Hong Kong leader inspects high-speed train and stresses need for mainland Chinese officials at city terminus

The design of Hong Kong’s high-speed train was unveiled on Sunday, as the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned the benefits of an express link to the mainland “will be hugely undermined” without the controversial joint law enforcement at its West Kowloon terminus.

Lam touched on the sensitive topic of the co-location of immigration checkpoints as she pledged that the arrangement, to be rolled out soon, would comply with the “one country, two systems” principle and the Basic Law, the mini-constitution guaranteeing the city’s high degree of autonomy.

Watch: Hong Kong leader inspects new high-speed train at Shek Kong

Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan is due to disclose details of the co-location arrangements on Tuesday. Lam’s administration is also expected to mount a publicity campaign for the cross-border railway this week.

The chief executive issued the warning after inspecting an express train at Shek Kong, the first one delivered to Hong Kong by land on Thursday. Two trains were previously shipped to Hong Kong from Qingdao,in Shandong province, where they were manufactured, as the railway tracks were not ready at that time.

MTR projects director Dr Philco Wong Nai-keung told Lam that “with orange, red and white waves painted on both sides of the carriages, the train would look like a ‘flying dragon’ when travelling at high-speed,” in a reference to the official symbol used to promote Hong Kong.

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, due to open in the third quarter of 2018, is a political hot potato as it will require mainland Chinese officers to be stationed in Hong Kong to enforce mainland laws.

It will be the first major challenge for Lam’s administration, which plans to table a bill for the law enforcement model to the Legislative Council after the summer break.