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Your Telno 948: LegCo Motion Moved by Emily Lau: Guarantees on Freedom of Movement and Asylum Assurance for BN (0) s
Summary
1.
The motion demanding further assurances, on the one hand from China for freedom of movement, and on the other from you for refuge in case of a BN (0)'s expulsion, won easily. Most of the debate concentrated on the first part, the Chinese angle, fuelled by the Han Dong-fang case, even though the latest incidents came after the debate. On the second part, your more specific assurance was unexpectedly well-received by the most concerned LegCo Members, though missed by much of the press.
Detail
2.
There were
The motion was carried overwhelmingly as expected. two, Pro-China, votes against it. Some Members were not equally happy with both parts of the motion, however, and there was some support for the position we took on the first part, that given the guarantees of the Joint Declaration, it was not useful to seek an additional undertaking. Emily Lau and some other Members counter- argued by referring to what they felt were grey areas in the Basic Law, which could still enable China to undermine freedom of movement. She said, for example, it was not clear from the Basic Law by which authority could HKSAR passports be cancelled, and it was uncertain whether the Central People's Government would add China's entry and exit legislation to Annex Three of the Basic Law, making it applicable to the HKSAR. As well as Han Dong-fang, other recent cases of refused entry into China were cited for concern.
3. The second part of the motion, concerning you directly, was the most strongly supported. The only distinction was that one or two Members said that, as well as BN (0)s, Certificate of Identity holders should also be taken care of if expelled from Hong Kong as they were no less an integral part of the community. In her final reply at the end of the debate, Emily Lau was quick to spot, and
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