Hong Kong photograph enthusiasts set up tripods to take photos of buildings standing on the Shenzhen side of the border
The controversial plan, approved yesterday by the Executive Council, will effectively turn a quarter of the West Kowloon Terminus of the future high-speed rail link into mainland territory. Mainland officers will be allowed to carry out customs and clearance duties at the terminus.
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong, reported that the HKSAR government is claiming that the new move will not violate the constitutional ban on applying national laws in Hong Kong.
Several Basic Law articles that explicitly bar mainland officials from interfering in local affairs or enforcing national laws will not apply to the Terminus area leased to the mainland, which will be called the ‘Mainland Port Area’ (MPA).
In a joint statement, the Justice, Transport and Security bureaus said: “Since the MPA is legally regarded as outside the territorial boundary of the HKSAR, stipulations of Article 8, 18, and Article 22 of the Basic Law… do not apply and therefore the co-location arrangements would not be contravening the Basic Law.”
According to RTHK, the government said all mainland laws will be enforced within the 105,000-square-metre area that includes trains and platforms, except for specific cases where Hong Kong law will be applied – such as for civil matters between passengers, or between passengers and the railway operator.
Hong Kong construction, fire safety, and insurance standards will continue to apply, and railway staff will be allowed unfettered access to this area.
Officials claimed that it is ‘impossible’ to only apply mainland laws that relate to clearance procedures instead of all national laws, because no clear distinction can be set.
Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen organized a press conference to dismiss concerns over the new arrangement.
“The implementation of co-location arrangement is neither a directive nor an order by the Central People’s. Besides, the implementation of co-location would require the consent of both the Hong Kong SAR government and the Central People’s Government before it can be done,” he said.
Yuen said that the local legislature and the HKSAR citizens will then be given time to discuss the matter, before the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) makes a decision endorsing the arrangement.
According to the government, Article 20 of the Basic Law will provide the legal basis for such a law to be enacted, as it allows the NPCSC to confer unspecified ‘other powers’ upon the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Legislative Council is expected to enact this law sometime during its 2017-18 session, so the Express Rail Link can open on schedule by the third quarter of 2018.
Yuen stressed the convenience of the plan, saying that by allowing mainland officials to clear passengers in advance in Hong Kong, they will gain quick and easy access to a vast array of mainland cities by rail, which will foster closer social and economic ties between both sides.
