Plan considered on mainland babies born in HK
By Alfons Chan (China Daily HK Edition)
Updated: 2005-01-20 08:48

Hong Kong is discussing preventive measures with the mainland authorities as an increasing number of mainland women come to Hong Kong to give birth.

But it will be a tough problem to tackle, Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said when attending a Legislative Council meeting yesterday to explain the security measures in the 2005 Policy Address.

Babies of whom neither parent was a Hong Kong resident accounted for 28 per cent of births in Hong Kong in the first 11 months last year. The number is 14 per cent higher than the same period of 2002.

Lee said the mainland police used to forbid pregnant women from travelling to Hong Kong. But the enforcement of this policy has become very difficult with the increasing exchange across the border.

And the best the Hong Kong side can do on its own is make the mainland mothers pay the expensive hospital bills, Lee said.

"We will press ahead with other related preparatory work, including the necessary legislative amendments for the co-location arrangement," Lee said.

According to Hong Kong laws, babies born in the territory automatically gain permanent resident status even though their parents are not local residents.

This is the biggest attraction for mainland mothers to deliver there, though the public hospitals have already required all non-eligible patients to pay a fixed deposit of HK$19,800 on admission.

The security chief was also questioned on the handling of two mainland public security officers caught staking out a house in Pok Fu Lam last June. They claimed to have been carrying out official investigative duties.

Lee said the mainland authorities have been asked to investigate the case. So far, the Guangdong Public Security Bureau has confirmed that no officers were sent on duty to Hong Kong and the two officers were on leave during their stay in the territory in June.

Lee said the government is exploring plans to ease the overcrowding of prisons and outdated penal facilities, especially for women.

"To address the issue, we have studied the feasibility of the Hei Ling Chau prison proposal and decided to shelve the plan last October in view of strong public objection," he said.

Lee pledged to continue to crack down on illegal employment and cross-border crime, citing new measures, including streamlining immigration procedures, flexible staff deployment, the use of new technologies and the establishment of a new boundary control point for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor. 

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