bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Barclay Crawford

Members of a private club on PLA land in Tsim Sha Tsui have challenged legislators' suggestions that the government reclaim it because the military does not use it.
The status of the United Services Recreation Club  in Gascoigne Road  was raised during a Legislative Council meeting on Wednesday. Unionist Lee Cheuk-yan  suggested the site be used for other purposes. 
Lawmakers asked why the prime site, with its tennis and squash courts, lawn bowls green and restaurant, should remain in military hands if it is not being used by the People's Liberation Army. 
The unwanted attention upset club members, who accused lawmakers of trying to make something out of nothing.
'Under the Defence Land Agreement,  negotiated between the British and the mainland, everything carries on as it has for 50 years,' a long-term club member said. 'Do they want to void this part of the agreement? 
'It's a storm in a teacup. It's people trying to gain political kudos with the masses. It's not like the government would take it over and convert it to a park. They would sell it.' 
Another member said the club was run like any other private club in the city. Members abided by the same rules and complied with the law.
'We just have a different landlord and that is the PLA,' he said. 'The club is at least maintaining something worthwhile and providing a service for people. The 950 members represent a broad section of the community and most are Chinese.'
Established in 1911 in the Gun Club Hill barracks,  initially for the use of the colonial British garrison, the club later opened to the public. By the handover in 1997 it had few military members.
It was handed over to the PLA, with the barracks of which it is part, and is run as a private club for those who can afford a HK$100,000 corporate joining fee and HK$1,100 a month. (There are cheaper options.) The PLA has no hand in its management, although pre-handover documents said the garrison chief should be responsible for it.
A lawmaker decided to send President Hu Jintao  a request that the site be given to the Hong Kong government. 
Cyd Ho Sau-lan,  of Civic Act-up,  said yesterday she had drafted a letter and would send it this week. 'As Hong Kong universities urgently need more land for campus development and there's a tight supply of land in Hong Kong, I would like to request central government approval to allow the SAR government to acquire the site without any [payment],' Ho said, quoting from her letter.
'I am sympathetic about the situation the club is in, but it is clear that the site is not used for military purposes and that is against the requirement of garrison law.' 
She proposed that the Hong Kong government provide another site for the club in return for the Gun Club Hill site. 
According to the Exchange of Notes in 1994 between Beijing and London, military sites can only be used for defence purposes.
The notes also stated that the club 'will continue to enjoy the use of all facilities on the same terms as the present', and a commanding officer of the garrison or his representative would assume responsibility for its direction and control.
However, the PLA has not been active in the club's management since the handover and no military personnel use it.



Lawmakers' calls for handover of club on PLA land upset members