Press Releases
SFH on Mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong
Following is a transcript of remarks (English portion) by the Secretary for
Food and Health, Dr York Chow, at a media session at the lobby of West Wing,
Central Government Offices, Tamar, this afternoon (April 25):
Reporter: Will it be difficult to differentiate whether a Mainland woman is
married to a local man or not? How effective will the measures just
announced be? Will the Government provide any financial assistance to
Mainland expectant mothers married to Hong Kong residents for delivery in
private hospitals?
Secretary for Food and Health: First of all, it is indeed very difficult to
ascertain the marriage status of any individual at the immigration
check-points of the border. The Immigration Department can only verify the
marriage status of people who got married in Hong Kong. They have a marriage
certificate issued by the Hong Kong authority. Any marriage conducted
outside Hong Kong would not be subject to our scrutiny and verification. We
need to have the related notary public on the Mainland to certify that kind
of marriage status. Concerning the obstetrics fees of private hospitals,
according to our communications with the four hospitals concerned, we of
course cannot and would not set the fee or price for them. We do not even do
that for our local mothers. But I can see that the private hospitals would
charge the fees according to the affordability of this group of expectant
mothers. I think it would be reasonable and affordable to most of them.
Reporter: Will this policy be too late for this group of mothers?
Secretary for Food and Health: I do not think it is too late. We have been
trying to limit the number of Mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong
because there is capacity issue within our obstetrics services. We are also
concerned that if we have too many Mainland mothers who do not have a
connection with Hong Kong at all, we cannot predict what the long-term
impact of the babies born will be to Hong Kong. We have sympathy towards
those women married to Hong Kong men because they will be more likely to
settle down in Hong Kong in the future. This is the reason why we need to
have two sets of policies for women who are not married to Hong Kong men and
those married to local residents.
Reporter: Will this policy be considered as piecemeal?
Secretary for Food and Health: This is not a piecemeal policy. I have
mentioned earlier on that we have an overall policy to limit the number of
deliveries by the obstetrics services in Hong Kong. Of course, one of the
main issues that time and again is being brought up is the right of abode in
Hong Kong for the babies. That will need to be settled somehow eventually.
Reporter: Have you consulted the Chief Executive-elect C Y Leung on the new
measure?
Secretary for Food and Health: I have informed him about our decision
because this is a decision made by this term of Government. We expected that
many of these Mainland women might be giving birth in 2012 and some of them
even before end of June this year.
Reporter: Do you expect the next term of Government will continue to
implement this policy?
Secretary for Food and Health: It is up to the next term of Government to
consider. Looking at the progress we made and also the design of the
scrutiny that we have done, it would be a very good reference for the next
term of Government.
(Please also refer to the
Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:22
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