Discussions this month amongst Hong Kong leadership on cutting the number of mainland visitors by 20 percent illustrate the tensions between China’s two systems. The resistance against the mainland presence in the ex-colony has been long-standing, increasing over recent years with numerous clashes between locals and mainland tourists due to cultural differences.
Hong Kong’s return to mainland China in 1997 came with Deng’s promise of “one country, two systems”, under which Hong Kong remained a politically independent, multi-party unit, with its own legal system. The city henceforth was ascribed the title of China’s first Special Administrative Region. While this measure appeased the citizens of Hong Kong for an instant, the last 17 years have seen the former colony enter what can only be described as an identity crisis.
As an increasing number of mainland Chinese enter the country to shop for milk powder and designer handbags, as pregnant women flock to the island to acquire a Hong Kong passport for their offspring to attend international schools on the mainland and travel with less hassle, as Mandarin can be heard ever more frequently, locals; like the animal that sees its natural habitat threatened; are reacting increasingly aggressive towards the outsiders. Hong Kongers in many cases seem to be fighting for their existence, vilifying or looking down upon their genetic counterparts across the border in the process. Considering that in 2008 the number of births by women with Hong Kong passports came to only 7228, while new born children with mainland mothers came to a total of 25, 269 it is unsurprising that locals fear for their identity.
Altercations occur on a regular basis, caused by the deep-seated cultural differences resulting from the 150-year presence of the British colonialists in Hong Kong, turning the city into an Asian London, as well as an economic power house, while subjecting locals to British ideas of etiquette and decency. For this reason, certain behaviour that is entirely acceptable in the mainland might be seen as incredibly rude or inappropriate in the glamorous metropolis.
The most notable conflicts between the opposing parties occurred in 2012 and 2014, being filmed on mobile phones and consequentially going viral on the Chinese-speaking internet causing and intensification of the debate and frictions. The former incident saw a young child eating food on the Hong Kong underground, upsetting the regulation that no goods should be consumed on public transport. The parents did not stop their child, whether out of ignorance of the rules or in spite of being aware of them is unclear. Some of the surrounding passengers reacted very strongly to the breach of regulations, verbally attacking and insulting the child and its family, entering into an intense shouting match with the so-called “uncivilized mainlanders”.
Barely two months ago, in April 2014, another scandal took place that enflamed rage on both sides. For lack of a toilet, a Chinese couple let their toddler relieve itself in the middle of a public square onto a nappy, again incurring the wrath of locals, who felt upset at witnessing such; in their eyes; unsophisticated behaviour. One by-stander was so enraged, they started filming the naked girl relieving herself on their phone while telling the parents off; which unsurprisingly upset the father of the young child, causing an escalation of the conflict yet again.
While these can be described as more or less isolated incidents between private citizens, with the new tourism debate the identity issue seems to have entered the political realm as the Hong Kong government is looking for ways to limit the number of people from “the other side” in their city. The announcement by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive CY Leung that the proposal to reduce visitor numbers from the neighbouring region by 20 percent comes not only on the heels of the aforementioned public urination but after weeks of street protests by locals against the rising number of tourists with a Chinese passport. Protesters accuse said tourists of driving up prices for property, luxury goods and daily necessities such as the infamous milk powder with their excessive purchasing habits.
Others in the city of seven million feel pushed out of their neighbourhoods brimming with 54 million tourists over the last year, of which Chinese “undesirables” make up more than 75 percent, a majority of which cluster mainly around Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. A conservative government estimate places the number of visitors per year at over 100 million by 2023.
Nevertheless, tied to the rising presence of non-Hong Kong Chinese is naturally a large financial gain, the contribution of which to the wealth of the economic powerhouse is not to be underestimated. In 2013, Chinese tourists spent approximately ¥178 billion on hotels, food and shopping; compared to other tourists their average daily spend is almost double; ¥2887 compared with ¥1583. Therefore aggressive policies such as a cut in visitor numbers excluding these customers with extraordinary buying power could result in a substantial income loss for the city, apart from the risk of offending their brothers from another party, which could make numbers slump even further than the 20 percent mark.
Hence, the controversial policy is being handled with a lot of care by the government. It would most likely target mainly tourists that come for day trips, not spending money on hotels and less on food. Furthermore, Shenzhen might lose its current priority status in terms of Hong Kong access, as the sister city’s residents have a multiple entry visa that they are making fervent use of.
Whether the policy will actually go through is simply a matter of speculation at this point, yet traditionally economic reasoning has had the upper hand over cultural concerns, suggesting this dog is merely barking. Then again, the fact that exclusionist measures are being debated in the political realm of Hong Kong is indicative of how deeply rooted the cultural conflict is in the hearts of the Cantonese-speaking capital.
