Success of rail link from Hong Kong to China mainland hinges on joint immigration checkpoint
A legal puzzle about how local and mainland officers will operate at the high-speed railway terminus has worrying implications for some
On the drawing board, the plan for a high-speed railway link that can get you from the city into Guangzhou in 48 minutes seems uncontroversial.
Compare that with the current option of going by road, which will take you more than three hours, or by the existing rail network (an hour and 40 minutes), and the logic is impeccable.
But in recent years the project has run into a wall of opposition. While cost overruns and delays have exercised political minds, the most vexing issue is the legal implications of a joint immigration checkpoint.
To outsiders familiar with cross-border travel this might seem a no-brainer that can be resolved by harmonising logistical arrangements that respect the sovereignty of each side.
There are things that are allowed under Hong Kong law but illegal under mainland law
For example, on the Eurostar, passengers go through both French and British passport controls before boarding the train at the station in Paris and get off in London with minimum fuss. Co-location of checkpoints is also done for air travel. The United States conducts pre-clearance at 15 foreign airports in six countries including Canada.
But as legal scholars here point out, the joint checkpoint at the West Kowloon terminus is not an issue to be resolved between two sovereign states.