Hong Kong Protests Against Mainland Drivers in Territory
About 300 demonstrators marched in Hong Kong today to protest a government proposal that may allow mainland Chinese to drive their cars into the territory.
The demonstrators, who were escorted by police as they walked from the Causeway Bay shopping district to government headquarters in Tamar, said the proposal would cause traffic jams, pollution and accidents if it goes into effect.
“It would be a nightmare if the government let mainland Chinese drive in Hong Kong, because of the traffic accidents and congestion,” said Shirley Cheung, who brought her eight-year- old son to the demonstration.
While mainland Chinese are a growing source of revenue for Hong Kong, they have also been blamed for pushing up housing prices and raising costs at hospitals, where Chinese mothers sometimes come to give birth. Tensions rose after a Peking University professor called Hong Kong people “dogs” in January and an anonymous group of Hong Kongers later took out a newspaper advertisement likening mainlanders to locusts.
The government plan, which could go into effect next month, will allow up to 50 Hong Kong cars to cross into China’s Guangdong province each day, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. Talks would then consider allowing mainland cars into Hong Kong, though no timetable has been set, the newspaper said. Hong Kong was handed over from British to Chinese control in 1997.
Radio Television Hong Kong estimated that about 300 people attended today’s protest.
To contact the reporter on this story: Benjamin Garvey in Hong Kong at bgarvey8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nicholas Wadhams at nwadhams@bloomberg.net
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