By TONY CHEUNG AND LAURA ZHOU IN BEIJING
South China Morning PostToday, 17:32
The West Kowloon terminus is stlll under construction as controversy swirls around whether mainland officers will be stationed there. Photo: Felix Wong
A Beijing legal expert on Sunday floated a controversial proposal that mainland officers could be posted at the high-speed rail link’s West Kowloon terminus without adding to the Basic Law’s list of mainland laws applying to the city.
Basic Law Committee member and Peking University law professor Rao Geping’s remarks raised concerns about whether he was suggesting that Hong Kong’s Legislative Council could be bypassed on the issue of co-location. Transport minister Anthony Cheung Bing-leung had previously promised to allow lawmakers to scrutinise the arrangement.
According to Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, a national law can be applied to the city only if the National People’s Congress includes it in Annex III of the Basic Law, which lists mainland legislation relating to defence, diplomacy or matters beyond Hong Kong’s autonomy.
On Friday, Legco descended into chaos as it approved HK$19.6 billion in extra funding for the Hong Kong section of the express rail link to Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Pan-democratsobjected to the funding as ministers failed to explain whether mainland officers would be stationed with Hong Kong officers at the West Kowloon terminus.
They feared co-location would provide an excuse for mainland officers to arrest dissidents in Hong Kong, but Cheung promised to come up with a proposal with Beijing and present it for Legco’s scrutiny.
However, Rao said on Sunday the central and local governments could decide on implementing co-location without the national legislature adding to Annex III.
“It only concerns legislation on departure checks, and instead of implementing an entire mainland law in Hong Kong, it will only be adopted in a specific zone in the terminus, so it is different from the procedure for Annex III,” Rao said.
He added that if the Hong Kong government believed co-location was feasible, it should come up with an agreement with mainland authorities, “and the national legislature can make a decision” without changing the Basic Law.
Rao also said it would not contravene the Basic Law to allow mainland officers to be stationed with Hong Kong officers and enforce mainland immigration laws in West Kowloon.
Barrister and former lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah said he was concerned about whether Rao had taken Hong Kong’s jurisdiction into account.
“Hong Kong’s jurisdiction will be jeopardised if officers are allowed to enforce the mainland’s criminal law in the city ... and in this case, Legco must not be bypassed,” Tong warned.
University of Hong Kong principal law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming also warned that Rao’s suggestion could open the floodgates for Beijing to adopt mainland laws in Hong Kong without going through Legco.
“Beijing knows there is no way for us to challenge the national legislature’s decision ... but ‘one country, two systems’ will be hampered if mainland officers are allowed to enforce mainland law in Hong Kong,” Cheung said.
A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that the government had been studying different proposals to adopt co-location, such as by amending Annex III. “Rao’s suggestion is one of our directions, but we don’t have a conclusion yet,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, pro-establishment lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said he understood that the central and local governments were considering sending mainland officers to West Kowloon every day after the rail link opens in 2018. “This could alleviate people’s worries that mainland officers would stay in Hong Kong,” he said.
Apart from co-location, controversy over Friday’s vote on the extra funding was complicated by footage showing many pro-establishment lawmakers keeping their hands up when votes were taken both for and against the application.
But Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing suggested on Sunday that it was alright for the committee’s chairman to judge, through his own feeling, that the majority of lawmakers voted in favour of the request.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1924090/mainland-chinese-legal-expert-says-hong-kong-basic-law
