Asian AngleIf Hong Kong’s port area is ‘in mainland China’, are the Peak Tram and Discovery Bay next?

Stationing mainland Chinese border controls in the Hong Kong terminus appears to critics as a metaphorical arm of the central government reaching into the city and further, eroding autonomy and undermining rule of law

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Construction at high-speed rail link terminus in West Kowloon. Photo: Billy Kwok

Published: 1:46pm, 30 Jul 2017Updated: 2:05pm, 30 Jul 2017

Hong Kong’s “can-do” spirit has long been admired by visitors to the city, often drawing favourable comparisons to the glacial pace of development elsewhere in the world. Plans to build an express railway linking Hong Kong to China’s extensive high-speed network should, therefore, be easy to achieve. But the plan announced by local officials last week is highly controversial. The railway symbolises pretty much all of the anxieties and problems facing Hong Kong today.

Officials say it will make the city more competitive and enhance integration with mainland China, providing passengers with quick and convenient transport to Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities. But to critics, the rail link appears as a metaphorical arm of the central government reaching into the heart of Hong Kong, further eroding the city’s autonomy and undermining its rule of law. Three legal challenges to the project have been filed within days of the announcement. There is a danger the project will come off the rails.

Mainland China’s criminal law will also apply at Hong Kong’s rail link terminus

The cause of the controversy is the plan to establish a joint port area at a new station for the high-speed line in West Kowloon. Officials say this is crucial to the success of the whole project. Mainland Chinese border controls will sit alongside their Hong Kong counterparts. Passengers leaving or arriving in Hong Kong by the express train will be able to meet all immigration and customs requirements in one place. After boarding, passengers from Hong Kong can travel to mainland stations without further checks. It is not difficult to grasp that this will be convenient for Hong Kong residents, visiting business people and tourists alike.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam visits construction at the new terminus having described the project as a ‘hot potato’. Photo: Facebook

Why, then, has Hong Kong’s new leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor described the project as a “hot-potato”? The problem lies with the creation of mainland border controls in Hong Kong. The government intends to give up a quarter of the West Kowloon station to a new “mainland port area”. Mainland Chinese officials will operate in this little part of Hong Kong and they will enforce mainland laws. This will also cover the platforms and trains speeding through Hong Kong on their way to and from the mainland. In simple terms, it means Hong Kong’s rule of law, with its human rights provisions, safeguards and independent courts, will not apply in these areas. This is why reporters are asking what would happen to a passenger wearing a T-shirt marking the Tiananmen Square crackdown, which is permitted under Hong Kong law but likely to lead to trouble in mainland China.

The application of mainland Chinese law in Hong Kong is a highly sensitive issue. Hong Kong has a separate – and very different - legal system. The city’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law, provides strict rules on the use of national laws in Hong Kong. Only 11 are currently in force. When the idea of joint border controls was first raised, democrat politicians and lawyers argued it would not be possible be reconcile such an arrangement with the Basic Law. The government, it seems, came to the same conclusion.