Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday said at his first news conference since taking office that he would work on easing restrictions on travelers while balancing the risks of a COVID-19 outbreak overwhelming the healthcare system.
Most travelers visiting Hong Kong are required to serve a seven-day mandatory quarantine at designated hotels.
Lee, a former security official who was the only candidate in the election for Hong Kong’s chief executive, took office on Friday, succeeding Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥).
Photo: EPA-EFE
Speaking at his first news conference ahead of an Executive Council meeting, Lee said Hong Kong is an “international city” and that he was “conscious” of the need for Hong Kong to remain open and convenient to travelers.
“But it is also important that we address the risks at the same time so that we will maintain good balance,” he said.
Lee said that the territory’s health minister was evaluating data to determine how the quarantine duration could be adjusted and would formulate options for Lee to consider.
COVID-19 cases have been rising in Hong Kong, with more than 1,000 daily compared with just over 100 daily in early May.
The territory reported 1,841 new infections on Monday.
Lee also said Hong Kong had a “constitutional duty” to enact a new security law, in addition to the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 that has wiped out most political dissent and put many democracy supporters under arrest, in hiding or in exile.
Enacting Article 23 of the Basic Law has long been controversial. When the government first attempted to draft such laws in 2003, protesters took to the streets in massive demonstrations that prompted the government to shelve its plans.
Lee said that Hong Kong’s situation and levels of security risks would be assessed before the legislation is enacted.
“We’re very confident that we will be able to do it well,” he said.
Meanwhile, a document, made public on Monday by Lee to the Registration and Electoral Office, showed that he received more than HK$11 million (US$1.4 million) in physical cash when he ran unchallenged for the territory’s top job in May while under US sanctions.
It demonstrated the creative ways in which Lee was able to run an election campaign without access to a bank account, including procuring banknote identifiers, safes and cash transit escort services.
His campaign expenditure included more than 400 advertisements on US-owned social networks, despite YouTube and Facebook suspending services for Lee due to the sanctions.
Lee and other top Hong Kong and Chinese officials were sanctioned by the US in 2020 for their roles in the crackdown on civil liberties in the territory.
Donating in cash to a sanctioned individual “raises concerns over untraceable money trails and non-compliance, and possibly clouds the true origins of funds, which could even be from outside Hong Kong,” Hong Kong Baptist University associate professor of government Kenneth Chan (陳家洛) said. “The fact that a candidate ran an election campaign, and took and spent money without banking services due to US sanctions, is unheard of.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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