A lawmaker is seeking to amend local laws in order to deter mainland mothers-to-be from giving birth in Hong Kong.
Economic Synergy legislator Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung says he will table a bill to clarify the conditions under which babies born in Hong Kong to mainlanders can be granted right of abode: namely that at least one parent must be a permanent resident.
Legislators were divided on the proposal. Some said they were open to all options as long as they addressed the problem, while others doubted the effectiveness of amending the law as it could be challenged by way of a judicial review anyway.
Lam, who is one of Hong Kong's delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, announced his plan to table a private members' bill a day after 30 local deputies to the National People's Congress signed a petition asking for an interpretation of the Basic Law, in order to address the swelling number of mainlanders giving birth in Hong Kong.
Lam said he had decided to act because the city's government had been ineffective in tackling the issue. 'And we don't have much time to wait and see whether these administrative efforts deliver results,' he said yesterday.
He said the intention of the Basic Law drafters was clear - that unless at least one parent is a Hong Kong residents then a child should not have the right of abode in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Executive Council member Laura Cha Shih May-lung, who was among those who signed the petition to the NPC, said: 'Media reports portrayed us as recommending that the NPCSC interpret the Basic Law, but that is a far cry from our intention. This is just a suggestion, not a formal opinion ... That should not be read as Hong Kong's NPC delegates asking the NPCSC to interpret the Basic Law.