The human drama that is unfolding over the return to the mainland of thousands of people who unsuccessfully sought the right to live permanently in Hong Kong is another indication of a deeper problem that the territory faces: the lack of a coherent policy on immigration from the mainland.
The policy can be summed up very simply: keep out mainlanders unless it is unavoidable.
While this might have made political and economic sense (even if not moral sense) in the days when Hong Kong was a wealthy, British-administered colony surrounded by a poor hinterland, it is no longer rational today.
The restrictions on immigration from the mainland are particularly ridiculous when you consider that Hong Kong has a liberal immigration policy towards the rest of the world. It is possible for a business here to hire talent from all over the world without a problem. But it is almost impossible for the same business to hire a talented mainlander.
The barriers lie on both sides of the border, but these are largely at the request of the Hong Kong authorities. As Hong Kong restructures and re-invents itself, it is important for our territory's future that we have a more rational immigration policy.
The Chief Executive has said he wants to formulate a new population policy in his second term in office.
But the debate so far has been couched in elitist terms: instead of the 150 poorly skilled mainlanders we take in every day who drain our resources and contribute little, let's have a policy that will allow us to invite the brightest talents on the mainland to come and settle in Hong Kong.
