Mystery VIP Possibly Coming to HK

Lee and Lam will quarantine for seven days for July 1

A super important guest may be coming to Hong Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover, and there are stipulations that anyone near this person must quarantine for seven days beforehand.

Hotels at the convention centre are booked up

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor refuses to clarify if Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be coming on July 1. But it seems the two hotels attached to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre -- the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel are completely booked up from June 23 to July 1.

About 1,000 staff, security guards and police officers will have to quarantine in case Xi shows up. Lam and her cabinet, as well as incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu and his entourage will also have to quarantine for a week too, even if they don't have direct contact with the Chinese leader.

Wonder who gets to quarantine in the presidential suites?

"We are of course eagerly anticipating a visit by a state leader, and I believe that as so many things have happened in the past five years, there must be some important speeches to make on charting the course for the further development of Hong Kong," said Lam, who with her team is making preparations for Xi to come -- if he does...

Like Lam, Lee and cabinet will be sworn in

It all depends on the city's Covid-19 situation. It definitely won't be zero-Covid, but how low would be low enough for Xi to make the trip is hard to say. On Wednesday Hong Kong reported 558 cases, which includes 63 imported infections.

In preparing the security detail, Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee said there would be unprecedented security in the area around the convention centre and even elite squads will be deployed.

"We cannot neglect the possibility of local terrorism and terrorist attacks. We have been making numerous arrests of people using genuine firearms and explosives," Siu said. "We have been able to interdict the activities, but there's no room for complacency... It will be a very full mobilisation of our officers to deal with these security operations."

Police chief not taking any chances with security

Sounds like it's best to just completely avoid Wan Chai altogether to prevent inadvertently crossing paths with these elite squads...