HK to ease social distancing, travel curbs

HONG KONG (Xinhua) — Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday announced plans of easing social distancing measures such as extending dining hours in restaurants under the condition that staff and customers are vaccinated.

Lam said at a press conference that the fourth wave of Covid-19 pandemic in Hong Kong which emerged late in November last year has been under control.

Over the past 14 days, the seven-day moving average of confirmed cases was two and that of untraceable cases was 0.7. In the past four months, the entry of Covid-19 variants has been successfully blocked from entering the community.

Lam said the existing social distancing measures due to expire on Thursday will be extended for another 14 days to observe whether the pandemic will rebound after the Easter holiday.

Lam said the restrictions will be relaxed in stages depending on the vaccination situation. Restaurants are allowed to extend dine-in services to midnight with the cap on diners per table raised from four to six provided that staff members have received their first dose of vaccine.

GUANGZHOU, China (Xinhua) — A group of migrant workers from northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has debunked the “forced labor” claims with their own experiences of working in Guangdong Province in south China.

Two Xinjiang scholars, Nilufer Gheyret and Chen Ning, both visiting research fellows at Jinan University in Guangdong, interviewed 70 Xinjiang workers from five Guangdong-based companies. The workers are from ethnic minority groups including Uygur, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Tajik.

Their experiences have been included in a recently published report titled “’Forced Labor’ or ‘Pursuit of A Better Life’? An Investigation of Xinjiang Minority Workers’ Employment in Guangdong, China.”

Based on research by the Xinjiang scholars, the following are the facts about Xinjiang ethnic minority workers, which debunked the “forced labor” lies

Employers have provided free accommodation.

Lie No. 3: Xinjiang workers are paid less than their Han counterparts.

Fact check: The surveyed Xinjiang workers enjoy the same rights as their colleagues from the Han ethnic group in terms of wages. They earn some 49,500 yuan (about 7,548 U.S. dollars) to 71,500 yuan a year.

Lie No. 4: Many Xinjiang workers lead a harsh, segregated life in factories across China.

Fact check: Employers have provided free accommodation with showers, air-conditioners and washing machines.

Lie No. 5: Xinjiang workers are forbidden from participating in religious practices.

Fact check: According to the interviewed Xinjiang workers, their freedom of religion and rights to use their own ethnic languages are well protected.