(b) that the provisions of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as they apply to Hong Kong, will continue to apply to the Hong Kong SAR. 44. It is thus made clear that persons in the Hong Kong SAR will enjoy the same protection of the law against infringements of their basic rights as they did before the establishment of the SAR.
45. While not restricting the range of rights and freedoms the text mentions specifically some of the more important rights and freedoms presently enjoyed under the law.
46. The Covenants are too lengthy to reproduce here but they are public documents. They apply to Hong Kong, with certain reservations, and, in accordance with this section of the Annex, will continue to do so after 30 June 1997. The Covenants were drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and entered into force in 1976. They state a general consensus of nations on basic rights and identify in detail specific human rights and freedoms including the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, to life and liberty, and freedom of expression, conscience, religion and association.
47. The reservations entered by the United Kingdom in respect of the application of the Covenants to Hong Kong, which are also public, took account of the realities of the social and economic conditions in Hong Kong: for example, in relation to Hong Kong the United Kingdom made reser- vations relating to immigration and to the deportation of aliens.
Section XIV: Right of Abode, Travel Documents and Immigration
48. This section concerns the right of abode in the Hong Kong SAR, the travel documents to be used by residents of the SAR, and immigration matters. It provides for a high degree of continuity in these areas consistent with the change in Hong Kong's status on 1 July 1997.
49. The first paragraph defines the categories of people who will have the right of abode (including the right to enter, re-enter, live and work) in the Hong Kong SAR. These include:
(a) Chinese nationals who were born in Hong Kong or have lived there
continuously for at least seven years;
(b) Chinese nationals born outside Hong Kong to Chinese nationals
who have the right of abode in Hong Kong;
(c) all non-Chinese nationals who have lived in Hong Kong continuously for at least seven years and who have taken it as their place of permanent residence; and
(d) any others who had the right of abode only in Hong Kong before
1 July 1997.
Non-Chinese nationals born in Hong Kong to parents who have the right of abode there also have the right of abode but will retain it after the age of 21 only if they have met the requirements of seven years' residence and of 1 Treaty Series No. 6 (1977), Cmnd. 6702.
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