China estimated to have lost half of European expats since pandemic started
The
glittering skylines of Hong Kong and Shanghai have long been associated with
wealth and glamor.
But
in recent weeks, they have become synonymous with a much grimmer reality, as
authorities in the two international finance hubs struggle to contain raging
Omicron outbreaks.
Extreme
Covid measures have heavily restricted the lives of residents in both cities,
with Shanghai now entering the third week of government-mandated home lockdown,
and Hong Kong chafing under a third year of quarantine and travel curbs.
Once
China's gateways to the West, heavy-handed border closures and suspended air
routes have closed the two cities off to much of the world, even as other hubs
open up.
On
Tuesday, just a single flight arrived in Hong Kong
from outside Asia Pacific -- a stark
contrast to the pre-pandemic era when the city's airport was one of the world's
busiest, regularly hosting 1,100 passenger and cargo flights daily to and from
200 international destinations.
Now
most of the traffic is outbound, carrying residents fleeing Hong Kong for
greener pastures with fewer restrictions. In February and March, more than
180,000 people left the city while only about 39,000 entered, according to
immigration data.
Shanghai,
like Hong Kong, is home to large numbers of foreign residents -- but fears are
growing that too could soon change.
Jörg
Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, estimates
China has lost about 50% of all European expatriates since the pandemic started
-- and he warns there could be another exodus of families this summer when the
school year ends. "I wouldn't be surprised if another half of (those
remaining) leave," he told CNN last week.
A
recent report by the British Chamber of Commerce in China appeared to back up
this assessment, noting that international schools in China could see at least
40% of teachers leave ahead of the upcoming school year -- which could prompt
more families to relocate.
Driving
these departures is China's adherence to an uncompromising zero-Covid policy
that relies on a combination of strict border quarantines, home lockdowns and
mass testing in a bid to stamp out infections.
But
those measures no longer appear sufficient in the face of the latest Omicron
wave. Hong Kong recorded the highest death
rate per capita in Asia and Oceania last month as cases spiked
and the virus ripped through elderly care homes. Shanghai plunged into crisis
soon after, with all 25 million residents placed under mandatory home lockdown
in late March.
Many
in Shanghai have complained of being unable to access food, basic supplies and
even medical care during emergencies. Reports of health workers forcing elderly
residents into quarantine and of workers killing a pet corgi after its owner
tested positive fueled rare public fury toward
the government on Chinese social media.
"Shanghai
is really pushing us to the corner. They don't treat us like humans at
all," one user wrote on Weibo, China's highly censored Twitter-like
platform.
"I
really can't understand. How could it be this bad? What's happening to
Shanghai?" another popular Weibo comment read.
Before
this wave, Shanghai officials had prided themselves on their less disruptive
approach to containing outbreaks, and had avoided the kind of citywide mass
testing seen in other major Chinese cities.
Hong
Kong, too, had once been lauded as a zero-Covid success story. Though it had previously
faced several outbreaks, its death rate remained low until a fifth wave arrived
in February. The risk of infection seemed so low that many residents --
particularly the elderly -- didn't view vaccination as a priority, leaving much
of the city vulnerable when Omicron struck.
Now,
as a growing number of residents look to leave, that sense of relative safety
-- and both cities' standing as international capitals of travel and commerce
-- seems further away than ever.
"We've
gone over a month without making any money as a business," said Josh
Vaughn, an American entrepreneur in Shanghai who owns an online sunglasses
brand. "It makes me stressed thinking about it because I don't know when
this lockdown is going to end ... I'm so scared that this could be the end of
my business."
Vaughn
said that after contracting Covid this month he faced hostility from his
neighbors, who were reluctant to let him back into his apartment building after
he was discharged from hospital -- echoing similar experiences from other
expatriates who have felt ostracized.
Wuttke,
the European Union Chamber of Commerce president, warned that the economic
impact of China's Covid restrictions could push some foreign companies to
consider moving regional headquarters out of greater China -- throwing the
future of major business hubs like Shanghai and Hong Kong into question as the
rest of the world opens up.
Singapore,
which for years has
competed with Hong Kong for the title of Asia's top
international business hub, was the first Asian country to declare it was
moving away from a zero-Covid policy to living with the virus last year. Some
in Hong Kong's business sector are now eying the Southeast Asian city state,
which lifted all quarantine
requirements for vaccinated travelers in April.
Chinese
authorities have acknowledged this precarious position, with Hong Kong's leader
Carrie Lam saying in late March, "I have a very strong feeling that
people's tolerance are fading ... that some of our financial institutions are
losing patience about this sort of isolated status of Hong Kong, as Hong Kong
is an international financial center."
In
an effort to boost Hong Kong's flagging economy, Lam lifted some flight bans
and shortened quarantine requirements last month. But it may be too little, too
late -- especially as Chinese officials and state media ramp up rhetoric
praising China's zero-Covid policy, offering little hope that these
international financial centers will open up anytime soon.
Gabriele,
an Italian resident in Shanghai who asked to be identified by his first name
only, tested positive in early April and has since been confined to his
apartment for more than three weeks, he said.
Describing
the situation as a "nightmare," Gabriele said health workers said
they would come to test him again but "never showed up," and attempts
to contact local authorities have gone nowhere. "We feel helpless,"
he said.
Now,
he's thinking of moving home for good -- leaving behind a city he had once
loved. "The city completely lost its shine. I don't know if it will
recover," he said. "It's like a completely different city ... it
really feels like we're going backwards in time instead of looking forward to
the future."
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