarry Bay
Heed IATA warning to protect airlines, tourism
Page B14 of your April 8 edition amply illustrates the local confusion concerning the “coronavirus crisis”.
In one article, the World Health Organization said that “it is unlikely the virus will disappear any time soon”, to expect future surges and mutations, and to plan to manage these without “reaching the red line – the point that the number of severe cases exceeds the capacity of healthcare”.
As Omicron works its way through Hong Kong, and cases of severe illness and hospitalisation decline, by applying the WHO’s balanced criteria, Hong Kong will soon be in a position to get our international airport back to normal and restart the tourism industry.
But in mainland China, even one Omicron case seems to cross the red line and so we read on the same page the headline: “Beijing tightens curbs to prevent import of cases”.
Therefore, it seems, our chief executive must defend ridiculously strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. Although Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has no business experience, she and her Executive Council advisers must realise that running an airline is complicated and that airlines cannot operate in the “never-never land” that her bureaucracy has created.
Does our government want an airline industry and international tourism or not? The warnings given by the director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) need to be taken seriously or our aviation hub will lose its spokes.
Frank Lee, Wan Chai


Hong Kong should reopen to the world because we can

PPE-clad travellers wait to check in at Hong Kong International Airport on April 3. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Opinion


Readers discuss why the Hong Kong government should make the reopening decision it can make, a missed opportunity with voluntary testing, problems arising from flight resumption and worry about the airline industry



Readers discuss why the Hong Kong government should make the reopening decision it can make, a missed opportunity with voluntary testing, problems arising from flight resumption and worry about the airline industry.


Letters | Hong Kong should reopen to the world because we can

Readers discuss why the Hong Kong government should make the reopening decision it can make, a missed opportunity with voluntary testing, problems arising from flight resumption and worry about the airline industry