Hong Kong is authorised to surrender jurisdiction of land to mainland China for high-speed rail link, Elsie Leung says
Hong Kong’s former justice chief points to Article 7 in city’s mini-constitution which says government enshrined with right to manage, use and develop land and natural resources
A controversial plan by the Hong Kong government to give up jurisdiction over part of a rail terminus and a 26km strip of land for a high-speed cross-border railway is legally justified, former justice chief in the city, Elsie Leung Oi-sie, said on Saturday,
Leung also said since Hong Kong has been granted the right to manage its land, it was therefore authorised to surrender jurisdiction within its border.
Her latest comments followed criticism by Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who said opposition to the plan was based on fear, pessimism and complacency.
One week after Lam penned a deal with Guangdong governor Ma Xingrui to set up a so-called mainland port area at the West Kowloon terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link, questions remained over the scheme’s legal and constitutional justification.
A heated debate is continuing on which provisions of the Basic Law should be cited to support the unprecedented move.