2001 - 莊豐源案 Director of Immigration v. Chong Fung Yuen

Background:

Chong Fung Yuen was born in 1997 in Hong Kong while his parents came to visit the grandparents in Hong Kong with a two-way permit. He cannot enjoy the right of abode according to the common law since both parents are not Hong Kong residents.

Details:

Chong’s grandparents applied for judicial review, claiming Chong’s right of abode. The Court of Final Appeal ruled in favour of Chong, affirming Article 24 of the Basic Law that Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after Hong Kong’s handover are permanent residents with the right of abode, regardless of the birth place of the parents.

Consequences:

With this ruling, over 2,000 children born in Hong Kong with mainland parents were immediately granted the right of abode.

Although the effects did not come to public attention until about a decade later, this brought a significant increase in the number of mainland mothers crossing the borders to give birth in Hong Kong, creating a huge pressure to Hong Kong’s health care and education system. It sowed seeds for the conflict between Hong Kong people and Mainlanders in the future.

News Report from South China Morning Post, 21 July 2001

News Report from South China Morning Post, 21 July 2001

News Report from Shanghai Daily, 23 July 2001

Pro-Beijing commentary, Ta Kung Pao, 21 July 2001 (Chinese) (English-translated)

Pro-Democracy commentary, Apple Daily, 21 July 2001 (Chinese) (English-translated)