Why Hong Kong’s elderly should be in favour of reopening borders

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Dear fellow elderly people of Hong Kong,

Protecting the elderly is often quoted as one of the key reasons for maintaining Covid-19 restrictions in Hong Kong, and we were grateful the city – with its emphasis on filial piety and respect for the elderly – swung into action early in the pandemic to ensure maximum protection from Covid-19.

However, nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, we need to ask ourselves when enough is enough. For how much longer can we ask Hong Kong to sacrifice its future for us?

Hong Kong boasts a vaccination rate of more than 90 per cent, the latest variants of the virus are generally milder and there are now multiple ways to effectively treat Covid-19 (leading to a significant decrease in the death rate among the vaccinated elderly).

The international world has largely moved on and is recovering, while Hong Kong’s economy is forecast to contract for the third time in three years. This is causing the most pain to young people with families to provide for, in addition to a severe brain drain and loss of opportunities, as competing cities gleefully snatch opportunities away.

With mainland China unwilling to drop its quarantine requirement for now, the only viable short-term solution is for Hong Kong to open up its international borders.

We cannot criticise Hong Kong’s youth for lying flat when the elderly are unwilling to bear their fair share of responsibility and accept a slightly higher risk of Covid-19 with open borders.

Hong Kong’s elderly need to contribute their fair share to the city’s pandemic recovery by declaring loud and clear to the government and public that we strongly support re-opening and making Hong Kong awesome again!

John Li Gar Chiu, Mid-Levels

Time is ripe for Hong Kong to capitalise on global links

Hong Kong has adopted a hardline approach to pandemic measures to prevent a major outbreak. Foreign chambers of commerce have warned that the stringent immigration controls are threatening Hong Kong’s role as an international financial centre and have led to the loss of talent.

In this respect, the US-China agreement to resolve an accounting dispute that would avert the delisting of Chinese stocks from US exchanges is good news for Hong Kong, as it could open up more opportunities for audit-related businesses in the city.

The deal, between the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), will allow the US regulator to inspect Chinese audit data. While the agreement does not involve Hong Kong per se, it does rely on Hong Kong’s distinctive status, as the city has been selected as the venue for the inspection, given its more relaxed quarantine rules compared to those on the mainland.

In the midst of uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical developments, the Sino-US audit agreement is just the beginning for Hong Kong. The national 14th five-year plan explicitly states that Hong Kong needs to capitalise on its sound legal framework, abundant funding and strategic location so as to continue being the window for Chinese enterprises to gain access to the global market.

We should be more proactive about cooperating with mainland China in trade, investment and financing, to accelerate its integration with the world economy.

Dr Jacky Ng, chairman, Internet Society Hong Kong