Elsie Leung Oi-sie, senior adviser to Beijing on Hong Kong's Basic Law, says the city's government should seek an interpretation of the mini-constitution to stop an influx of mainlanders giving birth in the city.
Calling a rare media gathering in Beijing, the former secretary for justice said the right-of-abode issue 'is a legal problem that should be solved legally' - with the preferred way being an active attempt by the chief executive to seek an interpretation from the central leadership.
Beijing has so far indicated that it prefers to solve the issue through other channels, but has left the door open for an interpretation.
Leung, a Beijing loyalist, said an interpretation of the Basic Law was not necessarily bad, countering fears that any such interpretation - which would to be the fifth since the 1997 handover - would threaten judicial independence in the city.
'We should not easily make interpretations of the Basic Law,' Leung, vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee, said while attending the National People's Congress (NPC) session in Beijing. 'But whenever it is needed, we should exercise the right to interpret the law despite criticisms.' The panel advises the NPC Standing Committee on the Law.
The 'born-in-Hong-Kong' debate gained prominence in 2001 when the Court of Final Appeal ruled that Chong Fung-yuen be given permanent residency regardless of the status of his mainland parents. The ruling contradicted the NPC's 1999 interpretation of the Basic Law that denied right of abode to children born outside the city before either parent was a permanent resident.