The Reintroduction of Immigration Control in Hong Kong in 1974

Abstract

With the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in China, Hong Kong’s immigration control was interrupted. All immigrants, with or without permit, who reached Hong Kong territory were accepted. In 1974, the government imposed the touch base policy to control illegal immigration from the mainland after negotiations with China. It was not a new policy but had been the practice of the Hong Kong government during the Great Leap Forward in 1962 till 1967. Under the touch base policy, like in a baseball game, immigrants aimed to reach ‘base’ (south of Boundary Street, i.e. urban areas) safely without being called ‘out’ (caught at entry). Those who reached the urban areas would be allowed to stay while those who were arrested would be returned to China. As an immigration control measure, the policy contradicted itself. It did not deter illegal immigration. Unlawful immigrants were still given hope to gain residence if they managed to escape the police’s gaze. As such, the policy also had an encouraging effect to a certain extent. This gives rise to the question: why did the Hong Kong government propose such policy in 1974? This paper suggests that neither the Hong Kong side nor the Chinese side put their prime focus on illegal immigration in their negotiations. Instead, the touch base policy was intended to be a sweetener for China to reduce legal immigration.