Stopping COVID-19 is the first step toward putting Hong Kong back on the road to prosperity, said Tim Lui Tim-leung, chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission.

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“Only with that can you really move on to the next step of kickstarting the economy,” Lui told China Daily in an interview on Thursday. “Then, people’s lives will improve and everybody can get back to living normally,” he said.

Only with that (stopping the pandemic) can you really move on to the next step of kickstarting the economy

Tim Lui Tim-leung

chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission

Lui noted that the first step is being taken with the assistance of medical teams from the Chinese mainland that are helping the city to carry out virus tests to raise its testing capability. A team of seven medical experts, who are part of a 60-member team sent by the central government, arrived in the special administrative region last Sunday.

The SAR government said on Friday universal and voluntary testing for local residents will start in two weeks at the earliest to combat the virus. 

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said without the central government’s help, the universal and free coronavirus tests would not be possible.

She said the central government has provided the necessary manpower and materials, along with three national-level testing labs, to help Hong Kong contain the pandemic as soon as possible.

Lui said he is also aware of the regrettable fact that the mainland experts who have come to help Hong Kong have been subjected to malicious “attacks” from opposition activists, who questioned their professionalism and claimed that the DNA samples collected for the tests could be used for surveillance. 

However, he said these attacks have come only from a minority group of radicals, and believes that most Hong Kong people are grateful for having the mainland team here. He stressed that the experts are here at the request of the Hong Kong government.

Lui also touched on the need to delay the Legislative Council election as part of efforts to bring the pandemic under control. He said it could be a “significant health hazard” to the public if more than 10,000 people were to show up at a polling station to cast their votes. 

The SFC chief cited Singapore’s experience in holding elections recently amid the outbreak, with infections having gone up after the polls.

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“That’s not what Hong Kong wants at the moment. We really need to control and reduce the number of infections,” he said.

Lui added that besides the pandemic, Hong Kong’s economy is facing another challenge. After the enactment of the National Security Law, the city has become a focal point in the current tensions between China and some Western countries.

He said the real issue is that Western governments are deflecting from their own economic and social problems and practicing double standards.

“What we can do in Hong Kong is to really get back to normal soon and work hard to build our own future.”

Contact the writers at eleanorhuang@chinadailyhk.com