Good for China, Good for Hong Kong? The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Joint Checkpoint Controversy – Pierre Delbosc and Lingyue Tang

The opening at the end of 2018 of a high-speed railway linking Hong Kong to Guangzhou has constituted the cause of a public outcry in Hong Kong, as part of the West Kowloon railway station is about to be leased to the central government of the People’s Republic of China. Mainland laws will be applicable to this area, thus creating, according to certain Hong Kong lawyers, uncertainty about the stability of the “one country, two systems” principle which rules the Special Administrative Region.

• A breach against the Hong Kong legal order?
• A “legal and pragmatic” choice
  • The “firm legal basis” of the co-location plan
  • A necessary adaptation of the “one country, two systems principle“ to the current development
  • A solution in the interest of both parties?
• A political decision, more than a legal one
  • A display of authority against a rebellious city
  • A “devil plan” to fully control Hong Kong?

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