During his candidacy for chief executive, Li Jiachao has always said that customs clearance with the mainland is his top priority after taking office. The outside world is concerned about whether the new government will take stricter measures in terms of "foreign defense against imports and internal defense against rebound", making it difficult for Hong Kong to clear customs with overseas.
In particular, the number of newly confirmed cases in the local area has risen to nearly 2,000 recently, which has drawn attention to the new government's anti-epidemic policies after taking office.
However, recently, Li Jiachao and the incoming medical and health bureau director Lu Chongmao revealed in their interviews that they would study shortening the quarantine days for those arriving in Hong Kong.
After consultation and the consent of the Chief Executive-designate's Office, the current government announced yesterday (27th) that the current social distancing measures will be extended until July 13th. At least they have not been tightened again, which has raised new expectations in the society: whether Hong Kong can Without the "tough reset", can it gradually return to normal both internally and externally?
It is reported that Lu Chongmao once revealed to politicians that he will not follow Macau to implement compulsory nationwide inspections. Since Hong Kong does not have the relevant conditions, he may start with strengthening nucleic acid testing in the future.
Li Jiachao and Lu Chongmao successively pointed out that the quarantine period can be shortened
Those arriving in Hong Kong from outside China, if they have been vaccinated, must stay in the quarantine hotel for at least 7 days (negative for nucleic acid test on day 5; negative for rapid test on day 6 and 7) before leaving the hotel self-monitoring.
However, the number of designated quarantine hotels is seriously insufficient, one is hard to find, and the room has become a tool for speculation. Many people who really need it cannot make an appointment for a designated hotel to return to Hong Kong for quarantine; the 7-day hotel quarantine has also been questioned as being too long.
This situation brings great inconvenience to both the private sector and foreign businessmen. On the one hand, it is difficult for citizens to travel abroad due to the strict quarantine policy, and on the other hand, it also affects the business environment in Hong Kong.
At present, the daily number of people arriving in Hong Kong through the airport is only 3,000 to 4,000 per day, which is less than one-tenth of that before the epidemic. In a recent interview with a TV program, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor even more bluntly acknowledged that strict foreign import prevention measures have made Hong Kong immigrants The window is getting narrower and narrower, and if it is the current policy until the end of this year, it may cause concern about Hong Kong's international status.
Recently, foreign media reported that during a meeting last month when the Liaison Office invited foreign chambers of commerce, the chambers of commerce expressed their desire to end all quarantine requirements as soon as possible.
In a recent interview with the former Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Ma Shiheng also pointed out that one of the reasons for the serious brain drain in Hong Kong is the strict quarantine measures, so Hong Kong must clear customs as soon as possible.
Since Hong Kong has failed to meet the requirements for customs clearance in the Mainland, if it has to choose, it should first clear the customs with foreign countries, otherwise it will be "the two ends will not reach the shore".
Regarding this point, Li Jiachao revealed in a recent interview with the media that some temporary measures could be studied to reduce the inconvenience of people coming to Hong Kong from other places, such as allowing home isolation or shortening the number of quarantine days in designated hotels; Lu Chongmao also pointed out in an interview that when he took office Measures will be introduced later to reduce the quarantine period for visitors to Hong Kong to 5 days or less, while coordinating with home isolation and requiring passengers to take "point-to-point" travel.
He also pointed out that under precise epidemic prevention, more normal measures to facilitate citizens' lives and economic development will be introduced. The remarks of the two seem to be inclined to relax the policy.
Tian Beichen advocates the long-term development of "3+4" quarantine to "0+7" without staying in quarantine hotels
Tian Beichen, a member of the Legislative Council of the Real Politics Roundtable, said that even if Li Jiachao had to significantly adjust the epidemic prevention policy after taking office, it would not necessarily be implemented immediately.
But overall, he pointed out that the current quarantine policy has been implemented for more than two years, and foreign businessmen are strongly dissatisfied with it. "I have received many letters and complained that the quarantine policy affects the business environment." "Everyone doesn't even remember to go to the airport."
He pointed out that before Li Jiachao and Lu Chongmao made the above remarks, they believed that they had initially communicated with the central government about the future quarantine policy and would not rashly publish it. Therefore, he believed that this policy direction was approved by the central government.
He believes that the new government should first consider relaxing the quarantine arrangements, such as adopting "3+4", that is, the quarantine period for Hong Kong tourists will be shortened from the current 7-day hotel quarantine to 3-day hotel quarantine, and the next 4 days for closed-loop management at home , and do nucleic acid testing every day; if the implementation situation is ideal, it can become "0+7", and the whole process of home closed-loop isolation.
He believes that the actual group outbreaks occurred in some activities except for masks, such as dinner parties, bars, etc., and access to these places currently requires a vaccine pass, so if someone illegally appears in these high-risk places, the government will Must be tracked.
There is no significant increase in severe deaths, and "dual-track parallelism" can be considered
As for the rebound in internal defense, Tian Beichen pointed out that although the number of confirmed cases has rebounded, fortunately, severe cases and deaths have not broken out like the fifth wave of the epidemic at the beginning of the year. Under the premise of stabilizing the epidemic, and striving for customs clearance with the mainland, "Foreign countries will not do anything about coexistence. Even the number of cases can be reported, but Hong Kong will not."
He suggested that the Li Jiachao government should clearly state the situation in Hong Kong to the central government after taking office. At least the first step is to strive for Hong Kong people to "close the loop at home" when they go to the mainland, and the situation in the mainland will be effectively controlled. "Everyone knows that the virus cannot be permanently cleared. , so we must reflect it clearly, and hope that the central government will send this great gift. If the list is taken apart, it is guaranteed that Qu (Li Jiachao) will have a great rise in popularity.”
Ge Peifan: The anti-epidemic policy needs to be precise and needs to create conditions to prevent it from being one-size-fits-all
The DAB met with Lo Chongmao online yesterday (27th) to exchange views on anti-epidemic policies. Ge Peifan, a legislator of the party, pointed out that the content of the other party's speech would not be quoted, but in principle, it believes that it is as important as customs clearance in the Mainland and overseas, and it is necessary to seek Only by maintaining a balance can Hong Kong maintain its international status; even the mainland will not be one-size-fits-all, requiring precise epidemic prevention.
She believes that in order to achieve accurate external defense input, one of the considerations is to allow people with enough space in their homes to manage closed-loop management at home after returning to Hong Kong from other places. The first thing to help is Hong Kong residents, but the premise is effective management to prevent violations Happening.
Ge Peifan pointed out that one of the difficulties in customs clearance between Hong Kong and the mainland is that the epidemic prevention policies are difficult to connect, such as testing standards, health codes, etc. As the epidemic has a chance to rebound, if the SAR government does not want to significantly tighten social distancing measures internally, but also wants to cooperate with the mainland When it comes to customs clearance, it is necessary to put more effort into these policies and create suitable conditions to make the mainland trust Hong Kong's epidemic prevention measures. "If there is a complete health code function and an effective electronic wristband, patients or high-risk people cannot leave the closed-loop management site. , then the chances of other people contracting the virus will be greatly reduced, so there are great conditions to not have to close the premises across the board.”
Another member privately told the author that Carrie Lam has repeatedly told the media in recent months that Hong Kong people's tolerance for epidemic prevention policies has reached the limit, and that if the term of office is not about to end, she will be more aggressive and introduce more measures to return to normal. I talked about half of it: the long-term existence of the virus is an unavoidable reality. How to launch a precise anti-epidemic policy and persuade the mainland to allow customs clearance under the premise of returning to normal society and relaxing quarantine will be the most test of Li Jiachao's government in the future. place.
There has been an outbreak in Macau recently.
(Macao Infection Response and Coordination Center Information Release Page)
Compress the quarantine period for arrival in Hong Kong to 4 to 5 days
Macau, which is separated by water from Hong Kong, broke out recently, and has started the third round of nationwide nucleic acid testing. Certain places such as cinemas have been closed. It is reported that Lu Chongmao recently told politicians that he would not follow Macau to implement compulsory nationwide inspection, because Hong Kong If the relevant conditions are not met, it will promote the regularization of nucleic acid testing. In addition, it will also study to shorten the quarantine period for incoming passengers. It is hoped that it will be completed within 4 to 5 days as much as possible, and then cooperate with home isolation. However, the discussion is still preliminary. It still depends on Li Jiachao to discuss with the central government.
Customs Clearance｜The DAB meets with Lo Chongmao, advocating "Station in Hong Kong" to optimize quarantine arrangements for Hong Kong residents to go to the Mainland Customs clearance｜Tian Beichen advocates that the quarantine period for Hong Kong residents be reduced to 3 days and then 4 days for closed-loop management of customs clearance｜Ma Shiheng points out that the strict quarantine in Hong Kong will attract talents If you have to choose between loss, you should first clear customs with foreign countries