Driven to desperation

Some 200 mainlanders claiming to have the right of abode in Hong Kong continued their rally outside the Central Government Offices for a second night yesterday after failing to deliver a petition to Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang.

The protesters are in Hong Kong on travel permits but want to apply for Certificates of Entitlement. They insisted on meeting Tung Chee-hwa or Mrs Chan, but both refused to speak to them.

An Immigration Department spokesman said yesterday that the certificate could only be applied for on the mainland and warned that the visitors would be repatriated if they overstayed.