Change Hong Kong's Basic Law and allow mainland immigration officers to work at West Kowloon, minister says

Annexing national laws into the Basic Law is one of the ways under consideration to allow mainland immigration officers to be stationed in the future Hong Kong terminus of the high-speed railway to Guangzhou, the justice minister said yesterday.

The suggestion by Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung sparked widespread criticism from pan-democrats, who argued it would be unconstitutional, put the city's distinctive legal status at risk and open a back door through which more mainland laws could be transplanted.

Critics pointed to Article 18 of the Basic Law, which allows national laws to be included for defence, foreign affairs or other matters "outside the limits of the autonomy of" Hong Kong.

Yuen told lawmakers: "It is arbitrary to say definitively at this stage that [incorporating mainland laws] by Article 18 or Annex III of the Basic Law will be detrimental to 'one country, two systems'."

The railway, over-budget and delayed, is at the centre of a constitutional debate as mainland officers look set to be placed in the city under "co-location" - mainland and Hong Kong checkpoints installed at the West Kowloon terminus in order to achieve what officials say is the only way to ensure a speedy service.

There are currently six Chinese laws inserted into Hong Kong by this mechanism, also known as Annex III of the Basic Law, including the national anthem, National Day, nationality law and diplomatic immunity.