HONG KONG, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced Tuesday that it has decided to move a motion at the Legislative Council (LegCo) later this month on the co-location arrangement at the cross-border railway station in West Kowloon.
"The HKSAR government has given notice to the LegCo today of the intention to move a motion at the LegCo sitting on Oct. 25, 2017 on taking forward the follow-up tasks of the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link," the HKSAR government's secretariat press office said in a press release.
HKSAR Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told media Tuesday that "the reason why we suggest we will put forward a non-binding government motion is really to provide an opportunity for LegCo members who have heard so much about this subject from the people of Hong Kong to debate on the merits of the co-location arrangement."
Pointing out that different surveys have shown that over a half of Hong Kong residents polled are in support of the co-location arrangement, Lam expressed hope that LegCo members "will debate this in a rational manner and reflect the opinions of the people of Hong Kong."
The HKSAR government announced in July the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon station, which will allow passengers of the cross-border trains one-stop boundary control.
To implement the co-location arrangement, the mainland and the HKSAR need to first reach a cooperation arrangement, which will be endorsed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. After the congress endorsement, the HKSAR needs to implement it through the enactment of local legislation.
"We cannot start the local legislation process for implementing this co-location proposal right away, because as we have announced on July 25 this year, the co-location arrangement is premised on a three-step approach," Lam said, adding that the government motion's "wording is such that we hope to secure the agreement of the LegCo members."
