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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):

Question:

Regarding Mainland residents visiting Hong Kong individually, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the total number of applications for endorsements to visit Hong Kong individually for leisure which have been rejected by Mainland public security authorities since July 1 this year and the main reasons for their rejections; if so, of the details;

(b) of the number of Mainland residents holding endorsements for visiting Hong Kong individually for leisure who were refused entry by the Immigration Department at border control points in the past three months, together with a breakdown by the reasons for refusal; and

(c) whether it has reviewed if there are loopholes in the reciprocal notification mechanism between the Mainland and Hong Kong in respect of the lists of persons who are forbidden to enter Hong Kong; if so, of the review results?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The "Individual Visit" Scheme came into operation on July 28. The Immigration Department has since been maintaining close liaison with Mainland authorities on statistics regarding applications for "individual visit" endorsement. We understand that Mainland authorities do not compile statistics on applications for documents/endorsements that have been rejected. Specific statistics are compiled on a case by case basis according to need. For example, the Guangdong Public Security Bureau published information on applications for "individual visit" endorsement on October 13, which included the number of applications approved (470 000). Of these, 360 000 were applications to visit Hong Kong. Close to 30 applications were rejected because the applicants failed to meet the eligibility criteria.

(b) Visitors who wish to enter Hong Kong must meet normal immigration requirements (such as holding a valid travel document, adequate funds to cover his/her stay in Hong Kong and document/entry permit with adequate returnability to his place of origin) before they are granted entry. If a visitor fails to meet the above requirements, or his bona fides are in doubt, he will be refused entry. Each case will be assessed on its own merits.

We do not keep separate figures on the number of visitors with "individual visit" endorsements who have been refused entry. During the past three months (July - September), a total of 4 741 Mainland visitors were refused entry. The relevant figures, broken down according to main reasons for refusal, are set out below.

  	Reasons                    Number of visitors

       -------                    ------------------

  Doubtful intention of visit          3 899

  Improper documentation                 538

  Forged documents                       304

(c) With further facilitation of Mainland residents visiting and doing sightseeing in Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government and Mainland authorities have reached, at the policy level, a consensus on the handling of Mainland residents involved in illegal activities in Hong Kong. Specific measures include the transmission of information on such Mainland visitors by the Immigration Department to the Mainland Exit-entry Departments under the Public Security Bureau. This facilitates the latter to process, in accordance with the Mainland law, applications from such persons to visit Hong Kong again. The Immigration Department will also consider classifying such persons as targets for monitoring. When they seek to enter Hong Kong again, staff at control points will process, in accordance with the law, their requests having regard to their past immigration record and their purpose for entering Hong Kong.

As persons found to be involved in illegal activities may enter Hong Kong through illegal means, mere tightening the control measures on visit applications may not be enough to prevent them from sneaking into Hong Kong to take part in illegal activities. In view of this, authorities of both sides have established effective liaison channels to review the usefulness of the various measures so as to ensure the safety of Hong Kong residents and visitors.

Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2003

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