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Aliens have exactly the same right to hold,
acquire, or dispose of land as British subjects.
It can, therefore, be said that the existing
system of land tenure in Hong Kong places no barrier
in the way of foreign enterprises wishing to establsih
and operate in the Colony.
Authority to amend existing regulations rests
with the Hong Kong Government, subject to the over-
riding power of the Crown.
(ii) Immigration.
Under immigration legislation the Hong Kong
Government has discretion to exclude from the Colony
any immigrant; no one may enter unless in possession
of either (a) valid travel documents, or (b) a valid
entry permit, certificate of residence or frontier pass.
Power to amend the law rests with the Hong Kong
Goverment subject to the over-riding powers of the
Crown.
In practice, persons of Chinese race coming from
China have always enjoyed, and at present still enjoy,
exemption from any restrictions upon entry into Hong
Kong.
The result has been that in troubled times in
Chine, such as now prevail, large numbers of Chinese
make their way to Hong Kong and extreme overcrowding
results. At present this is a very acute problem, and
there can be no question of encouraging further
organised large scale immigration.
There is in any case very little agricultural
land in the Colony; only about 1/5 of the total acreage
is under cultivation and, owing to the nature of the
terrain, there is no possibility of substantially
increasing this proportion,