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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Cyd Ho in the Legislative Council today (April 29):
Question:
Regarding the military sites in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows, as at June 30, 1997, the respective numbers of Gurkhas serving in the British Garrison in Hong Kong and their family dependents, together with a breakdown by the military sites at which they were stationed or accommodated at that time, as well as indicating on a map which military sites were used for defence purposes and which were for accommodating family dependents;
(b) whether it knows the total number of members of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison (PLA Garrison) and their family dependents; whether each member of the PLA Garrison may bring along family dependents to Hong Kong; if not, which ranks of members may bring along family dependents; the number of sites which were used for accommodating family dependents of the British Garrison are now within the purview of the PLA Garrison, and whether such sites are currently used for defence purposes; given the keen demand for land in the process of urban development, whether the authorities have considered negotiating with the departments concerned under the Central People's Government the handing over of vacant military sites to the Government of the Special Administrative Region; if they have considered, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) given that the Exchange of Notes between the Chinese Government and the British Government on the arrangements for the future use of the military sites in Hong Kong in 1994 contains the following statement by the Chinese Government that "if a site used by the Garrison is no longer needed for defence purposes, it shall be handed over, without compensation, to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for disposal", how and by which side the procedure for handover of military sites can be activated; of the number of military sites handed over through this procedure hitherto?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Administration does not have information regarding the respective numbers of Gurkhas serving in the former British Garrison in Hong Kong and their family dependants, nor the sites at which they were stationed or accommodated respectively.
(b) Article 14 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China provides that the Central People's Government shall be responsible for the defence of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Article 3 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Garrisoning of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides that the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (the Hong Kong Garrison) shall be subject to the direction of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China and the number of its members shall be determined according to the need for the defence of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Information on the total number of members of the Hong Kong Garrison and their family dependants, whether members of the Garrison may bring along their family dependants to Hong Kong, and the specific use of the military sites are defence matters of the Hong Kong Garrison. The Administration does not have such information. Nor does the Administration have information on the sites under the charge of the Hong Kong Garrison that were previously used to accommodate family dependants of the former British Garrison.
We understand that all the military sites of the Hong Kong Garrison are used for defence purposes.
(c) Article 13 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Garrisoning of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides that any land used by the Hong Kong Garrison for military purposes, when approved by the Central People's Government to be no longer needed for defence purposes shall be turned over without compensation to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for disposal. If the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region requires for public use any part of the land used for military purposes by the Hong Kong Garrison, it shall seek approval of the Central People's Government. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall in return provide land and military facilities for the Hong Kong Garrison at such sites as agreed to by the Central People's Government, and shall bear all the expenses and costs entailed.
Since July 1, 1997, the military sites of the Hong Kong Garrison have all along been used for defence purposes. No military site has been turned over to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for disposal.
Ends/Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:46
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