

Hong Kong Today
Description:
RTHK's morning news programme. Weekdays 6:30 - 8:00
Presenter:
Ben Tse and Vicky Wong2023-01-06
Friday
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Selected audio segments:
Up to 60,000 arrivals allowed under Sunday's reopening
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Hong Kong will resume quarantine-free travel with the mainland this Sunday, with a quota system to be put in place involving a number of checkpoints. Under the arrangements, about 60,000 Hong Kong people are expected to cross the border each day. Damon Pang reports:
PCR tests required for border crossings
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Travellers hoping to cross the border from Sunday are required to make a registration through the government's online booking system. They will also have to take a PCR test ahead of time and fill out a health declaration form on arrival. Frank Yung reports:
Mainland tours expected to return by February
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The head of the Travel Industry Council has welcomed the gradual approach to resuming quarantine-free travel with the mainland. Executive director, Fanny Yeung, said the priority for them was ramping up manpower and resources in the tour business. She told Ben Tse that she expected mainland tour groups would return by early February:
Call to impose vaccine rules on mainland arrivals
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Roundtable lawmaker, Michael Tien, says he is happy the border is finally reopening. He says the requirement for mainland travellers to obtain a negative PCR test result before coming to Hong Kong is a sensible move, but told Ada Au he has a number of other concerns:
Chinese traders say initial quota is 'acceptable'
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Danny Lau, the honorary chairman of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association, says the trade welcomes the reopening of the border as it will pave the way for the resumption of normal business activities. But he says the number of business people crossing the border before the Lunar New Year holiday may not be too high. He spoke to Ada Au:
Soco: Cross-border pupils should be exempt from Covid tests
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The quota for cross-border quarantine-free travel does not cover cross-border schoolchildren. Officials say details will be announced after the Lunar New Year on how they can return to school here. The Society for Community Organisation’s deputy director, Sze Lai-shan, says many of these school children are from less well-off families and cannot afford to take frequent Covid tests, so they should be exempt from the PCR testing requirement. She told Hailey Yip that there should be a separate quota for cross-border schoolchildren:
Fewer sales dents Housing Authority surplus
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The Housing Authority is projecting a smaller-than-expected surplus this fiscal year, due in part to the allocation of fewer Home Ownership Scheme flats. But the authority says there is no need to seek more government funding at this stage. Hailey Yip reports:
Beijing hits back at Covid data criticism
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Beijing has urged the World Health Organisation to take what it calls a 'just position' on Covid, after the United Nations agency criticised the country’s coronavirus data. The Foreign Ministry also called on the WHO to play a positive role in the global response to the pandemic. Aaron Tam reports:
Woman's horrific death shocks India
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Protests have broken out in New Delhi in the days that have followed the horrific hit and run case where a young woman was knocked off her scooter and then dragged to her death for several kilometres under a car. The car had five men inside who admitted to being drunk. Anjali Singh was aged 20 and the sole breadwinner of her family. Many protesters are likening the case to the murder and gang-rape of a medical student a decade ago. Annemarie Evans spoke to RTHK's India correspondent, Murali Krishnan, about the reaction to the case: