Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/HONG KONG: Student Yuri Tan, hugging her boyfriend goodbye, was one of the thousands of people eagerly crossing the border between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland on Sunday as influenza travel restrictions were mostly eased, enabling families to come together.
Clinging to baggage holding a few packs of fever medication for the family, an ecstatic Tan told AFP, “I am going back since I don’t have to go through quarantine anymore.”
Tan, 23, planned to fly to Shenzhen, next to Hong Kong, and then board a flight to Yangzhou, her hometown in eastern China. Up until recently, this trip would have required weeks of pre-requisite isolation.
Three-year self-imposed quarantine
China ended its nearly three-year self-imposed quarantine on Sunday by removing the restrictions on all foreign visitors. Most restrictions were removed from the border between Hong Kong and mainland China on the same day. Today, 60,000 passengers are permitted to travel daily in each direction.
Large crowds were present at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing on Sunday morning, but fewer individuals were travelling south into Hong Kong. Many people claimed they were heading to family reunions since the Lunar New Year was only two weeks away.
Chinese student Galen Liu claimed that up until this point, his doctoral studies in Europe had prevented him from returning home and left him feeling “helpless.” He arrived in Hong Kong two weeks ago and awaited the reopening of the border with his family in the neighboring province of Guangdong.
Liu admitted to AFP, “I am thrilled. Now that I can travel overland to the border, I won’t need to take a flight to get home.
Liu was bringing medication for his relatives, most of whom, according to Liu, had recently contracted the disease when China abruptly abandoned its stringent zero-Covid policy.
Although officials have provided scant information on infections or fatalities, cases have skyrocketed in the country with the largest population in the world, placing hospitals and mortuaries under enormous strain.
A woman with the last name Dong was stoic about the sudden increase in cases as she travelled back to Hong Kong from Shenzhen. “When the constraints are loosened, it will happen. The ability of people to travel is necessary for the economy to develop. We need to approach it kindlier, “She spoke.
Beijing has criticized other countries this week for requiring recent negative test documentation for visitors from China at the Hong Kong-mainland border.
Business ties
Mainland entrepreneur Alex Zeng was among those headed into Hong Kong, a city that long served as a business gateway to China before Covid cut it off. The sports equipment manufacturer said he planned to attend an exhibition there before travelling overseas for much-needed meetings with clients.
“It was quite inconvenient when I could not travel and meet my customers face to face,” Zeng told AFP. “When my clients wanted to check out a sample, we could only do it via video link.”
Hong Kong’s economy is in dire straits, mired in recession and desperate for crowds to return. Before the pandemic, mainlanders accounted for about three-quarters of arrivals.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
