Daily Times

Hong Kong’s imposing new harbourfront rail terminus promises a high-speed link with China but for some the station represents an existential crisis for the city, with nothing less than its cherished freedoms under threat.

Joint immigration checkpoints at the West Kowloon Station are set to become special port areas, patrolled by mainland Chinese security and subject to Chinese law.

Officials on both sides say it is for the convenience of travellers but opponents see it as further eroding the semi-autonomous status that was guaranteed for the former British colony on its handover in 1997.

Hong Kong enjoys liberties unseen on the mainland including freedom of speech and an independent judiciary, with rule of law a bedrock of its culture and success as a business hub.

A string of incidents including the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers and the ousting of six elected rebel lawmakers have fuelled concern that Chinese authorities are undermining that status.

The rail terminus controversy goes to the heart of those fears.

It has prompted questions over how Hong Kong citizens will be required to behave in those zones, whether they will be free to use sites such as Facebook and Twitter which are banned on the mainland, or targeted for wearing clothing with political slogans.

The Hong Kong Bar Association said it was “appalled” by Beijing’s decision last month to approve the plan and leading lawyers have questioned its legal basis.

“The restlessness (in the legal community) comes from the continued and relentless challenges to the rule of law as we understand it,” barrister Randy Shek told AFP.

Hong Kong’s mini-constitution — the Basic Law — clearly cites that national laws do not apply to the city apart from in limited areas, including defence.

Barrister Johannes Chan said Beijing had bypassed the usual process for adding a mainland ruling to the Basic Law and that its powers should not be “unlimited and absolute”.

“This is basically rule without law,” he told AFP. The checkpoint plan has been backed by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing government and is likely to be passed by the legislature which is weighted towards the establishment.

Published in Daily Times, January 11^th 2018.