The co-location of Hong Kong and mainland checkpoints is an arrangement whose significance goes beyond the processing of cross-border traffic. It is an example of how 'one country, two systems' can be flexibly applied without undermining the integrity of either jurisdiction.
When the new bridge spanning Deep Bay opens, travellers will still have to go through immigration and customs clearance twice. But as the two checkpoints will be located just about 80 metres apart, travellers will not need to use any transport between them. That will be a great improvement over arrangements at existing road crossings, where travellers have to disembark twice.
The 'one location, two inspections' facility at the Shenzhen end of the Western Corridor does not provide the single checkpoint that had been hoped for. That idea was rejected for security reasons. It does, however, break some new ground. For the first time, Hong Kong will site its immigration and customs counters on mainland soil. This has been made possible by Beijing's decision to allow Hong Kong to exercise jurisdiction over a small part of the mainland. It is another step by the central government to demonstrate its respect for Hong Kong as a distinct jurisdiction inside China.
A host of technical issues had to be considered before the relevant legislation was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in August. They included which side should assume jurisdiction over various kinds of incidents that might occur at the facility. The bill was held up because of concerns that troublemakers might exploit jurisdictional grey areas to embarrass the mainland authorities. It was passed only last week, after the concerns were dealt with. Corresponding legislation will now need to be passed by the Legislative Council.
As the co-location of checkpoints is a new arrangement, problems are bound to crop up when they become operational. Authorities from both sides will need to adopt a pragmatic attitude in solving them. Similar facilities have long existed at crossings between sovereign countries in other parts of the world. The mainland and Hong Kong are two parts of the same country. There should be nothing that they cannot resolve through discussion in a spirit of mutual accommodation and respect for one another's jurisdiction.
Once teething problems have been ironed out, the arrangements should be extended to other crossings as soon as possible. The capacity of the existing crossings has long been stretched. It can be expanded only by imaginatively allowing one side to operate in the other side's territory. The time and resources saved would mean a great deal, both to the two governments and the 300,000 people who make their way to and from Shenzhen by land every day. As the figure continues to rise, any steps to promote a smoother flow of people and goods are welcome.