Leung determined to stop influx of pregnant Mainland women
Next year (2013), babies born in Hong Kong to Mainland mothers whose husbands are not Hong Kong permanent residents will not be given the right of abode.
This was declared by Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun-ying yesterday. Although he did not directly use such words as "will not be given", his manner of speaking made his intention very clear. His original words are: "I'd like to take this opportunity to speak out my opinion through the media to Mainland mothers-to-be, whose husbands are not Hong Kong citizens and who plan to come to give birth in Hong Kong. That is, if they plan to come to deliver babies in Hong Kong in 2013, I cannot guarantee that their children born in Hong Kong will have the right of abode. No one, no agent and no hospital in Hong Kong can or should promise them that their children will have the right of abode. On this issue, we must make our point clearly beforehand."
With such "no guarantee" pledge by the Chief Executive-elect, the future of the issue is basically settled, leaving no chance to be taken.
The statement made by Leung Chun-ying yesterday is his relatively direct comment on a specific administrative affair of the SAR before he is sworn in. This is just the first small display of his leadership which however is enough to show his style. In a time when there is a big fuss over the issue with various suggestions being offered on its solution such as taking such and such administrative measures, or taking judicial procedures or even asking the for an interpretation of the Basic Law, Leung "sets the tune with one beat of the gong" by focusing attention on denying the right of abode to newborn babies whose parents are both non-Hong Kong permanent residents.
More importantly, the fact that Leung can resolutely and unequivocally work out a solution of the problem is not because he is an extraordinary "genius", but because he is able to identify the root cause of the problem through its complicate and confusing appearances. That is, according to the NPC Standing Committee's interpretation of the Basic Law in the case of Ng Ka Ling, the stipulation in Article 24 of the Basic Law that children born in Hong Kong to Chinese parents can have the right of abode refers to children who had at least one Hong Kong-permanent-resident parent before they were born.
Following this interpretation of the Basic Law, therefore, babies born in Hong Kong to parents who are both not Hong Kong permanent residents should not have the right of abode.
This is the truth of the matter. Had the NPC interpretation of the Basic Law been strictly followed, pregnant Mainland women coming to give birth in Hong Kong would have posed no threat at all. But some "pro-democracy barristers", who later formed the Civic Party, launched a "protest in black" against the NPC interpretation of the Basic Law, asserting it as an "intervention in Hong Kong" and marked the "death of the rule of law". They had made a big fuss for several years afterwards. Then in 2001, the Court of Final Appeal rendered its judgment awarding right of abode to Chong Fung Yuen, a boy born in Hong Kong to non-Hong Kong-resident parents. Since then, the problem of pregnant Mainland women flocking into Hong Kong to deliver babies has increasingly gotten out of hand. Therefore, after fully consulting legal professionals, Leung Chun-ying has decided not to dither over judicial procedures or administrative measures, but to return to the "starting point" of the problem to find out its origin and get to its root cause. Hence according to the NPC interpretation of the Basic Law, after he is sworn in, he will "not guarantee" that babies born in Hong Kong to non-Hong Kong-resident parents will have the right of abode.
Why is the problem of pregnant Mainland women coming to give birth in Hong Kong picked up by Leung Chun-ying to make the first display of his leadership? This also deserves attention. First of all, some recent opinion poll shows citizens hope Leung would tackle this problem first after he takes office. Secondly, having lasted for years, this problem has already inflicted antagonism or even caused split between Hongkongers and Mainlanders. Finding an effective solution in time is crucial to help ease the antagonism between residents in the two places. It thus can also be said as an important part of "grand reconciliation" to be achieved after Leung's election.
The pledge, that there is no guarantee for children born in Hong Kong to non-Hong Kong-resident parents to have the right of abode, may make most pregnant Mainland women give up their plans to come to give birth in Hong Kong. However, it cannot be ruled out that some would still decide to come and deliver their babies in Hong Kong because of Hong Kong's good medical services. For such pregnant Mainland women, private hospitals should continue to provide services. Leung Chun-ying's declaration yesterday to give private hospitals a "zero quota" for taking in pregnant Mainland women from 2013 should be a "temporary" measure. Sometime later, when various data are collected and sorted out, it may not be absolutely infeasible for private hospitals to resume serving a certain number of pregnant Mainland women.
17 April 2012
