Originally Posted by
xman712
Can anyone help me? Is he ok with the visa waiver?
He will not be ok. Travel via the transit visa waiver to China must be as part of traveling in transit between one country and a third country (where Hong Kong counts as one of the countries). HKG-China-HKG is not travel to China via a third country. China cares about the exact place you were immediately before you entered China and where you are immediately going after. Flying LAX-HKG-CTU, China views you as coming from HKG, not from the USA.
As an example, my personal transits of China where I entered China on the visa waiver are Japan-China-Hong Kong, New Zealand-China-Japan, and Hong Kong-China-Germany.