MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I speak in opposition to the original motion. The wording of the entire original motion gives the impression that all Mainlanders coming to Hong Kong with One-way Permit ("OWP") and all new arrivals are creating burden to Hong Kong society. This is obviously misleading. We should clarify a notion first. The policy objective of OWP is for family reunion which is a basic human right. More importantly, we should not see these people negatively and overlook their contributions to society by saying that new Mainland arrivals are using public services and facilities in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been a migrant society since day one. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 60% of Hong Kong's population had come from Mainland China, particularly Guangdong, and the number was significant. After several massive migrations which took place during the post-war period, the founding years of the Country and the Cultural Revolution, more than 2 million Mainlanders came to live in Hong Kong in the 50 years from 1961 to 2016. By inference, about 85% of the existing population in Hong Kong consists of either Mainland arrivals themselves or descendant of Mainland arrivals. The economic take-off of Hong Kong owes to these Mainland arrivals who see Hong Kong as their home. They have provided enormous labour, capital and skills and have performed various functions in various trades at various times, making great contributions to Hong Kong's economy. Urbanization and population growth will necessarily lead to demands for public services such as housing, education and health care. It is definitely unfair for us to put all the blame on OWP holders or other new arrivals for these social problems.

President, given the close relationship between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the vetting and approval of OWP application are more stringent than those from other countries and areas. After the reunification, the Mainland's Ministry of Public Security began to grant the 150 daily quota and implemented a point-based system which has effectively kept the number of OWP holders arriving Hong Kong under control. As the economy of the Mainland develops, the waiting period for applications under the spousal reunion category has gradually shortened from 15 years to 4 years now. However, foreigners married to Hong Kong persons, along with their children, can come to Hong Kong directly as dependents. They do not have to wait and are subject to fewer restrictions. In comparison, the system is obviously unfair to the Mainland spouses and children of Hong Kong people. As the 150 daily quota is not fully utilized, the authorities should discuss with Mainland's Ministry of Public Security and consider further relaxation to relieve the plight of prolonged separation suffered by these families.

President, overpopulation is not a challenge facing Hong Kong now. Instead, the challenges are low birth rate, the ageing population and insufficient labour supply. According to the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, Hong Kong sits at the bottom fourth place in the global birth rate rankings, outperforming only Singapore, Macao and Taiwan. If we rely on natural growth alone, population ageing in Hong Kong would have been more serious, for sure. It is largely due to the replenishment from OWP holding new arrivals that Hong Kong can now maintain the productive young labour force at a reasonable size,especially at the grass-roots level. According to government statistics, Hong Kong today should have lost 740 000 people in population and 400 000 people in labour force if not for the 960 000 OWP holding new arrivals coming to Hong Kong in the last 20 years. Natural growth in local population alone definitely cannot meet the demand of the local labour market and the needs arising from social and economic growth. With the gradual popularization of tertiary education, local young people generally attain higher levels of education and many are unwilling to work in positions requiring much physical labour, such as those in catering, security, elderly services and transport. Nowadays, even the hotel industry meets difficulties in recruitment for a number of job types. OWP holding new arrivals provide sizable labour supply which nicely meets the needs of these trades, preventing them from contracting due to manpower shortage.

As for the impact brought about by new arrivals on Hong Kong's social welfare, a government survey shows that the percentage of new arrival families who rely on salaries as their primary source of income has risen from 64% in 2013 to 83.3% in 2018. Meanwhile, the percentage of these families receiving government subsidies has fallen from 15.2% to 5.4% during the same period, showing a consistent decline in new arrivals' reliance on social welfare. In terms of education, the percentage of new arrivals from Mainland China who have received tertiary education or above has risen from 17.5% to 21.3% at present. From these we see that alongside the surge of economic and education levels in Mainland China, the profile of new Mainland arrivals has undergone profound changes and their contribution to Hong Kong society is getting increasingly significant. Hence, Mr Gary FAN's suggestion of slashing half of the OWP quota is utterly impractical.

Mr FAN has further suggested allowing the Special Administrative Region Government to take back the initiation power in the OWP policy. In fact, in as early as 1999, when the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress interpreted the Basic Law in relation to the NG Ka-ling case, it provided a clear explanation of Article 22 of the Basic Law: Mainland residents who wish to enter Hong Kong for whatever reason must apply for approval in accordance with the relevant national laws and administrative regulations. It is clear that the authority of vetting and approving such quota has all along been rested with the public security authority in the Mainland. The SAR Government has no legal ground to vet and approve OWPs. Therefore, Mr FAN's suggestion is infeasible.

President, I so submit.