【Acrylic Painting by Dennis Tang】
(Paintings and Photos may not be relevant to the incident described)
Around 2000, there are series of important cases related to “right of abode” in Hong Kong, including the cases of Ng Ka Ling and Chong Fung Yuen.
On 10 July 1997, Ng Ka Ling, represented by her father, brought to the High Court that the Immigration Ordinance was partially unconstitutional. The Court affirmed its duty to review the constitutionality of the law. The case also triggered the first interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
In the subsequent Chong Fung Yuen case, the court laid down an important principle of its common law approach to the interpretation of the Basic Law and affirmed that, according to Article 24 of Basic Law, “persons who were born in Hong Kong who also have Chinese nationality are entitled to Hong Kong permanent resident status, regardless of where their parents are from.” The decision triggered a wave of pregnant women from Mainland China coming to Hong Kong to give birth in the next decade, and the government could only restrict the trends later through a mix of administrative measures.
