Hong Kong must find a rational way to ease tensions over mainland visitor influx
While many locals feel Hong Kong has reached the limits of its capacity to handle the rising number of mainland visitors, many do not approve of the raucous protests against them
In 2014, nearly 61 million tourists visited Hong Kong, 78 per cent of whom were from mainland China. Their visits have brought not only remarkable economic benefits to Hong Kong, but also huge social costs. Not only have the daily lives of Hong Kong people been affected, but social conflicts within the city and between Hong Kong and the mainland have also been heightened.
A series of provocative protests against tourists and parallel traders have recently occurred. The influx of mainland shoppers, coupled with a continuous growth in parallel trading activities, is irritating to many Hongkongers. The protests have become more violent since 2012. Slogans targeting mainland visitors - for example, "Chinese go back to China" and referring to mainlanders as "locusts" and "shina" - are blatantly discriminatory and vilifying.
The so-called "Recover Yuen Long" protest on March 1 and "Recover Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui" protests on March 8 not only ended in chaos, but also resulted in arrests and injuries. In particular, the protesters in Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui have become more unruly: shoppers pulling carry-on bags were deemed to be mainlanders and were insulted, hustled and physically blocked.
Chinese University's Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies conducted a survey in late February with the aim of understanding local people's perceptions of the individual visit scheme. While it was undertaken before the violent protests, it reflects public attitudes towards the implementation of the policy.
The survey shows that the majority of locals felt Hong Kong has reached the limit of its tourism handling capacity and would like to see a contraction of the scheme. Specifically, when the respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that the number of individual visit scheme tourists now "exceeds Hong Kong's capacity", only 12.1 per cent disagreed, 63.3 per cent agreed, and 21.3 per cent took a neutral stance.
Compared to last year's figures, the proportion of respondents who agreed rose by 9.7 percentage points, whereas the percentage of those who disagreed or were neutral dropped by 5.1 and 5.9 percentage points respectively.
Further, when they were asked whether they thought the scheme should be "expanded, contracted or remain unchanged", only 3.4 per cent of the respondents said it should be expanded, 25.1 per cent thought it should remain unchanged, and 66.7 per cent wanted it reduced. Support for a contraction has increased sharply, from 51.2 per cent in September 2012.
Notwithstanding their negative evaluation of both the local capacity to handle tourism and the scheme, when the respondents were asked whether they approved of "the manners and methods" in which protests against the scheme were being conducted, 54.8 per cent said they did not, 26.2 per cent were neutral, and 16.3 per cent said yes. In other words, only a sixth of the respondents showed support for collective behaviour targeting mainland visitors.
It is worth noting that the survey was conducted before the protests this month. Public approval of riotous protests by outspoken groups would probably be even lower today.
More importantly, supporters of protest action against the individual visit scheme were mainly young people of varying educational attainment, those who identified themselves as "Hongkongers", as well as those who expressed dissatisfaction with and distrust of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government. For example, on average, supporters of the protest activities only gave Leung a score of 28.1, on a scale of 0-100. And about two-thirds were dissatisfied with the performance of the SAR government (66.9 per cent), and distrusted the SAR government (61.7 per cent) and the Chinese government (60.5 per cent).
By contrast, the mean score accorded to Leung by people who disapproved of the protests was 51.5. Only a respective 22.1 per cent, 17.9 per cent, and 24.3 per cent of such respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the performance of the SAR government, distrust of the SAR government, and distrust of the Chinese government.
As the core issue seems to be political in nature, the upcoming district council elections might complicate and aggravate the situation since some parties may want to make use of them for exposure.
Violent protests against the individual visit scheme and parallel trading activities are only the face of the problem. To these vocal protesters, the only viable solution is to repeal the scheme, allowing Hong Kong people to enjoy "the quiet life" that they had enjoyed previously and permitting "Hong Kong to breathe again". Otherwise, inconveniences are inevitable, even if the number of individual visit scheme tourists is reduced.
It is undoubtedly the case that local, mainland and international circumstances have changed and evolved in the past decade, and so have mainland tourists. Some tourists say they have lost interest in Hong Kong and have shifted their spending to Japan, South Korea and Europe.
The SAR government is focused on the quantity, rather than the quality, of visitor arrivals. Although the government is under tremendous pressure to tackle the social problems caused by the overwhelming number of inbound tourists and parallel traders, it is paramount that it reviews the individual visit scheme policy with the future in mind, including the inevitable integration of Hong Kong and the mainland.
A solution should be found based on rational and scientific grounds, rather than violence. According to our survey, the public is inclined to support suggestions such as building more shopping facilities near the border for mainland shoppers (54.5 per cent agreed and 19.8 per cent disagreed) and even cancelling the multiple-entry endorsements arrangement applicable to Shenzhen-registered residents (70.4 per cent agreed and 15.3 per cent disagreed).
A prompt and comprehensive review of the individual visit scheme and tourism policy is urgently needed.
Violent behaviour against mainlanders will not only aggravate problems, it will also worsen social conflicts. It is not beneficial to the city, not approved by the general public, and not what Hong Kong people want.
