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Hong Kong removes protection against land reclamation in Victoria Harbor

Lawmakers amend a 1997 law that had given court protection to the iconic waterway, giving more power to the executive.

By RFA Cantonese 2025.05.08 -- Hong Kong's legislature has passed a law that will make it easier for the government to conduct land reclamation in the territory's iconic Victoria Harbor, despite long-standing opposition from environmentalists.

The opposition-free Legislative Council on Wednesday passed an amendment to an ordinance that was enacted in 1997 to protect the harbor as a "special public asset and a natural heritage of the Hong Kong people."

The amendment eases stringent restrictions on land reclamation and a presumption against such projects without court approval that they satisfy an "overriding public need." Environmentalists say the amendment will allow the city's leader to have the final say instead.

During the debate on the amendment, lawmakers from the pro-Beijng Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, including Regina Ip and Edward Leung, argued that the previous restrictions and thresholds were "too high" and hindered harbor development.

Tik Chi-yuen of the centrist party Third Side, who abstained from voting, questioned whether the amendment undermines the original intent of checks and balances by stripping the judiciary of its oversight role.

The 1997 ordinance - adopted in the year that Hong Kong shifted from the control of Britain to China - has been used to stop past major reclamation efforts. Most notably, in 2004, the city's top court ruled against a plan to reclaim land off Wan Chai district.

Winston Chu of the non-governmental advocacy group, Society for Protection of the Harbour, which was established in the 1990s, has said that the amendment would allow the government to "act as judge over its own proposals," and then become the owner of the reclaimed land.

Victoria Harbor is a natural feature that separates Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon Peninsula. It covers an area of about 16 square miles (40 square kilometers) and serves as a major conduit for trade and as a tourist attraction. The high rises near the harborside are a distinctive feature of the city's skyline.

In the past five years, Beijing has tightened control of Hong Kong, squelching a protest movement and diminishing the semi-autonomous status the city enjoyed after colonial rule by Britain ended in 1997. Opposition lawmakers have quit from the legislature or been ousted.

Edited by Mat Pennington.

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