Case tests Hong Kong autonomy

Beijing's intervention sparked protests in Hong Kong

More than 5,000 Chinese immigrants living in Hong Kong have launched a legal battle to be allowed to remain in the territory.

They are challenging Beijing's controversial reinterpretation of Hong Kong immigration laws.

The saga is being seen as a crucial test of how much autonomy the former British colony will be allowed.

Hundreds turned up to attend the hearing

In a landmark judgement last year, Hong Kong's highest court said people from mainland China had the right of abode in the territory if one of their parents was a citizen.

But Beijing told Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal last June that it had ruled wrongly in the case and insisted on a new interpretation of the law.

The case had been referred to Beijing by the Hong Kong Government which feared the territory could be swamped by 1.6 million new residents in the next decade as a result of the original ruling.

But the request for Beijing's intervention sparked outrage and was widely criticised for undermining the territory's legal autonomy.

Basic Law

Lawyers said most of the 5,308 litigants in the current case would have qualified for residency under the original ruling by Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal in January 1999.

Protesters said Beijing's ruling threatened HK's autonomy

They are questioning why the Hong Kong Government failed to implement the ruling.

And they are contesting its effective overturning by Beijing's reinterpretation of its immigration laws last June.

The intervention had the result of drastically reducing the number of migrants eligible for residency.

Beijing said residency could only be granted to people with a Hong Kong parent who had permanent residency at the time the child was born.

Smuggled

Many of the litigants, hoping to join their parents or looking for better opportunities, were smuggled into the affluent territory. Others came on tourist visas that have now expired.

But lawyer Denis Chang said on Monday the government could not throw out people who had arrived before the Beijing ruling as Beijing does not have the authority to overrule Hong Kong's courts.

More than 1,000 mainland Chinese gathered outside the Hong Kong court building just after dawn, hoping to attend the hearing.

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula which granted it a high degree of autonomy.