Hong Kong Lawmaker Who Took Photo With China’s Xi Tests Positive for COVID-19

China's leader Xi Jinping (C) arrives with Hong Kong's incoming Chief Executive John Lee (L) in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022, (Selim Chtayti/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

A Hong Kong lawmaker who met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a rare visit to the city last week said he’s tested positive for COVID-19.

Steven Ho, a member of Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), confirmed he was infected with COVID-19 on July 2, according to a statement on his Facebook page.

Ho said he tested negative on June 30, the day he and other over 100 Hong Kong politicians met Xi.

“I didn’t just say hello to the chairman, but also said, ‘Thank you for your hard work, chairman,’” the politician wrote in a June 30 post on Facebook. “He nodded to me, and was so amiable.”

According to a photo released by Hong Kong authorities, the 42-year-old was standing two rows behind the top leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Everyone was wearing a mask.

Xi, who hadn’t left mainland China since early 2020, arrived in Hong Kong on June 30. The rare visit was to mark the 25th anniversary of the former British colony’s handover to CCP’s rule and swear in the city’s new leader, John Lee, a former police officer handpicked by Beijing.

Ho said he didn’t attend the swearing-in ceremony on July 1 after returning an uncertain COVID-19 test that day.

China's leader Xi Jinping leaves the podium following his speech in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022, (Selim Chtayti/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Ramped-Up Epidemic Protocols

Ahead of Xi’s arrival, thousands of local officials, foreign representatives, and a handful of foreign journalists who were scheduled to meet Xi were ordered to take nucleic acid tests every day and undergo a week-long hotel quarantine as part of the COVID-19 precautions.

Another politician, Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s sole delegate to Beijing’s rubber-stamp legislature, was absent from all events after returning positive results during hotel quarantine.

The communist regime has implemented a strict zero-COVID policy that aimed to eliminate every infection by mandatory quarantine and screening in both mainland and Hong Kong, running counter to a global trend of trying to co-exist with the virus.

The Chinese leader is seeking to secure an unprecedented third term in office at an important party conclave this autumn.

During last week’s visit, Xi was in Hong Kong on Thursday and Friday but stayed overnight in neighboring Shenzhen. His whereabouts at this time, and the reasons why he may have chosen Shenzhen, have not been officially confirmed.

Reuters contributed to the report.