China Won’t Let Hong Kong Cut Seven-Day Quarantine, Tien Says

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong can’t reduce its one-week quarantine for incoming residents until Beijing moves past Covid Zero, a deputy to China’s top legislature said, showing the constraints facing the financial hub to further opening up internationally. 

“For us to cut it down to seven, already the mainland is unhappy and feels they cannot connect with us,” Michael Tien, a National People’s Congress deputy and city lawmaker, said in an interview. “So to go any lower than seven, forget it. If we go lower than seven, they may even ban Hong Kong people from going into Shenzhen.”

Chief Executive Carrie Lam slashed quarantine for incoming travelers to seven days from 14 and lifted blanket flight bans on countries including the U.S. and U.K. last month, after the city’s curbs triggered outcry from international business leaders and saw thousands of expats flee. That move also allowed most infected residents to quarantine at home. 

China, by contrast, has stuck with strict lockdowns like the one in Shanghai, where 25 million residents have been largely restricted to their homes for nearly two weeks. President Xi Jinping pledged his government’s commitment to Covid Zero on Wednesday, saying prevention and control systems cannot be relaxed. 

China is using the world’s strictest border curbs, mass testing drives and city-wide lock downs to stamp out the infectious omicron variant. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that China is shortening quarantine periods 10 days from 14 in eight cities as part of a trial that could lead to more widespread changes.

Another Hong Kong politician, who asked not to be identified due to sensitivities around virus policy, said the city’s drift from the mainland’s strategy was so sensitive that it wasn’t talked about at last month’s NPC meeting. He agreed Hong Kong could not further reduce quarantine until China shifts its policy away from Covid Zero. 

‘Strike a Balance’

Tien said easing the week-long flight ban on any route that imports three or more Covid cases was one way Hong Kong could mend some global ties. Unpredictable operating conditions have seen Virgin Atlantic and British Airways suspend operations in Hong Kong.

Reducing the ban to three days would “strike a balance” between loyalty to the mainland’s strategy and restoring global links, he said. The other politician advocated for scrapping the ban, saying it no longer served a purpose with the city still logging more than 1,000 daily local infections. 

Tien and the other politician agreed it was unlikely Hong Kong’s border with mainland China would open this year, with the latter saying the city should focus on its international ties as worries increase over the state of the economy. Previously, Lam said the China border was the city’s priority over international travel.

Connecting with the mainland depends on two things, according to Tien. 

“One is whether we can get down to zero cases for a long time, which I doubt,” he said. “The other is whether mainland will change its policy, which I doubt.”

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