SAR govt can help facilitate integration
‘Portable’ Hong Kong benefits might induce long-term residence on the mainland, Paul Yeung points out
Citizenship is a crucial issue in implementing “one country, two systems”. Due to historical reasons, people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are treated differently from mainland residents when they are studying, working or living on the mainland; and the issue of entitlement has come under the spotlight for a long time after numerous complaints about the lack of access to many public services. The good news is the central government has just announced that from Sept 1 residents from the two special administrative regions and Taiwan can apply for a mainland residence card, which gives holders the same access to social and public services as their mainland compatriots.
This is a breakthrough in policy since the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council announced two batches of policy measures to facilitate Hong Kong and Macao people studying, working and living in the mainland last year. Under the new proposals, residents from the SARs and Taiwan who have been living, working and studying on the mainland for more than six months may apply for a mainland identity card, which will give the holders access to three rights, six basic public services and nine conveniences. These include the right to seek employment and join the social insurance and housing fund schemes, the entitlement to free basic education, medical care and legal aid, as well as the enjoyment of conveniences in driving and traveling.
According to official figures, as many as 520,000 Hong Kong residents living in Guangdong province and more than 15,000 Hong Kong students studying in universities across the mainland will benefit from these measures. As Vice-Minister of Public Security Shi Jun said, the new measures are intended “to make Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents able to enjoy public services and facilities in ways basically the same as mainland residents in their places of abode”. In a nutshell, the new policy is to open the mainland’s public services system to Hong Kong residents.
If the central government’s new policy isn’t attractive enough to encourage Hong Kong residents to try their luck on the mainland, the SAR government can add its own inducement by extending the city’s social services and welfare system to cover those residents who live, work or study on the mainland. This is essentially to make Hong Kong’s public services and welfare system “portable”. The idea is not entirely new. The Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme has been in place for 18 years, allowing retired recipients who meet the prescribed criteria to continue to receive monthly cash assistance even after they’ve settled permanently in Guangdong or Fujian province. What the SAR government needs to do now is study how other social welfare and public services can be extended to Hong Kong people living on the mainland. A starting point could be the Guangdong-Shenzhen-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Let’s take the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme as an example. A pilot scheme at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital was started in October 2015 under which eligible Hong Kong elders pay for services with an Elderly Health Care Voucher at some designated departments of the hospital. This is the first service point outside Hong Kong that accepts the voucher. The government should explore the feasibility of extending the scheme to other places on the mainland. One suggestion is for Hong Kong healthcare institutions to offer services in the Bay Area, thus bringing their experience and service standards to the mainland to serve Hong Kong residents living there.
The same practice can be applied to education and elderly care services. There is solid demand for education services for children of Hong Kong residents who live in the Bay Area. To meet this need, the SAR government should support the operation of schools offering basic education with Hong Kong or international curricula in the Bay Area. For elderly care services, the government has operated the Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong province since June 2014. Under the program, the government purchases bed spaces for Hong Kong’s elderly from two residential care homes located in Yantian, Shenzhen and Zhaoqing city and operated by Hong Kong non-governmental organizations. The government announced a three-year extension of the pilot scheme in 2017, but it should consider sustainable solutions as well. For example, it can encourage more local social organizations to operate and provide elderly care services in the Bay Area.
Integration of Hong Kong’s development into the national development strategy is likely to be boosted by making both the mainland’s and Hong Kong’s social services and welfare systems accessible to Hong Kong residents living, working or studying on the mainland. After all, personnel exchange is the first step of cooperation and collaboration.
Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation, shared with us his laudable idea: “Have an open mind — allow different ideas into your way of thinking.” The government needs an open mind to explore different ways to enhance Hong Kong residents’ well-being.
Personnel exchange is the first step of cooperation and collaboration.