Financial Times: business executives in attendance struggled to speak clearly

Source: 

https://www.ft.com/content/209e06e8-8d64-4ebe-9b2d-9244e378e707

(19 February 2022)

Illegal border crossings push Hong Kong Covid outbreak into China

-Pressure from Beijing to eradicate Omicron spread raises prospect of stricter controls in city

China’s rigorous “zero-Covid” policy is facing an unexpected new threat in the form of illegal border crossings by people fleeing a worsening virus outbreak in Hong Kong.

Some Chinese cities have offered rewards for information about people smuggling after 15 individuals illegally entered Zhuhai, in southern Guangdong province, by boat from Hong Kong. At least four of them had Covid-19 and later travelled to other parts of China, according to Chinese media reports. The cases came in a week when President Xi Jinping said eradicating the outbreak must be Hong Kong’s top priority. The local authorities are already weighing mandatory testing for the territory’s entire population followed by quarantine for anyone found to be infected. The prospect of strict controls continuing with no end date is heightening business concern that Hong Kong’s position as a financial centre is being hurt by the decision to effectively cut off the territory from the outside world since early in the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, the Chinese government’s top representative in Hong Kong summoned real estate tycoons to a meeting at which they discussed contributing hotels, properties and other resources to the effort. The meeting was broadcast live and conducted in Mandarin, China’s official language, which some of the business executives in attendance struggled to speak clearly. Anyone arriving legally in China from overseas or Hong Kong must spend two weeks in a hotel or quarantine centre before continuing their journey. Fences and other fortifications along Hong Kong’s long land border with Shenzhen, Guangdong’s second-largest city, were originally built to stop illegal immigration from China into the territory. But it is relatively easy to travel by boat between Hong Kong and many cities in Guangdong, whose long coastline and river networks are difficult to police. “Mainland cities are concerned about arrivals from Hong Kong,” said Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s most senior representative in the National People’s Congress. China’s parliament. “They are worried that cases might get into their community.” Lau Siu-kai, who advises the Chinese government on Hong Kong policy matters, said illegal border crossings could also stir up “dissatisfaction among mainland Chinese residents and questions about why [Hong Kong] authorities are not doing enough to prevent that from happening”. On Friday, Hong Kong reported 3,629 Covid cases, with another 7,600 pending confirmation. The territory’s own zero-Covid strategy, which includes some of the toughest restrictions in the world, has prevented the mass deaths suffered elsewhere. But several global business groups have taken action to temporarily base their top Asia executives outside Hong Kong owing to controls that include a two-week hotel quarantine for arrivals.

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https://www.ft.com/content/209e06e8-8d64-4ebe-9b2d-9244e378e707

Mark FitzPatrick, recently appointed interim boss of insurer Prudential, said the group’s next chief executive could be forced to start the role from outside Hong Kong because of the “friction” of Covid restrictions. FitzPatrick told the Financial Times he could “absolutely see the CEO being based short term outside of Hong Kong until it’s easier to actually be able to run a regional business [from there]”.

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https://www.ft.com/content/209e06e8-8d64-4ebe-9b2d-9244e378e707

SBC, the British bank, temporarily shut six branches in the city on Friday, including several floors of its head office, after staff tested positive. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, announced that elections to elect a new leader would be postponed from March 27 to May 8, an indication that authorities expected the outbreak to persist. One Hong Kong resident, who asked not to be identified, told the FT that his family of five was considering leaving the territory for Fujian province, where they have a home. “I’ve been in Hong Kong for nearly seven years and I’ve never seen [anything like this],” he said.