Quarantine-free travel with mainland top priority

Leveling up Hong Kong's anti-epidemic measures with those in the mainland so cross-border travel can be restarted is the SAR administration's top priority, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor says.

Although the European Chamber of Commerce earlier criticized the SAR's quarantine requirements as too stringent, Lam said it is more important for Hong Kong to reopen borders with the mainland than looking after international business.

But Felix Chung Kwok-pan, a legislator for the Liberal Party, said Lam has never run a business and criticized her for ignoring the importance of international commerce.

Speaking before the Executive Council meeting yesterday, Lam said the border reopening is the top item in her fifth policy address that she delivers today.

Hong Kong's anti-pandemic measures must be able to gain mainland authorities' confidence for a border reopening, she said, and the SAR could not become a loophole as the nation fights the coronavirus.

"In order to resume the quarantine-free travel with the mainland, the SAR government is willing and determined to improve all measures that mainland authorities believe should be more in line with their standards," Lam said.

"If there is any measure to make mainland authorities more confident that Hong Kong's anti-epidemic system won't become a loophole we shall do it."

Lam said the SAR is currently waiting for mainland health experts to respond with suggestions after meeting with representatives of Hong Kong.

The SAR's position is clear, Lam said: "As long as quarantine-free travel can be resumed we will try our best to do whatever the central government wants us to do or improve."

She added that local officials and experts will assess all suggestions proposed by mainland experts before having a second meeting with them.

Lam said it is more important for the SAR to reopen borders with the mainland than cater to international businesses and tourism, when asked about the criticisms from the European chamber.

"This is because Hong Kong citizens have more urgent needs to go to the mainland," she said.

Many foreign enterprises in Hong Kong also have business in the mainland, she added, and it is important for their representatives to enter the mainland to review their business or negotiate with investors.

Lam stressed that Hong Kong must adopt similar anti-epidemic measures with the mainland instead of the "living with virus" strategy adopted by some countries such as Singapore, which on Monday reported 2,475 new cases for an overall tally of 106,318 including 121 deaths.

"When travelers from those countries come to Hong Kong we have to take strict control measures," Lam went on. "Otherwise, if we fail to prevent imported cases from spreading into the community it's impossible to resume cross-border travel with the mainland, which does not accept 'living with the virus' at all."

But Chung, who is chairman of the Liberal Party besides representing the textile and garment sector in the legislature, responded that it was important for Hong Kong to connect with foreign countries as soon as possible.

Even if the administration chooses to prioritize a border reopening with the mainland, he said, it should still inform the business sector about when quarantine for travelers from other countries can be eased. "Business and the economy will not wait for you," he said.

And foreign companies will not keep waiting for Hong Kong to change its quarantine policy, Chung added. If they decided to leave Hong Kong would be hard to persuade them to return.

Earlier, government pandemic adviser David Hui Shu-cheong said the mainland would like Hong Kong to use a "cross-border code" similar to the mainland's health code.

Beijing also wants the SAR to impose stricter anti-epidemic measures, including requiring high-risk groups to undergo tests every two days and telling Covid-19 sufferers to quarantine at a designated place for 14 days after they are discharged from hospitals, Hui said.