Yesterday, Hong Kong got tough with cross-border threat. It wasn’t currency speculators, or bird flu carriers. No, it was pregnant women.
The growing numbers of them arriving here from the Chinese mainland has become a serious political concern. They come to Hong Kong as tourists late in their terms so their children will be born here and thus be entitled to residency. Though part of China, Hong Kong is run by a semi-autonomous local government, and is vastly wealthier than the rest of the country. The per capita gdp in Hong Kong was $30,000 in 2005, while in adjoining Guangdong province it was $2,890.
That sort of gap is a big incentive for mainlanders to secure Hong Kong residency for their children. Since 2001 the number of babies born here to mainland parents has climbed from 7,810 to more than 20,000 over the first 10 months last year. That’s more than a third of all the children born in Hong Kong last year. Of the mainlanders who gave birth in the territory, more than 60% don’t have permanent residency status. That’s touched off protests by locals who say the pregnant visitors are taking up hospital resources they don’t deserve.
In response, the government declared yesterday that pregnant mainlanders who wish to enter Hong Kong must first book a bed at a local hospital. Those without a booking–which will now cost $5,000 in advance–could be turned away at the border. The tough stand is a response to the strain the mainland baby boom has put on Hong Kong hospitals. But it also reflects the political pressure that public anger has put on the local government. It’s been hamstrung, Chinese University of Hong Kong political scientist Ma Ngok said to me last week, because the problem has its roots across the border, where Hong Kong officials have less clout. “It seems like the government doesn’t have a clue how to solve the problem,” Ma said. “The problem of course is that it has to do with the mainland, and the government doesn’t have a lot of bargaining power.” So now it will cost mainlanders at least $5,000 to have a child here. But of course Hong Kong residency is worth a lot more. Still not a bad investment.