Officials yesterday disclosed details of the plan for the 870,000 square metre [Lok Ma Chau Loop], which belongs to Shenzhen but is managed by the Hong Kong government.
SCMP, November 24
Let's get it straight. The Lok Ma Chau Loop does not belong to Shenzhen. It was formed by a straightening of the Shenzhen River in 1997, which took the river to the north from the south side of the loop. The land was then transferred to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
This introduces an obvious question. Why should the city government of Shenzhen be happy to carve out a good-sized piece of its own territory and just give it to Hong Kong? I have never heard of a city government so charitable before.
The question is obviously a good one because it has clearly stumped both the Shenzhen and Hong Kong governments. Neither have ever answered it. In fact, it is so good a question that both have just totally ignored it. Ask and you, too, may learn what the term 'absolute silence' means.
This is regrettable because it may lead ill-intentioned commentators to make irresponsible conjectures. For instance, such people may suggest that the owners of the land are a select group of Shenzhen city fathers who acquired it on the cheap when it was part of Shenzhen, knowing that they intended later to boost its value enormously by making it part of Hong Kong.