As rivals reopen, Hong Kong doubles down on virus isolation

Hong Kong’s decision to descend deeper into international coronavirus isolation as rivals reopen is causing consternation among managers at multinationals who see no end to a zero-Covid strategy imposed by a leadership beholden to Beijing.

The southern Chinese business hub has kept the coronavirus at bay thanks to some of the world’s strictest quarantine rules with most arrivals undergoing 14 to 21 days of hotel confinement.

Competitors such as London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore have begun to live with the disease with face-to-face meetings, conferences and executive travel slowly returning.

But Hong Kong, which dubs itself “Asia’s World City”, has gone in the opposite direction.

And earlier this week officials further tightened the rules to try to secure a travel bubble with the mainland, even as China experiences its fourth outbreak in the past five months.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said restoring travel to the mainland is “more important” than reopening internationally and that the city needs to be even stricter than authorities north of the border to win Beijing’s trust.

That choice has sparked alarm as executives find themselves increasingly struggling to retain talent and replace those that are leaving.

AFP spoke to six senior managers at international companies to gauge whether — as one banking lobby group warned last week — Hong Kong’s long-term viability as a business hub is at risk.

All asked to remain anonymous so they could speak candidly, and painted a similar picture.

– One basket –

The pandemic began with praise for the way the city kept the coronavirus on the back foot and morphed into optimism that vaccinations would return some sort of normality this year.

But that has given way to fears that Hong Kong, like China, could remain closed off for much of next year.

“Everyone I talk to expects there will definitely be no quarantine lift until after the Winter Olympics (in February) and also perhaps not until Xi Jinping gets himself re-elected,” James, an Australian banker who has spent 30 years in Hong Kong, told AFP.

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China’s leaders will hold a gathering in October at which President Xi is expected to secure a third term and there are growing expectations that Beijing will not risk a reopening of the borders until that sensitive date has passed.

Regular leaving parties and a sudden drop in waiting lists for international schools, James said, pointed to a small but steady exodus of foreign white-collar workers from Hong Kong “especially those with families”.

A managing director at a global investment bank who gave his name as John said he had spent 49 days in quarantine over the past 15 months and was now considering moving to either Singapore or London.

“We have staff every month relocating,” he said, adding it felt like Hong Kong’s government was putting “all the marbles… in one basket” by prioritising travel with China over the rest of the world.

And Philippe, who works at a global consultancy firm, described how a major competitor recently held a gathering of all regional heads in London.

“They all went except their guy based in Hong Kong,” he told AFP.

– ‘Unsustainable’ –

Among the stricter rules Hong Kong…