Dozens of top officials start hotel quarantine
Jane Cheung27 Jun 2022
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/sect...ozens-of-top-officials-start-hotel-quarantine
Dozens of outgoing and incoming officials including next chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu, his cabinet and Executive Council members will begin a four-day hotel quarantine today ahead of the swearing-in ceremony to be attended by President Xi Jinping on the SAR's 25th handover anniversary on Friday.
This came after security has been stepped up in Wan Chai North near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the incoming administration's inauguration ceremony will be held on Friday morning.
Unlike guests for handover celebrations, who were told to undergo seven days of "point-to-point, closed-loop" management from last Thursday to Wednesday followed by one day of hotel quarantine on Thursday, outgoing and incoming officials and Exco members who will attend the inauguration ceremony will observe a four-day quarantine.
The quarantine arrangement will cover everyone going on stage for oath-taking.
In the ceremony for incumbent leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her cabinet on July 1, 2017, Xi was on the stage to officiate in the oath-taking of Lam, her three top secretaries, 13 bureau heads and five department directors. After that, Lam's 32 Exco members did the same before Lam.
Similar arrangements are expected for Lee except his cabinet is slightly bigger with three top secretaries, three new deputies and 15 bureau heads after a revamp.
That will mean Lee, 26 officials and 32 Exco members will likely take the oath for their new duties on stage, and all are expected to enter quarantine today.
Also observing hotel isolation will be incumbent officials, who will attend the ceremony as front-row guests.
The two five-star hotels in Wan Chai North said to be set to accommodate state leaders and officials - the Grand Hyatt and the Renaissance Harbour View, both connected to the HKCEC - remain unavailable for bookings between tomorrow and Saturday.
Xi and other leaders stayed in the Renaissance during the SAR's 20th handover anniversary and Lam's inauguration in 2017.
Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday that Xi will attend the oath-taking ceremony and celebrations for the 25th handover anniversary, but it remains to be seen whether he will remain in the SAR after two incoming top officials were infected with Covid-19 last week.
Authorities announced on Thursday that Chief Secretary Erick Chan Kwok-ki and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, who will retain their jobs in Lee's cabinet, were infected.
It remains to be seen whether they will have recovered to test negative within seven days to attend their oath-taking.
Police security will also be stepped up in Wan Chai North from tomorrow to Friday. That will include the deployment of heavily armed officers including snipers.
The area encircling the HKCEC will adopt a heightened security measure to stop and search pedestrians more frequently.
It is understood workers at office buildings of the HKCEC will also be asked to work from home for the time being.
At Golden Bauhinia Square yesterday, water-filled barriers and metal barricades were in place and more police were on patrol in the area, where the flag-raising ceremony will be held on Friday.
Stepped up security was also scene at West Kowloon MTR station, where Xi is said to be arriving by express rail.
The station, closed since February 2020 amid Covid, had all of its entrances shut with gates, tape and metal barricades, while guards and police officers were on patrol yesterday.
Leading Beijing-linked people expect Xi to speak about Hong Kong's development and how to implement one country, two systems during his attendance.
That was expressed by Basic Law Committee deputy director Maria Tam Wai-chu, who advised people to wait patiently for Xi's message.
And former Legislative Council president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai hopes Xi will elaborate on the SAR's future.
Also yesterday, national security police arrested two men, aged 31 and 53, in their homes in Cheung Sha Wan and Chai Wan, and seized military knives, an imitation firearm, electronic devices and a computer allegedly used to publish seditious messages.
They were detained for allegedly committing acts with seditious intention, possessing an imitation firearm, offensive weapons and apparatus for radio communications without a license.
