Lawmaker Urges CE To Push For Border Reopening

Pro-Beijing lawmaker and vice chair of the Business and Professionals Alliance Jeffrey Lam on Wednesday urged the Chief Executive to push for the reopening of Hong Kong's borders with the mainland.

The lawmaker made the call ahead of Carrie Lam's three-day trip to the capital from Tuesday, and she will also be visiting the Greater Bay Area cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen before returning to the SAR.

Lam, who represents the commercial sector, said given the stabilised pandemic situation on the mainland, the CE should explore letting mainlanders visit Hong Kong without undergoing quarantine, just as Hong Kong residents living on the mainland can do so from next month.

He said he also hoped the CE could lobby the central government to let some Hongkongers visit the mainland without the 14-day quarantine, even though the SAR is a long way from declaring that the pandemic is under control.

This could be done only if no new cases were reported for 14 straight days and Lam said Hong Kong will probably have to wait till April next year for this.

But he said he hoped officials would consider allowing quarantine-free travel for Hongkongers visiting the mainland before then.

"Many other sectors, including some that have elderly parents living in the mainland, would like to go up and visit and do business. So I hope there will be a (limited) opening for those people. Not necessarily just for one sector, (but also for) those who have a need," he said.