HK may regret move to lease railway plot back to China

HONG KONG begins the new year celebrating an odd victory - a voluntary reduction in its China-granted autonomy by "leasing" back to China a portion of a new railway terminal where mainland security personnel will apply mainland law.

It is a development which, on the face of it, is inconsistent with the Hong Kong Basic Law, the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) enacted by China's National People's Congress in 1990.

In order to accommodate the extension of China's high-speed rail system, the Hong Kong government proposed joint immigration and customs facilities in the West Kowloon station so trains won't have to stop at the border.