Hong Kong approves plans for joint rail checkpoint

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Hong Kong authorities approved a plan on Tuesday to set up one-stop checkpoint at the West Kowloon Terminus for a high-speed railway linking the Special Administrative Region (SAR) with the Chinese mainland.

The checkpoint will allow passengers to pass through customs, immigration and quarantine procedures of both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland successively.

The co-location arrangement has been a thorny issue for Hong Kong's regional government.

The authorities say it will be beneficial to passengers but some worry the arrangement could compromise the "One Country, Two Systems" principle, as mainland laws will be enforced in Hong Kong for the first time.

CGTN Graphic

The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), slated for completion in the third quarter of 2018, will link the SAR to the national high-speed rail network, allowing passengers to travel directly between Hong Kong and 16 major cities on the Chinese mainland.

Mainland laws to be enforced in designated area

The co-location arrangement was approved by Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the Executive Council, the top policymaking body of the SAR, according to Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan and Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu, who attended a joint press conference on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong SAR government holds a press conference to announce the co-location arrangement in Hong Kong, July 25, 2017. /CGTN Photo

The West Kowloon Terminus under construction comprises five floors, all of which are underground.

Officials said Hong Kong's entry service would be provided on floor B2, with exit services located on B3.

According to reports in Hong Kong media, there will be a mainland port area and a Hong Kong port area on both B2 and B3, enabling travelers to go through exit and entry inspections on the same floor.

The mainland port area, rented from Hong Kong, will also cover the platform on B4 and some passages in the terminal as well as carriages traveling and stopping in Hong Kong.

Mainland laws will be enforced within the area.

The co-location arrangement is similar to that at the Shenzhen Bay Port on the Chinese mainland, where an area is rented to Hong Kong for the SAR's immigration officers to carry out border inspections.

The construction site of West Kowloon Terminus in Hong Kong. /Photo via MTR (Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation)

Officials added that the SAR government would continue to work with relevant departments of China's central government regarding the implementation of the co-location arrangement.

After consulting Hong Kong society and the Legislative Council, the SAR government will seek a resolution by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), they said.

Basic Law not to be compromised

Without joint inspection, passengers traveling between Hong Kong and the mainland will have to get on and off trains at a few mainland stations with border control facilities, affecting the efficiency and flexibility of the XRL service, officials stressed.

In addition to the convenience for passengers, the co-location arrangement will also save time, Jimmy Chan Pai-ming, principal government engineer and director of the Railway Development Office under Hong Kong's Highways Department, told CGTN.

After the XRL Hong Kong Section comes into service, the estimated travel time between Guangzhou and Hong Kong will be reduced from two hours to 48 minutes, he said, adding that the project would "facilitate the integration of Hong Kong and the mainland."

The design of the interior of Hong Kong's West Kowloon Terminus. /Photo via MTR

Although the benefits are evident, some in Hong Kong worry that allowing mainland laws to be enforced in the SAR would compromise the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and Hong Kong's Basic Law.

Before the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam reassured that the implementation of the co-location arrangement would be in full compliance to the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and the Basic Law, in response to worries arisen from the co-location plan.

"It is not a question of choice between convenience to passengers using the high-speed rail and the rule of law in Hong Kong," she told reporters. "We have found a solution and a set of arrangements which will be in full compliance of 'One Country, Two Systems' and the provision in the Basic Law."

Lam added that the rule of law would not be compromised.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor shortly after she was sworn in as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in Hong Kong, July 1, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Speaking to CGTN, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen emphasized that Hong Kong's authorities and the central government had reached a consensus that the co-location arrangement must be "strictly in accordance with the Basic Law" and "consistent with the spirit of the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy."

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