HK Desperate to Reopen Border with China

Hong Kong anxiously waits for the green light from Beijing

For the longest time Macau was seen as the role model on how to keep the coronavirus pandemic at bay, but in the last few days it has uncovered a cluster of at least four local infections stemming from security guards at a quarantine hotel and has spread to others related to renovation work.

The city has mandated the entire population of 650,000 go through another test within 48 hours to try to root out the source, though the previous two tests have come up with nothing.

Some 650,000 Macanese are tested within 48 hours

Macanese civil servants were told to work from home, face-to-face classes for primary and secondary schools were suspended, and there is a 14-day quarantine still in place for those from Zhuhai to Macau. Even Macao Post has suspended mail service for three days.

But wait -- casinos remain open...

Meanwhile Hong Kong has had zero local cases in 49 days and still Beijing refuses to lift border restrictions between the city and the mainland.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pledged this was a priority for her administration and said the government would do whatever it takes to have quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and China.

"For the sake of reopening the border, the city government is willing and determined to improve anything located by our mainland counterparts to make our measures more in line with their standards, or to convince them our anti-epidemic mechanism will not [create] a gap," Lam said ahead of her weekly meeting with the Executive Council.

Lam keen to do whatever it takes to open border

"We have already made it very clear our focus is on [reopening] with the mainland as Hongkongers have a strong need to cross the border, be it from an economic or livelihood perspective," she said.

Her administration is waiting for feedback from mainland experts and would decide the next steps after an internal assessment.

China seems to be concerned about Hong Kong's cross-border measures and the continued reporting of imported cases -- but this has now become standard information people want to know and expect to hear. It is important to know where these infections are coming from and stemming them if they become relatively high.

It is clear where Lam's priorities lie.

"International tourism, as well as international business activities, of course matter to us, but that is not comparable with the mainland... Many foreign corporations which have set up a branch in Hong Kong also run businesses on the mainland. So being able to cross the border to inspect their businesses or deliberate with their investors also matters a lot to them," she said.

Lam's priority is the mainland, not rest of world

Unlike other countries that have decided to "live with the virus", this is not an option for Hong Kong if it ever wants the mainland to lift border restrictions.

So even though China tells Lam to jump, and she asks, "How high?", Beijing doesn't have an answer.

This is a limbo that has made lots of Hong Kong residents either pleased that an influx of mainlanders aren't coming in, or desperate for tourists to keep their businesses alive, or see loved ones. 

And it will drag on until at least February, 2022...

Macau's 491 Infection-Free Streak Ends

Over 680,000 Macanese residents must be tested for the virus

Up until now, Macau was seen as being the model city in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, recording 491 days of having no local infections.

But it was announced last night that a Macanese family tested positive for the highly infections Delta variant after the 12-year-old daughter had caught it last month after going to Xi'an via Zhuhai for a school dancing trip.

She reportedly showed symptoms in Xi'an but didn't report them to health authorities until coming back to Macau on July 25.

Macau had only allowed mainland visitors in

That led to the Macanese Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng to order all 680,000 residents of the former Portuguese enclave to get tested within three days. This resulted in massive long lines and residents were frustrated and tired waiting for hours. Ho apologized for the chaos and confusion.

The incident also affects Hong Kong, as one of the girl's classmates came from here and now the Tsim Sha Tsui hotel she stayed at after coming back from Monday is undergoing mandatory testing.

This is a complete reversal from how Macau viewed Hong Kong -- even just a handful of imported infections in the latter was not enough for the small casino city to even consider opening up a travel bubble between the two cities.

Macau treated Hong Kong like the black sheep and only allowed mainland visitors to come in, and gamble.

Then recently Macau suggested perhaps Chinese health experts could come and assess the situation to decide whether the border could open up between Macau and Hong Kong.

Now Hong Kong is wary of mainland returnees

But now both China and Macau are desperately trying to contain the virus as quickly as possible.

Hong Kong had allowed up to 6,000 people daily to come back from the mainland without quarantine, but this policy has now changed, and only those coming back from Guangdong don't have to quarantine, while everyone else must do 14 days' home quarantine regardless of vaccination.

Previously China had said it will not re-open borders with Hong Kong until there are zero cases, but it seems Hong Kong has been doing relatively well all along, though vaccinations rates are now 34 percent of the population fully vaccinated, 45 percent with at least one dose.

Hopefully the incident in Macau will get more people there and Hong Kong to get vaccinated, but it seems to be a never-ending struggle to do something relatively easy and free of charge...

 

Lam's Policy Address was a Doozy

Lam makes her policy address and note the Chinese lapel pin

The long-awaited policy address by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was finally given, and clocked in at a very long two hours and 15 minutes, tying with her predecessor Leung Chun-ying. Lam read out some 30,000 words and claimed she had written the entire thing herself. 

She read out her speech to a Legislature Council that only made up of the pro-establishment lawmakers and two independents after four pan-democrat lawmakers were ousted and their 15 colleagues resigned in protest a few weeks ago.

Cheung gets hair crabs, Ip sees Tsang sleeping

Lam claimed to be pleased she could read out her speech in a peaceful chambers, as last year she received so much heckling that she retreated from Legco and gave a pre-recorded video address instead.

Maybe that's because some people in the room were busy doing other things -- like Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai was caught dozing off as well as Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee. 

Meanwhile the portly Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Christopher Cheung Wah-fung received a message on his phone that his order of hairy crabs worth HK$9,600 was ready to be picked up and would he be paying by cheque or cash?

Then there was the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong's Vincent Cheng Wing-shun spending the time trying to twirl a pen on his hand, while New People's Party's Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee looked at pictures of Tsang sleeping on her Whatsapp.

Did Lam reprimand them for not paying attention to her piece de resistance?

What lawmakers did listening to Lam's speech

In any event, at least the media were glued to their screens watching the proceedings. 

Lam started the speech by saying the objective of the policy address was to "find a way out of the impasse" and restore people's confidence following the anti-government protests last year, and the current battle against the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the economy to shrink by 6.1 percent.

The national security law enacted on June 30, Lam said, helped Hong Kong become peaceful again and restored stability in the city. But she said more needs to be done in educating people, particularly the youth about the law, and this will be a 10-year project launched by the Department of Justice. Lawmakers, judges and civil servants will have to pledge allegiance to the city and the Basic Law.

Reporters made note of Lam wearing a pin of the Chinese flag on her lapel, signalling things are becoming more mainlandized. Hong Kong will be dragged closer to the mainland with the Greater Bay Area as the priority, and the city together with Macau and Guangdong will become an economic powerhouse -- at least in theory.

Some 2,000 university graduates from Hong Kong who are willing to go work in the mainland will have their monthly salary of HK$18,000 (US$2,322) paid for by taxpayers. Will that actually tempt them to go to the dark side? Or will they worry they will be branded as traitors?

Is it realistic to invest in Zhuhai Airport?

Lam also said the Airport Authority Hong Kong will invest in more shares in Zhuhai Airport for domestic travel, but when looked at realistically, it is 90km away and there is currently no logistical connection between it and Hong Kong. 

To boost the economy in the short term, stamp duties on commercial real estate transactions will be suspended, but that perhaps will make the rich richer and the rest of us left further behind. Lam said with the GBA project, Hong Kong could act as a middleman between China and the rest of the world... hasn't it been doing that since the 1800s? And has Hong Kong been reduced to the role of facilitator and not a leading city in Asia? 

When it comes to fighting the pandemic, Lam says Hong Kong has ordered vaccines, but if there aren't enough, the mainland has earmarked some for us. However she had no further details on the manufacturer or how effective they were. How reassuring.

During her visit to Beijing she pitched the idea of opening the border with the mainland, but she was rebuffed because Hong Kong's case numbers are still high (this was before the current fourth wave). 

Hong Kong needs to reach zero infections

As a result, Lam says a community-wide testing program may need to happen again, and reiterated people need to be more careful about going out unnecessarily as she is pushing for zero infections. Lam later admitted in the press conference it may be impossible to get completely down to zero, but that it was something to aim for. Don't we all, Carrie?

Finally the chief executive talked about more housing, and that the government had identified 330 hectares of land to build 316,000 public housing units in the next 10 years. And she is still pushing her ambitious Lantau Tomorrow Vision of reclaiming 1,000 hectares of land to build more housing at the price tag of HK$624 billion. 

Critics not only say this drains at least half of the government coffers, but also the environmental damage will be irreparable. When asked again about it by the media, Lam shot back that only HK$550 million would be spent on a study, but in reality with no viable opposition, the project will go ahead eventually. 

So that in a nutshell is the policy address today.

But we really wonder if Christopher Cheung enjoyed his hairy crabs today.

 

A Disappearance on the Bridge

A Hongkonger disappeared Friday while at a checkpoint on the bridge

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Macau on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of the handover of the the city from Portugal back to China. And as with all state visits, security has been stepped up. Way up.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of Macau's handover

So much so that a middle-aged Hong Kong man has been reported to have disappeared when he was traveling by coach on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge when he was stopped at a security check point manned by mainland officials on Friday afternoon.

The checkpoint is on an artificial island on the bridge, which is the world's longest sea crossing.

The man's son received a text message from him saying he had been arrested at a new checkpoint set up by the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau. His family lost contact with him after he sent this message.

His son went to Macau to look for his father, but was told by local police there was no record of him entering the city. As a result the son returned to Hong Kong and reported his father's disappearance to the police.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Macau this week

The Hong Kong Immigration Department has confirmed it had been contacted by the family and is offering support.

"The Immigration Department is following up the case through the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong," a spokeswoman said. "We're also offering advice and assistance in line with the family's wishes."

The Zhuhai public security bureau revealed the temporary new security arrangements earlier this month to "maintain the order of the bridge and create a good social environment" for the 20th anniversary celebrations.

"From December 10-22, 2019, the public security bureau will set up a security checkpoint at the eastern artificial island to undertake security checks on people and vehicles from Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai via the bridge," the notice said.

The Immigration Department is following the case closely

Needless to say this yet another reason for Hongkongers to not take the bridge.

We hope this man will be returned to his family soon... another disappearance is another reason why people are protesting against China's encroachment onto Hong Kong freedoms...

Hardly Bridging the Chaos

The bridge is keeping bus operators busy 24 hours a day ferrying tourists

Since it opened last October, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is being used a lot, though there are still a lot of logistical problems that need to be ironed out.

Yesterday my aunt and uncle were late coming from Zhuhai to meet us for dim sum in Tuen Mun.

They thought it would be easier to cross the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, but the reality is, thousands of others were planning to do the same too.

There is a lot of chaos in running the shuttle service

According to my relatives, even if you arrive at 8am, there are hordes of people already there waiting for shuttle buses to take them across to Hong Kong or Macau -- you have to get there an hour earlier.

And then the drivers are not properly instructed on which bay they should stop at to pick up passengers -- it is complete chaos and passengers have to rush to the bus instead of the bus being directed to where they should go.

The next challenge is going through immigration. Once you leave one jurisdiction, taking your luggage with you, then you have to get back onto the shuttle to drive for a bit before entering another jurisdiction and going through its immigration section. Why can't you go through one immigration counter and then the other within walking distance so that you only have to go on and off the shuttle once?

Another issue is having mainlanders trying to jump the queue at immigration, but it's not a new problem...

More work needs to be done to run the services smoothly

Meanwhile the shuttle bus companies are making a killing, ferrying people across to the three destinations, each bus completely full and charging between HK$120-HK$170 depending on where you are going. And the bridge is open 24 hours a days so you can imagine these bus companies have no qualms working day and night.

The unpredictability of the the bridge situation has resulted in many paying more to take the ferry instead -- if you can get a ticket. And with Chinese New Year, ferry tickets were hard to come by, which meant having to try your luck at the bridge.

In terms of tourism, it has meant a lot more day trippers coming to Hong Kong and shopping up a storm and eating quick bites, but not staying overnight to save on hotels.

For Hong Kong's economy that is dependent on tourism this isn't a good thing -- we still have lots of people visiting but not spending more of their money here.

It'll be interesting to see what the long-term effects of this will be -- does this mean fewer hotels in Hong Kong and more shops? I'm more interested in these visitors' perceptions of the city since their impressions will be very superficial and not very meaningful in terms of experiences.

Wonder how the Hong Kong Tourism Board will persuade them to stay a bit longer...

Hong Kong Minister Caught Flat-Footed

So when is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opening?

Now that the High-Speed Rail is open, there was a lot of expectation that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge would open by the end of this month.

However, Hong Kong's Secretary for Transport and Housing, Frank Chan Fan today poured cold water on the anticipation.

"[On the] Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge [opening] by the end of this month, I must say this is news to me. Personally I don't have any idea when the bridge is going to open," he said after he was interviewed in a radio program.

Transport minister Frank Chan has no idea when it will open

Excuse me? How can you not know!

He said the three cities were still waiting for the green light from Beijing.

At the end of September the three cities held a three-day drill on the 55km-long bridge and then sent the results to Beijing, which could determine the opening date.

Is Beijing looking for the most auspicious date to open or just keeping everyone on their toes for no particular reason except to show who's in charge?

We will try to wait patiently for any news on the bridge front...

Can Bridge Take On Super Typhoon?

Super Typhoon Mangkhut is over Luzon now, on the way to Hong Kong

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is almost done -- but before it opens the mega infrastructure project will face its first severe test -- Super Typhoon Mangkhut on Sunday.

It's expected to pack up winds of up to 205km/h and be within 100km of Hong Kong -- but can the 55km bridge handle it?

Structural and geotechnical engineer Ngai Hok-yan has his doubts. He says the artificial islands in mainland waters and on the Macau side would face a greater risk from Mangkhut than the one at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok, which is partly protected by Lantau Island.

Can the bridge sustain winds of over 200km/h?

"Whether the bridge can withstand the destructive force of Super Typhoon Mangkhut depends on the height of the waves at the artificial island," he said.

Currently the dolosse or protective blocks there can withstand waves as high as four metres, but beyond that there is a chance the protective blocks could wash away very quickly, Ngai said, adding American forecasts have predicted waves could be as high as six metres.

"Without the protection of the dolosse, the worst case scenario would see the undersea tunnel detach from the artificial island and float above the sea, and also the collapse of the island."

He also said the Macau artificial island was exposed to more risk because it faced the sea.

Hmmm! Seems like none of the higher-ups in Hong Kong, Beijing or Macau considered the possibility of natural disasters when they were thinking about building this bridge that connects Macau and Hong Kong with the mainland.

Can the dolosse sustain waves over four metres high?

Aside from adverse weather conditions, one friend said she refused to go on the bridge once it was completed because what if someone's car broke down? Would there be a massive traffic jam? Who would help tow the car away? Or what if there was an accident? And the chances of that happening are very high, considering drivers in Hong Kong and Macau have the steering wheel on the right side of the car, China on the left.

And now this ominous warning from an engineer saying the bridge may not withstand a super typhoon...

All we can do now is wait and see what happens.

Fact of the Day: 1,600 Coaches Cross the Border Daily

The high-speed trains from Hong Kong will go to many mainland destinations

Hong Kong will soon get two major transport links -- the high-speed train and bridge -- to link with the mainland even more.

The West Kowloon train station starts service September 23

For some people these infrastructure projects are further evidence of the mainland forcing Hong Kong to be closer to the motherland, on the other they are two other options to get to destinations across the border.

What I didn't know was the existing business in buses that ferry people back and forth to various places in Guangdong daily.

A staggering 583,075 coaches crossed the border from Hong Kong last year, or almost 1,600 coaches per day.

What's also interesting is that one bus company reports 60 percent of its customers are Hong Kong people who need to cross the border daily, the remaining 40 percent are mainland tourists.

There are already many coaches taking people to Guangdong

It turns out the current rail and ferry routes don't help these commuters much and so they rely on these coaches. They go to destinations like Guangzhou, Futian in Shenzhen, and Panyu in Guangzhou.

However, now with the new high-speed rail station at West Kowloon opening later this month on September 23, this will be direct competition for the coaches, cutting the commute times; though with the opening of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge, this will give coach companies other routes they can go that the high-speed rail doesn't, like Taishan, Zhongshan, Kaiping and Enping.

Will this mean over half a million bus rides daily or even more?

The Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge will open soon

Either way Beijing is probably pleased that Hong Kong people are embracing the saying, "build and they will come"... to the Greater Bay Area! No it's not San Francisco, but an amalgamation of several Chinese cities, along with Hong Kong and Macau.

We don't want to get left behind, do we?

Xi's Look Back at 2017

Xi Jinping gives his New Year's address with two red phones on his desk...

On New Year's Eve, Chinese President Xi Jinping read out an 11-minute televised message where he went over the country's achievements in 2017.

He praised the Chinese people's "great creative forces that have burst forth" (迸发出来的创造伟力 bèngfā chūlái de chuàngzào wěilì) and listed accomplishments, such as the high-speed rail, the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge mostly completed, military progress, and increased health insurance coverage.

This picture was spotted on the shelf behind him

Xi repeated his commitment of promising to lift all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020, and said China would "resolutely uphold the authority and status of the United Nations", be a responsible global actor and keep its promise on climate change and actively move forward on the Belt and Road initiative.

Interestingly he also observed people have encountered frustrations and admitted the Party could do more, saying the government needed to deliver on education, employment, income, social security, healthcare, elderly care, housing and the environment.

But throughout the video broadcast, viewers were more interested in the pictures he had on the bookshelves behind him than what he was saying. What were the pictures of?

Three showed him posing with different groups in the military, three were of him visiting the poor, one was about the Belt and Road, one had him posing with young Hong Kong people to mark the 20th anniversary of its handover to China, and one showed him retaking the Party oath

This photo showing his love of football was not there...

Xinhua news agency said Xi's global vision is to chart out a more prosperous and peaceful future for humanity with the joint efforts of the Chinese people and people from other countries, and the photos behind him were meant to reinforce this message.

A friend of mine who covers sports in China noted in Xi's other New Year speeches in 2014, 2015 and 2016, there were football-related pictures on the bookshelves, but this time there were none.

However, I'm more interested in the two red phones on his desk...

Hardly Bridging Hong Kong's Priorities

What the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge will look like, when it's done

Following yesterday's blog post about how the Hong Kong government isn't doing enough for its own poverty-stricken residents, it will have to spend another HK$11.8 billion on the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge.

The main section of the project, a 22.9km bridge and 6.7km undersea tunnel is situated in mainland waters. The Hong Kong government has to ask the Legislative Council for more money because a 2008 document says Hong Kong would pay for 50.2 percent of the 31 billion yuan cost of the main bridge, while the mainland would shell out 35.1 percent, and Macau 14.7 percent.

A map detailing where the bridge and tunnel are situated

How it got to those uneven percentages is strange, but there you have it, and Hong Kong has to bear the vast majority of the cost. Will we be using it 50.1 percent of the time too?

Lawmakers have told the government to give a detailed explanation and be prepared for lots of questions.

In February and October the Transport and Housing Bureau told lawmakers that the bridge would cost more than expected due to an "increase in labour and material costs as well as the refinement of the design and construction schemes".

However an exact amount -- HK$11.8 billion -- wasn't disclosed until yesterday.

Frankie Yick Chi-ming, chairman of Legco's transport panel, said there would be "lots of questions" from legislators when the government applies for more funding for the bridge.

Construction of the bridge's border crossing facility

"The key question I have is if 10 billion [yuan] is the final number," he said.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is in Beijing and he admitted he didn't know yet how much of the budget overrun Hong Kong had to bear, but would be calculated according to "an established mechanism" as agreed by all sides when the agreement was signed.

So a huge infrastructure project that gives Hong Kong an opportunity to kowtow to Beijing that is costing billions in extra cost is worth more than trying to help the poor get a leg-up in society.

It's a sad state of affairs really. We need more resources to help our own residents live better lives than splashing out on white elephant infrastructure projects...

Picture of the Day: Zhuhai

Not to far to walk over to Zhuhai, is it?

Back to Macau one more time -- when we were at Coloane, we walked by a river that was at very low tide, and my friend pointed out that across the river was Zhuhai -- so close!

The low tide made it possible for someone with a pair of boots to walk across to Macau very easily! And it's a wonder not more did!

Geographically so close, but cultural so far...

Fact of the Day: Get Rich is Glorious... then Emigrate

Back in 1992, then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping made his famous southern tour visiting Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Zhuhai, where he reportedly said, "To get rich is glorious!" (致富光荣! zhi4fu4guang1rong2).

And millions of people in China took this literally, creatively finding ways to make their wealth.

But now that the uber rich have made their money, they want their kids to get the heck out of motherland.

According to the Hurun Research Institute based in Shanghai, about 80 percent of mainland tycoons want their children to study abroad.

This compares to 1 percent in Japan and 5 percent in France.

Of the Chinese tycoons surveyed, 30 percent want to send their brood to the UK for primary education, while 36 percent want their children to go to the United States for university.

Sounds like they don't mind their kids having a mixed-up British-American accent...

The report added overseas education was the main reason why tycoons wanted to emigrate.

Sounds like lots of money flowing out of China, apparently for better education...

The report doesn't ask if the tycoons want their children to come back to China after their studies, but the results of that question would also be very telling...