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Beijing’s top office on Hong Kong affairs says city ‘must implement’ controversial joint checkpoint for high-speed rail
The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office makes demand while city’s legal experts maintain arrangement goes against the rule of law
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China’s State Council-level institution overseeing Hong Kong affairs on Wednesday said the city “must implement” a controversial joint checkpoint for the cross-border rail link under construction as Beijing had formally approved the plan, even as the city’s legal experts maintained that it went against the rule of law.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) in Beijing made its remarks after China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) authorised a plan where mainland Chinese officials would enforce national laws in part of the West Kowloon station, which will be the Hong Kong terminus for an express rail link connecting it to Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Six things to know about Hong Kong’s controversial ‘co-location’ joint checkpoint scheme
“[Authorities] on the mainland and in Hong Kong must execute [the NPCSC’s] decision,” a HKMAO spokesman said to state-owned news agency Xinhua.
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The NPCSC’s decision was described as “an important constitutional judgment that cannot be challenged” and in line with Hong Kong’s Basic Law by a top Beijing expert on the mini-constitution.
Li Fei, the head of the NPCSC’s Basic Law Committee, dismissed criticism that the plan, known as co-location, flouted Article 18, which states that barring a few exceptions, national laws should not be applied in Hong Kong.
Joint checkpoint plan will not undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy, Basic Law Committee member says
National laws would only apply to a designated zone in the terminus – where police and customs officials from across the border would handle immigration procedures for travellers in both directions – and not the whole of the city, Li said.
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