Hong Kong Risks Global Status as Singapore Opens Up to World
The financial centers are moving in opposite directions when it comes to their quarantine and travel response to Covid-19.
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The divide between Asia’s two main financial hubs in handling the pandemic is growing ever wider, with one opening up to global travel and the other maintaining one of the world’s harshest quarantine policies.
In Singapore, officials are taking steps to reconnect with the global economy even as the government faces pressure to favor locals over foreigners for well-paying jobs. Speaking in a televised address over the weekend, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore can’t stay “locked down and closed off indefinitely” and residents should prepare to see “many Covid-19 cases for some time to come.”