Chinese ‘birth tourists’ to Hong Kong double

The Hong Kong administration announced last month it is to limit the number of
the so-called birth tourists, setting a quota of 3,400 births for non-local
women per year, down from 10,000 last year.

But mainlanders are flouting the rules by arriving at emergency wards in the
late stages of labour.

As well as better medical treatment, newborns receive automatic residency and
are entitled to 12 years free education.

The unwanted baby boom is putting a strain on resources as well as causing
public anger.

A recent media advert in a Hong Kong newspaper described mainlanders as “locusts”,
sparking outrage among Chinese.

Earlier this week, Chinese family planning officials warned mainland parents
they remain subjected to China’s one-child policy if they give birth to a
second child in Hong Kong and face punishment if they flout the rules.

Tighter boarder controls have also been implemented to weed out pregnant women
at immigration.

But labour wards continue to assist mainlanders, most of whom pay agents in
China to take them across the border to stay in illegal shelters in Hong
Kong while they wait to go into labour.

“As long as Hong Kong provides better medical care or more benefits for
pregnant mainland women, it is impossible for the Hong Kong administration
to completely eradicate the problem,” said professor Feng Yujun from
the Renmin University in Beijing.

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