Hong Kong is set to cut mandatory quarantine on arrival from 7 days to 3 days starting this Friday. When you enter the Special Administrative Region of China you have to fill out forms, test frequently, and go into 3 days of isolation still. But that’s down an earlier length of three weeks. Once past the 3 days you aren’t done with restrictions, however, because you still cannot enter restaurants or bars for another four days.
There’s far less reason to enter Hong Kong than there used to be.
- The city itself is less desirable as it’s become less free, with Chinese state security taking on an increased role in the city.
- And the turn towards the mainland and the ‘Greater Bay Area’ rather than the world financial system has made it less relevant, to the benefit of other cities like Singapore.
You don’t want to connect in Hong Kong now, either. There are fewer flights, and so delays become more costly. If you miss a connection you can’t just enter the city. So it makes sense to stay away from Hong Kong even as a stopover point.
Eventually Hong Kong (and mainland China) will lift pandemic restrictions. The city has focused on its relationship with Beijing, and the Peoples Republic of China has kept draconian Covid restrictions because much of its population has remained immunologically naive and they’ve been unwilling to using mRNA vaccines (since those represent failure of Chinese science compared to the West) and other key treatments.
China needs to keep Covid-19 in check until getting past the 20th Peoples Congress at which President Xi is expected to break with convention set by Deng Xiaoping and receive a third term. Uncontrolled spread of Covid (and invasion of Taiwan, for that matter) represent too much risk to take on for the Chinese leader before that.
I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years, as I have mainland China, and I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent in the past. It’s hard to imagine returning in the medium-term even when restrictions are lifted. The pandemic – and changes to civil liberties in the region – will have truly lasting effects.
It’s sad what has happened to Hong Kong thanks to the CCP. I’d love to return but I think it will be awhile, for the same reasons you mentioned. I fear things will get worse before they get better.
Hong Kong is a cautionary tale. Xi is to Deng as Putin is to Gorbachev.
I’ve made over 150 trips to Hong Kong from the Los Angeles area. My last flight was November 2019. Right before Covid hit. It was my favorite city in the world and I know it better than any US city. Like Gary I have serious doubts I will ever visit again. Partly due to the fact I will retire next year, but even if I weren’t my travel there would be greatly reduced. It truly pains me to see this happen. I have dozens of close friends and co-workers living there. Many have moved over the last two years. It is sunset time for a once great city.
I lived / worked in HK for 2 years between 2014-2016 and love the city just like many others.
I hope to visit it again, even though it has changed for the worst.
I cannot fathom why anyone would willingly go anywhere near Hong Kong or China these days.
“… and they’ve been unwilling to using mRNA vaccines…”
Which have proven to be both a failure and a danger. I don’t see how avoiding them is considered unwise. Well, I guess if you “follow the science” then it makes sense that you “think” they’re wonderful.
@James N
And of course James N is here spreading his insanity in line like a communist dupe or a Chump Fool following the 45 wannabe dictator. Nothing like cult worship is it Jimmy boy
Thanks again for validating my position. You’re simply incapable of producing anything remotely intelligent.
So much for the great use of AS miles for CX first and business. Guess it’s now using KE round-trips and JL.
@James N
Not too original for a reputed scientist and doctor without credentials.
Just transited thru HK the other day. Airport was dead. Could only find one lounge that was open. Most stores and outlets closed Similar to 2020.
“Rog” please stop with the Trump BS. I voted for Trump and am fully vaccinated and boosted. I do not follow the anti vaxxers theories. Believe it or not there are many Trump supporters who do the same. Maybe for one moment you and the other Libs can step outside of your narrow box, stop drinking the koolaid the mainstream media gives you and above all else stop with the generalizations! Sadly perhaps I am setting the bar too high.
@Rog
Really sad you suffer from such mental disabilities. I hope you can get the mental help you so desperately need.
Left-wingers on average are twice as likely to have mental health issues as normal people.
Sorry, don’t need to be a doctor or scientist to know when you’re being scammed. The evidence is overwhelming that the experimental gene therapies have been a failure. You know it and so does Gary and many others. Unfortunately, you’re simply too embarrassed to admit you were fooled and fell for a con.
@ CMorgan
“Rog” please stop with the Trump BS. I voted for Trump…Sadly perhaps I am setting the bar too high.””
Well, mate, you certainly set a very low bar when you voted for the Donald Duckling. You don’t need any opinion piece from any media of any particular persuasion to work it out for yourself – his words and the impacts of lack of leadership alone are sufficient to expose him.
The only question is whether you have subsequently worked out that that sociopathic anti-democratic loony tune was a fucking cluster fuck who created a fucking mess, not just for the USA, but other countries including America’s closest allies.
My mates who are members of the Republican Party saw through his BS and refused to vote for him. Both times.
Now don’t complain about the profanity – it is entirely warranted -ponder the lack of leadership in the GOP that would allow the scum to stand again (if he does try).
@James N
“You’re simply incapable of producing anything remotely intelligent”
Self talk again, hey James?
Look, since you still haven’t got the message.
Bad news, buddy – there is nothing scientific or smart about the content of your posts. Your statements have been repeatedly deconstructed by scientific / medical evidence in the links posted in previous threads. Your own sources (some right wing trash website) have been shown to be fake by reference to the original scientific literature.
By all means have your opinions – believe in whatever conspiracies you want. Wear that face diaper as much as your want. But just don’t pretend to be scientific. Your’e not. Repeating the same old shite on a blog does not make something so. It just makes you look very dumb.
There really is nothing the GOP can presently do to stop Trump from running again. American political parties are extraordinarily weak, they have no control over who runs. (I suspect reforms are on their way, from ranked-choice voting to vetting of candidates to elimination of primaries.) Sanders isn’t even a member of the Democratic Party, yet he’s nearly won the nomination twice. It took the Democratic leadership ordering everyone out in 2020 to get Biden past Sanders, whom the leadership desperately didn’t want, as he likely would have lost to Trump.
There is also the problem that if the GOP leadership came out explicitly against Trump too early, he’d just form a third party, split the vote, and elect another Democrat in 2024. He’s so vindictive, he’d rather burn the place down than let someone else win. I think the hope is, Trump will just burn himself out through acting crazy and/or get indicted.
@ C_M
Thanks for the insights. No doubt there is much politics behind the scenes, regardless of process (?). The increased adoption of some populist politics is troubling as an observer (Ted Cruz seemed OK, originally, no, but then succumbed too much to the Trump playbook?).
Is DeSantis still in play as an eventual potential nominee? He was being written up a month ago as a prospect…
DeSantis is who the Democrats fear the most and the most obvious nominee not named Trump – able to play the Trump populist playbook without being Trumpy. He’s also not insane. They regularly try to smear him or goad him into outright opposing Trump, incurring Trump’s wrath. My bet is he runs and has a good shot of uniting the opposition to Trump within the party. There is a lot of maneuvering going on behind the scenes.
Ted Cruz is a smart guy, but the kind of person you want to punch in the face. He’s rather unlikeable as a human being, but a decent senator. He should stay where he is, then get a cabinet position when he’s ready to move on. Dan Crenshaw would then move to replace him, though the Texas GOP may be too crazy now to nominate an obvious winner. Cruz is up for re-election in 2024.
@ C_M
Thanks again for sharing your insights / opinions – much appreciated.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out! My perception is that most would prefer to see assured, competent leadership (whoever, whatever) – perhaps the more to the political centre the more folks will be on board?
I will not be voting for Trump if he runs again. While I agreed with much of what he did he simply has no tact or diplomacy skills and doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. He also doesn’t know when to listen to others who are smarter than him. Ego is too big. I agree that DeSantis is the best choice followed by Pence. I like Cruz as a Senator but he has too much baggage and the mainstream media hates him. Anyone with half a brain should be able to beat Biden. You simply need to appeal to that minor middle road independent voter in a few battle ground states and remember the old saying “it is about the economy stupid”. Lol
PS Platy I was able to respond to your profanity laced post without using any profanity of my own
Platy swings and misses again. Sorry, but the evidence is overwhelming. Face diapers don’t work. Lockdowns failed and actually caused more harm than good. Social distancing? Hardly worth mentioning. And finally, the experimental gene therapies have been an abject failure and all evidence supports this.
You or anyone else can not present valid evidence to refute what I just wrote. You’re just another example of someone who foolishly fell for a scam and is too weak to admit it.
The FBI is raiding Mar-A-Lago as I write this. Should prove interesting.
Yes, the public would like to get back to normal. But that is not who controls the nominating process. Traditionally, American presidents come from the governor ranks or a former VP – the last few years have been outside of that norm. DeSantis has been an effective governor. After he gets re-elected in November, we’ll see what happens. (There haven’t been any polls since February, but the Democrats are committing no money to the race and DeSantis is off campaigning for other candidates outside of Florida, which tells you everything you need to know.) Pence has a base among the Christian conservatives, but they’re not what they once were. I have a hard time seeing anyone other than the top 3 getting the nod.
The really interesting factor may be what Biden does – the only GOP candidate he can beat is Trump, and maybe not even then. If he says he’s not running, and that has to come soon, it’s going to be a free-for-all. Newsom could be that favorite. But I’ve already said, any winner in a Newsom-DeSantis contest would be superior to any winner in a Biden-Trump contest.
Having Gavin Newsom as president is a scary proposition but no worse than Biden. Hopefully it never comes down to either.
Newsom knows what day it is, doesn’t dribble into his oatmeal, doesn’t belong to the Democratic Socialists of America, and doesn’t cackle like a crazy person when asked a tough question. That is a low bar, but I’m willing to accept it, even if he wouldn’t be my first, second, or even tenth choice. We could do worse – a lot worse. And have.
Not true that a Thursday arrival will quarantine longer than a Friday arrival. In fact, since the announcement was made people who have been in quarantine hotels for 3 days are already being permitted to leave.
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/11/244445/Sweet-early-release-beckons-from-today
@ James N
“Face diapers don’t work.”
And yet you have been provided with the scientific evidence that your statement is false based on a scientific report on 300,000 people. You ignore the evidence. Wear your denialist nappy on your face if you want.
“Lockdowns failed and actually caused more harm than good.”
And yet, you have been repeatedly provided with the evidence that your statement is false. Again, you ignore the evidence. Feast on your conspiracy theories, if that’s your idiotic choice.
“Social distancing? Hardly worth mentioning.”
Your position is wantonly stupid when a virus passes per droplets in the air. The closer you are to an infected person, the higher the risk of infection. How you can believe otherwise is beyond rational comprehension. How fucking dumb can you get?
“the experimental gene therapies have been an abject failure and all evidence supports this.”
Well, James, it appears you are so ignorant, you do not know the difference between DNA, RNA and mRNA. If you did you wouldn’t make such an asinine statement.
Two minute primer from a PhD scholar in genetics. There is no “gene therapy” in play.
DNA is genetic material, including for humans. RNA is genetic material, including for the COVID virus.
BUT…mRNA…is not a constituent of human genes. It is a simply a messenger molecule. Its does not alter the composition of our genes or their constituent DNA.
“You or anyone else can not present valid evidence to refute what I just wrote”
And yet, that is exactly what others and myself have done. Thousands upon thousands of scientific and medical references. Linked to comments on this very website.
” You’re just another example of someone who foolishly fell for a scam and is too weak to admit it”
And per the example above, that you cannot even understand the difference between DNA and mRNA should alone expose you to any rational person or enquiring person as an utter fraud. You are feasting on utterly fake narrative.
I have already pointed out tov you that the one and only credence you have ever provided to support your conspiracist claims on this blog had misquoted the original data. Your sources are fake.
Basically, mate, you a fucking idiot. Incompetent at reference to or understanding of the scientific body of work. Incapable of rational thought process. Devoid of comprehension of the most basic scientific concepts relevant to genetics, disease management, vaccine development. In short, start raving covidiotic bonkers.
Note fuck the hell off.
Wow, platy consumes a considerable amount of “real estate” to basically say nothing. Every one of my contentions stand unopposed. Again, the evidence supports everything I claim. At no time has anyone produced information that refutes my argument. Platy engages in the college essay question ploy. The more you write, the higher chance that you’ll produce something that is deemed accurate. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen here.