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As regards reporting obligation under the ICESCR after 1997, the spokesman said the United Kingdom Government had told the Committee clearly its firm view that China had an obligation under the Joint Declaration to ensure that the provisions of the Covenant, as applied to Hong Kong, remained in force after 1997. The obligation included the requirement to report to the UN, he said.
He said the UK Government had also told the Committee that it would continue to work for a satisfactory resolution of the issue with China.
On the Hai Ho-tak case, the spokesman said the Government had every sympathy for the plight of this little boy and his parents. "But to allow him to stay in Hong Kong would be unfair to the hundreds of thousands who are waiting patiently in the queue for the one-way exit permits to leave China, and would also encourage the smuggling of children in Hong Kong in order to qualify for residence."
He noted that Ho-tak's case must be seen in the context of Hong Kong's geographical location, its small size in holding a population of six million people.
"This is not an isolated case. It was estimated that there are 300,000 children in China with a parent in Hong Kong. Our immigration policy seeks to re-unite families in an orderly manner rather than to 'split' families. The fact speaks for itself. There are over 38,000 persons, majority of whom are spouses and children entering Hong Kong from China to join their families every year," the spokesman said.
He stressed that immigrants from China must come in legally and orderly. "Lenient treatment of illegal immigrants will only serve to encourage more to come," be said.
The spokesman said the Government had always welcomed and considered views expressed by non-government organisations (NGOs) on the state of implementation of UN treaties.
Starting with the next reports under the two International Covenants, he said NGOs would be given a formal opportunity to express their views on the implementation of human rights treaties before relevant reports were submitted to the UK for the UN.
"However, it is important to point out a view which was shared by the UN Committee that the reporting obligation was that of the Government, not the NGOs.
"To discharge such obligation, the Government must draft the contribution for incorporation in UK's report," the spokesman said.