CL, the incompetence and/or face saving are possible with the Chinese officials in my case; however, I somehow doubt it this time. We got married in my wife's residence (hukou) area, and then we dealt with officials there as well. The Chinese Consulate in Hong Kong confirmed the ambiguous claim that "my son can wait and make his decision until he is an adult".

My son and I are planning to travel to Canada, and so I'd love to know whether any family in similar situations has applied for a visa outside the kid's place of birth and in his/her parent's homeland. For us, being refused a Chinese visa in Toronto wouldn't be the worst thing that'd happen to my son, although it'd mean that he'd have to use the Chinese "Travel Document" and a lot of red tape out of mainland China then.

Cheers and beers