Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen, SC, on the co-location arrangements at the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), in Beijing today (March 14):

Reporter: How much power will the Mainland officers have? Is it only restricted to customs, immigration and quarantine? Can you tell us in details what were the proposals discussed during your meeting with the Mainland officers?

Secretary for Justice: As I was trying to explain in Cantonese just now, we have been considering various proposals which might be conducive to the implementation of co-location. The common consensus, which is a very clear common consensus, between the Hong Kong side and the relevant officials of the CPG (Central People's Government ), is that the proposal of co-location in future would have to be strictly in accordance with the Basic Law and also consistent with the spirit of the "one country, two systems" policy. In so doing, what we are trying to do in devising a co-location scheme is to provide convenience to the future passengers who will be using the XRL and also to achieve maximum efficiency of the railway, as well as to derive the maximum benefit from the XRL. And in so doing, as I was trying to explain in Cantonese just now, the passengers' legal responsibilities would not be increased in any way and the passengers' legal liability would not be affected. So, in other words, that's the whole spirit of putting forward the co-location (arrangements), so as to ensure that it would be consistent with the Basic Law, so that it would provide convenience and also efficiency to the passengers.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Tuesday, Mar 14, 2017