Chief Secretary Carrie Lam has called for harmony between Hong Kong and Mainland people, saying conflict will not benefit Hong Kong.
Mrs Lam made the plea at a youth exchange session today, saying the One Way Permit Scheme is for family reunion, not for importing foreign labour.
She said cross-boundary relationships now comprise 35% of locally-registered marriages, and people should not stereotype Mainland spouses as being low-educated and unproductive.
People marrying a Hong Kong person need to come to Hong Kong for family union, she said, adding that more than 700,000 people have come to the city through the permit scheme in the past 16 years, of which 98% were spouses and children of Hong Kong people.
Mrs Lam said the Mainland has a transparent system for one way permit approval, which considers factors like the length of separation and children.
Ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland people are strong because Hong Kong receives many Mainland tourists and the Central Government backs the city’s economic development, she said, urging harmony between the people of both places.
