雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by WEBSTER, Wing-sze Carol Louise, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr MAO, Sheng Michelle,Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The reopening of the border between Hong Kong and the mainland is now taking place in a gradual and orderly manner. In its first stage, i.e., the ''border reopening on a small scale'', there will inevitably be a quota. How the places for cross-border travel can be distributed fairly is one of the issues of most concern to those who intend to travel northward to the mainland.

[ENG audio 1]

Two important measures concerning the pandemic are to be implemented consecutively today (9 Dec) and tomorrow (10 Dec). First, the expansion of the use of the ''LeaveHomeSafe'' app today (9 Dec) means that citizens will have to scan codes to enter more than 10 types of scheduled premises such as restaurants. Tomorrow (10 Dec), the ''Hong Kong Health Code'' will be officially open for applications. Regarding the use of the ''LeaveHomeSafe'' app, the government has announced that the elderly, children aged 15 or below, people with disabilities or special needs can be exempted from code-scanning. As for those who have difficulty scanning codes, such as elderly people who do not know how to use smartphones, homeless people without mobile phones and visually impaired persons, the government has also taken some measures in an effort to respond to the concerns of disadvantaged groups. The question is whether the supporting measures are sufficient and whether its execution at the front line will be distorted. Whether things will go awry in the early stage of implementing the new code-scanning rule merits close attention.

[ENG audio 2]

The launch of the Hong Kong Health Code signifies that the reopening of the border is in sight. The mainland has emphasised that the reopening of the border must be orderly to facilitate anti-pandemic measures, meaning that there must be quota restrictions at first. No doubt the Hong Kong government, industrial and business sectors and citizens who need to travel to the mainland hope that places in the quota will be as many as possible. However, for the mainland, after Christmas and the New Year, there will be the Spring Festival travel rush followed by the Winter Olympics, so the prevention of imported cases must be strictly conducted. In the early stage of the ''border reopening on a small scale'', the daily quota is expected to be quite limited. The general prediction is 1,000 to 2,000 places. One will have to wait until next spring at the earliest to see the number reach 5,000 to 6,000 per day. However, even if the quota restrictions are relaxed to such a level, there will still be a huge difference from the situation before the pandemic, when hundreds of thousands of people travelled across the border every day.

[ENG audio 3]

The global pandemic situation is full of uncertainties. Unless the vaccination rate in Hong Kong is higher than 80%, there is basically no need to consider ''coexisting with the virus''. While things are going in the general direction of a gradual increase in quota for cross-border travel between Hong Kong and the mainland, which will ultimately transition to quarantine-free travel, no one knows how long the quota arrangements will last. It will no doubt be a good thing if the border between the two regions can be fully reopened in the summer next year, but no one can rule out the possibility of something untoward arising. This also means that the Hong Kong government and all sectors must be mentally prepared that the quota system may not be a short-term arrangement that only lasts a few months to half a year.

[ENG audio 4]

The authorities should communicate and negotiate with chambers of commerce, professional organisations and financial institutions on how to allocate the places for the cross-border business travel quota, but they should not hand the initiative to others. Seeking assistance from chambers of commerce and other industries may help them understand whether applicants in different industries need the places. However, if the government is too reliant on them as ''certification agencies'' and allows them to approve the applications effectively, disputes will easily arise. If places for cross-border business travel are monopolised by large enterprises for a long time, so much so that small and medium enterprises lack them constantly, the fairness of the entire allocation system could easily be questioned.

[ENG audio 5]

不患寡而患不均 通關配額須公道

香港內地逐步有序恢復通關，首階段「小通關」無可避免會有配額限制，如何公平分配，是有意北上者其中一個最關心的問題。

[PTH audio 1]

今明兩天將有兩項涉及疫情的重要措施相繼實施，先是今天擴大「安心出行」使用新規定，市民出入食肆等10多類表列處所均須掃碼，接着是明天「港康碼」正式開放申請。有關安心出行豁免問題，政府宣布長者、15歲或以下兒童、殘疾及特殊需要人士可以豁免掃碼；因應長者不懂使用智能電話、無家者無手機，以及失明人士掃碼有困難等問題，政府亦採取了一些措施，嘗試回應弱勢群體關切，問題在於支援力度是否足夠、前線執行會否走樣。掃碼新規定執行初期，會否出現亂子，需要密切留意。

[PTH audio 2]

港康碼的推出，標誌通關在望。內地強調有序通關，以便疫情防控，初期必有配額限制。港府、工商界和有北上需要的市民，當然希望配額愈多愈好，惟對內地而言，聖誕新年過後，先有春運，後有冬奧，外防輸入必須從嚴從緊，「小通關」初期，每日配額預料相當有限，一般估計是1000至2000個，要達到每日5000至6000個，恐怕最快也要等到明年春天，然而即使放寬到這樣的水平，跟疫前兩地出入境人次平均每日數以十萬計，仍有很大距離。

[PTH audio 3]

全球疫情充滿變數，香港疫苗接種率若無八成以上，基本上都不用考慮「與病毒共存」。香港內地通關配額逐步增加，最終過渡至全面免檢疫隔離往來，雖說是大趨勢，然而無人知道配額階段維持多久，明年夏天兩地若能全面通關，當然是好事，可是誰也不能排除橫生枝節的可能，這亦意味港府和各界要有心理準備，通關配額未必是一項只有區區數月至半載的短期安排。

[PTH audio 4]

公務商務配額如何分配，當局應跟商會、專業團體、金融機構溝通磋商，但不應將主導權交給他人。尋求商會等協助，有助了解業界申請者是否有需要，然而過度依賴它們作為「認證機構」，變相由他們審批，則很容易出現爭議，萬一商務公務配額長期由大企業把持，中小企經常無份，整個分配制度的公平性，很容易惹來質疑。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2021.12.9