HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
10 November 1993
95
香港立法局
一九九三年十一月十日
95
freedom of movement within Hong Kong as well as the right to leave and re-enter Hong Kong. However, the current motion debate was occasioned by the HAN Dongfang case, which is perhaps more political than legal.
The Appendix at the back of the Basic Law provides that after 1997 China's nationality law will apply in Hong Kong. As a result, there is fear that Hong Kong people may be treated in the same arbitrary fashion as HAN Dongfang, with their passports or travel documents cancelled without a hearing, perhaps with their nationality revoked without due process.
For that reason, people in Hong Kong are looking for assurances, legal as well as political. It would be helpful, therefore, if the Chinese Government could be persuaded to make a firm undertaking that it would not deny anyone the right to re-enter the Special Administrative Region nor have their passports or travel documents cancelled. The Chinese Government can certainly make clear that, in matters relating to the issuance or cancellation of the SAR passports and travel documents, only the SAR Government and the courts of Hong Kong will have jurisdiction.
Many Hong Kong people will be able to travel on British National (Overseas) passports after 1997. Such passports will stipulate that the holder possesses a Hong Kong identity card that states he or she has the right of abode in Hong Kong.
As for those using passports issued by the Special Administrative Region, the Basic Law says in Article 154 that the passports "shall record the holder's right to return to the Region."
In ordinary circumstances, therefore, it would appear that the right of Hong Kong people to re-enter Hong Kong has been provided for by both Britain and China. However, the present motion debate was triggered off by an exceptional case: the decision by the Chinese Government to bar one of its own nationals from entering and returning to his own country. The question naturally arises: Could a similar fate befall a Hong Kong person who incurs China's displeasure after 1997?
From a legal standpoint, the Basic Law appears to provide adequate assurances. Article 154 says, "The Central Government shall authorize the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to issue, in accordance with law, passports of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China to all Chinese citizens who hold