Hong Kong official slams trade barriers amid COVID-19 pandemic

HONG KONG — An official of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government condemned discriminatory trade policies and called for joint efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic at an international meeting on Saturday. “During this crucial time, we urge all economies to keep their boundaries open to ensure the smooth functioning of the supply chain and refrain from erecting trade barriers or resorting to irrationality in trade policies,” Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau of the HKSAR government said at a virtual ministerial meeting of APEC. Yau said that the COVID-19 is the common enemy of the…