The Beijing-owned Hongkong-based Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers reported
(February 16), without saying where they got the information, that Chinese President Xi
Jinping had ordered Vice Premier Han Zheng, who heads the Communist Party committee
responsible for Hong Kong: “Hong Kong’s government must take up the main responsibility
to stabilize and control the pandemic as soon as possible as a mission that overrides everything,
mobilize all available forces and resource and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety
and health of Hong Kong’s citizens and the stability of Hong Kong’s society.” Han Zheng was
asked to convey his instructions. Xi Jinping's instructions are particularly pointed coming as
they do just before Hongkong CE Carrie Lam waits to declare whether she’ll seek a second
five-year term next month from a panel of 1,500 electors dominated by Beijing loyalists.
Meanwhile, from February 24, only people with at least one Covid vaccine dose will be able
to enter the city’s retail outlets including supermarkets. To ensure compliance, residents will
need to scan an app on their smartphone every time they enter a mall, get their hair cut or go to
church. Hundreds of Chinese residents in Hong Kong are now racing to get back to the
mainland to get away from the financial hub’s worsening Covid outbreak, posing a challenge
for officials fearful of contagion.
On Friday, hundreds of people queued at a border checkpoint between Hong Kong and
Shenzhen, with many waiting hours to get through all checks and processes. Most have family
ties with the mainland or are Chinese nationals studying or working in Hong Kong.
Their number tripled to 24,697 in the first 17 days of February from a year earlier.
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