XN000022-1995-02-22 — Page 27

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The reality we face is that there are probably hundreds of thousands of persons in China waiting to join family members in Hong Kong. We estimate, for example, that there are up to 300,000 legitimate, I stress, legitimate children in China in that position. Not all of these children will have automatic right of abode in Hong Kong after 1997. That is not a situation created by our immigration policy; that is a situation created by the close historical, economic, social and cultural linkage between Hong Kong and China. While it is probably unrealistic in most cases to expect their family members to return to China permanently to join them, it is even more unrealistic to expect that they should all be let into Hong Kong for settlement in an uncontrolled manner. Sheer numbers rule that out.

Clearly, therefore, in determining an inimigration policy from China, a balance has to be struck. We have to strike a balance between our humanitarian instincts, based on those shared values of family unity, and our ability to absorb new immigrants, new additions to the community without eroding our quality of life. Where in individual cases there are exceptional humanitarian or passionate grounds, the Director of Immigration do take this into account in exercising his discretion.

Some Honourable Members have referred to the abuse of the Two Way Permit system by women at an advanced stage of pregnancy, coming here for short visits in order to give birth to their children in Hong Kong. It is international practice that if a child is born in a place where one parent is resident, the child will be allowed to have the same resident status of the parent if the parents so choose. We have followed this practice not only in respect of children from China but also in respect of children from other parts of the world. The solution to the problem of abuse lies, in the first instance, in stopping this at source, not in returning Hong Kong-born children with a parent settled in Hong Kong. We are discussing this difficult problem with the Chinese side, most recently at the annual Border Liaison Review meeting in Guangdong.

Mr President, our immigration policy on the entry of spouses and children from China is a matter of striking the right balance. On the whole, I believe we have got that balance just about right, and there is no cause for a "root and branch" revamp. But we are not complacent, we will obviously have to keep it under review in the light of changing circumstances. Clearly, one issue which we are addressing is the admission of the estimated 64,000 children who will have the right of abode in Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, in accordance with the terms of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. That is something which will have to be discussed with the Chinese side. The position of the illegitimate children will also have to be addressed in that context.

Mr President, Ex-officio Members will abstain from voting on the Honourable Elsie Tu's motion.

End/Wednesday, February 22, 1995