Hong Kong and Shenzhen officials can’t agree where the border is – or if a river has moved
- Neighbours in dispute over land that has been turned into garden by Guangdong Border Defence Corps
- Area is privately owned by Hongkongers but has been occupied by police since 2013
Hong Kong and Shenzhen officials cannot agree where the border between the two cities lies, it emerged on Wednesday.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made the revelation during a question-and-answer session with lawmakers at the Legislative Council as she was asked about media reports mainland Chinese border guards were occupying privately owned land in Hong Kong.
Lam said Shenzhen officials claim to have diverted the course of the Sha Tau Kok River in 2013, which forms the border, and arbitrarily changed the demarcation point without telling the government at the time.
But the chief executive said those worried about the integrity of the border were “making a mountain out of a molehill”, and said she and her counterparts were discussing the issue of the river, which Hong Kong maintains has not moved.
Ip Chau-ping, whose family owns one of the four plots partially occupied by members of the Guangdong Border Defence Corps, said he hoped the situation could be resolved.