Hong Kong loses shine amid tough coronavirus restrictions

The bustling, cosmopolitan business hub of Hong Kong may belosing its shine among foreign companies and expatriates with its stringentanti-pandemic rules requiring up to 21 days of quarantine for new arrivals.

The restrictions are discouraging both visitors and businesstravellers and add to other challenges the semi-autonomous Chinese territoryfaces as Beijing exerts ever more control over the former British colony.

For months, business circles have been urging theauthorities to relax some quarantine restrictions, saying the city risks losingsome of its international talent and appeal as a regional financial hub.

Some fumed when the city granted an exemption to the rulesfor JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who visited the city for about a day inNovember. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Dimon was given an exception relatedto the economy and that JPMorgan is a very huge bank with key business in HongKong.

Actress Nicole Kidman also was exempted when she visited thecity to film parts of a television series about expatriates, drawing ire fromcritics and local lawmakers over whether celebrities should be allowed to comeand skip quarantine when Hong Kong residents pay dearly to return home.

Hong Kong's COVID-zero stance is in line with mainlandChina's policy of largely shutting its doors to the international world to tryto prevent cases being brought into the country.

The restrictions have tightened further in light of the newomicron coronavirus variant, which was confirmed in at least four people in thecity. Hong Kong authorities have designated about 60 countries as high-riskareas including the U.S., Britain, Australia and any country with confirmedomicron cases.

For travellers from high-risk areas, only Hong Kongresidents are allowed in and they must quarantine at their own expense for 21days at a hotel. Travellers arriving from certain African countries such asSouth Africa and Zimbabwe that have reported locally-transmitted omicroninfections must spend seven days at a government facility while undergoingdaily testing and then stay two weeks at a hotel, also at their own expense.

Only travellers from China are largely exempted fromquarantine, though those travelling from Hong Kong into most provinces inmainland China must still isolate for 3 weeks. Lam, Hong Kong's leader, hasemphasized she's more concerned with resuming quarantine-free cross-bordertravel with mainland China than with international travel.

The prolonged restrictions are hurting Hong Kong'scompetitiveness, said Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber ofCommerce in Hong Kong. Many chambers of commerce in the city have askedrepeatedly for the city to reopen to visitors at the earliest opportunity sincethe restrictions make it hard for businesses to connect with clients andcompete internationally.

We're not seeing any overt effort to provide plans for howHong Kong is going to get back on track to open its international borders, andthis is very difficult for businesses, Joseph said.

Joseph resigned from her position as AmCham president lastmonth after failing to get the government to ease coronavirus restrictions butis staying on for six months while the chamber finds her successor.

Frederik Gollob, the chairman of The European Chamber ofCommerce in Hong Kong, wrote an open letter to the Hong Kong government inAugust saying the city's tough quarantines could lead many in the internationalcommunity to question if they want to remain indefinitely trapped in Hong Kongwhen the rest of the world is moving on.

Many foreigners living in Hong Kong have tired of therestrictions and are thinking of heading for greener pastures. More than 40% ofmembers polled in a recent AmCham survey said they might leave the city.

I think most expatriates in Hong Kong have tried to stayhere as long as possible they really value the work opportunities that theyhave but travel restrictions, really tough quarantine measures, have stoppedpeople from seeing loved ones back in their home countries, said Mark Tibbatts,managing director at recruitment agency Michael Page.

Urgent action is needed to prevent many qualifiedprofessionals from leaving, he said. I really think that going into next year,if there aren't clear signs that there will be an improvement, or at least alowering of quarantine restrictions, then people will have to make plans wherethey will have to commit to particularly things like education (for theirchildren), he said.

Summer Wang, an American expatriate who arrived in the citynot long before the pandemic began, plans to return to the U.S. beforeChristmas.

I knew I would leave Hong Kong eventually because of workreasons, but I decided to leave sooner because of the 21-day quarantine, saidWang, who has done two hotel quarantines in the city since the pandemic began.

Quarantine is bearable once or twice, but unless you'rewilling to stay separated from family for long, unpredictable stretches oftime, the current quarantine measurements are unsustainable, she said. I'mpaying to be miserable.

Some companies in Hong Kong, such as JPMorgan Chase, GoldmanSachs and Morgan Stanley have started offering to cover quarantine costs foremployees. A 21-day stay in the city's cheapest quarantine hotel costs at least1,200 for one person.

Black Sheep Restaurants, a Hong Kong-based restaurant groupoffering various cuisines, plans to spend about 650,000 to fly more than 250 ofits foreign employees home to see their families and cover resulting quarantinecosts, said Syed Asim Hussain, one of its co-founders.

You know, we do this strange thing which is giving strangershospitality, and looking after people through food and drink night after night,Hussain said in an interview. And I felt that we had to look after ourselves aswell in this difficult environment.

It's financially painful, but he said he hopes theinitiative will create immeasurable goodwill within our community and beyond.

Sandeep Arora, a restaurant manager at Black Sheep's NewPunjab Club, said the effort will allow him to visit his hometown in Punjab,India, since paying for tickets, quarantine and testing would have been beyondhis means.

Arora is looking forward to eating his mother's baiganbharta an eggplant dish typically served with roti, a flatbread and even more importantly,seeing his son. The main thing is my son he's growing very fast. He was sixyears old when I saw him last, and now he's turning eight, he said. Every dayis very important ... especially for me to be with him as a father.