The Hong Kong SAR's security chief said yesterday he was not worried about the security issues that will result from a large additional influx of mainland tourists.

However, Ambrose Lee, the new Secretary for Security, called on judges to hand out stiffer penalties, including jail terms, to employers hiring illegal workers.

The get-tough move was needed, he said, to curb the malpractice that is bound to run rampant under the new travelling measure.

Lee's remarks, made in a radio programme, came at a time when Hong Kong is seeing the gradual relaxation of restrictions on mainland visitors.

From today onward, residents of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai are allowed to come to the SAR for sightseeing without having to join group tours. Individual travellers from Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Jiangmen have already enjoyed such an arrangement, which will be extended to those from Beijing and Shanghai starting September 1.

Lee expected that the number of arrivals of mainland visitors this year would jump to 10 million as a result of the new measure.

With such a massive inflow of mainlanders, there will certainly be more cases of violation of the conditions of stay, he said.

Yet, statistical figures have shown that only three out of every 10,000 two-way permit holders would violate laws, comparable to people from other parts of the world in Hong Kong. He called on members of the public not to discriminate against mainland tourists.

According to Lee, there will be several levels of checks against the abuse of the travelling privilege.

The first one is the mainland security departments which will not issue passes to those who have criminal records in the SAR. Then suspicious travellers will be screened out at the border, while Hong Kong's immigration and police officers will mount massive operations at construction sites and catering premises to round up illegal workers.

Lee observed that current laws against employing illegal workers are already quite stringent. Yet judges have been too lenient when meting out punishments to such employers.

He suggested imprisonment as a deterrent in addition to fines. He said he would relay his views to the courts through the Department of Justice.

The Commissioner of Police Tsang Yam-pui said on another occasion that the police have met with their mainland counterparts to strengthen co-operation in preventing criminals from using the new measure to sneak into the territory.

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