Hong Kong-Mainland conflict

The Hong Kong-Mainland conflict (Chinese: 中港矛盾) refers to the tensions between people from Hong Kong and mainland China due to the strong indigenousness developed under the "One country, two systems" constitutional principle implemented with the birth of the HKSAR. Hong Kong people believe that they are different from "mainlanders" (people come from mainland China other than Hong Kong) mainly in terms of politics, culture and language.^[1]

Background

Hong Kong-mainland China relations have become increasingly fluctuated since the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997.^[2] The Hong Kong government has implemented some controversial policies, for instance, the Individual Visit Scheme and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.^[3] Chin (2011) argues that since the Hong Kong government failed to force through the legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, Beijing's relatively hands-off approach to Hong Kong changed dramatically. The PRC's strategy became aimed at trying to dissolve the city-state boundary of Hong Kong in the name of economic rejuvenation and ostensibly to strengthen socio-economic ties with the mainland.^[4]

Hong Kong has a Westernized culture from its past as a British colony, putting it in stark contrast to the culture of Mainland China.^[5] Hong Kong-Mainland conflict is mainly attributed to the cultural differences^[6] between Hong Kong people and mainlanders, such as languages,^[7] as well as the significant growth in number of mainland visitors. Since the implementation of Individual Visit Scheme^[8] on 28 July 2003, the number of mainland visitors increased from 6.83 million in 2002 to 40.7 million in 2013, according to the statistics provided by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.^[9][10] The conflict associates to issues regarding the allocation of resources between mainlanders and Hong Kong people in different sectors, such as healthcare and education.^[11]

Incidents

In recent years, there were some incidents showing conflicts between Hong Kongers and mainlanders.

Tour guide Lee Qiaozhen verbally abused mainland tourist

On 5 February 2011, Lee Qiaozhen, a Hong Kong tour guide, had a quarrel with three mainland tourists.^[12] Lee verbally insulted the tourists for not buying at a jewellery store, such as calling them as "dogs".^[13] The tourists were dissatisfied and this eventually turned into a fight. Lee and the three tourists were arrested by the police for physical assault.^[14]

Dolce & Gabbana controversy

One of the four streets blocked during the Sunday protest.

On 5 January 2012, Apple Daily reported that only Hong Kong citizens had been prevented from taking pictures of Dolce & Gabbana window displays in both their Hong Kong fashion outlets, stirring anti-Mainlander sentiment.^[15] In particular staff and security personnel at their flagship store on Canton Road asserted the pavement area outside was private property where photography was forbidden. The actions sparked protests spanning several days and gained international news coverage on 8 January.^{[16][17][18][19]} Citing the case of Zhou Jiugeng (周久耕), a Nanjing official whose high-living lifestyle was identified by Chinese citizens using internet photographs, local news reports speculated that the Dolce & Gabbana photo ban may have been imposed at the request of some wealthy Chinese government officials who were shopping and who feared photographs of them in the store might circulate and fuel corruption allegations and investigations into the source of their wealth.^[20][21]

Parallel trading in Hong Kong

Since 2012, there have been more mainland parallel traders coming to the northern parts of Hong Kong to import goods and export them back to mainland, which earns them some money for each transfer. Some products that are popular among these traders, such as infant formula, faced shortage in Hong Kong for an extended time as a result.^[22] This made the government impose restrictions on the amount of milk powder exports from Hong Kong.^[23] Besides, since northern places like Sheung Shui became the transaction centres of the traders, this resulted in discontent from nearby residents.^[24]

Anchor babies in Hong Kong

In recent years till 2012, the number of anchor babies in Hong Kong had been increasing.^[25] Pregnant mainland women seeking to give birth in Hong Kong, specifically to benefit from the right of abode.^[26] Their parents came from mainland to give birth in Hong Kong, which resulted in their children gaining the right to abode and enjoy social welfare in the city. Hong Kong citizens expressed concerns that the pregnant women and anchor babies put heavier burden on Hong Kong's medical system.^[27] Some of them even called mainlanders "locusts" which take away Hong Kong's resources from locals.^[28] Over 170,000 new births where both parents were mainlanders between 2001 to 2011,^[29] of which 32,653 were born in 2010.^[27] CY Leung's first public announcement on policy as Chief Executive-elect was to impose a 'zero' quota on mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong. Leung further underlined that those who did may not be able to secure the right of abode for their offspring in Hong Kong.^[26]

Impact

The conflict between Hong Kong people and mainlanders poses an immense impact on Hong Kong society.

Rise of locals' awareness in self-identity

The major significance is the rise of local awareness in self-identity. With reference to the survey conducted by a public opinion programme of the University of Hong Kong, the identity index of interviewees who regarded themselves as "Chinese" plummeted between the years of 2008–2014, from approximately 7.5 in 2008 to a continuous fluctuation within the range between 6–7. The drop in sense of national identity is believed to be the result of the aforementioned conflicts. The recent conflicts (anchor babies, D&G crisis,^[30] and parallel trading) further contributed to the rise of local awareness in self-identity.

Exacerbation of conflicts between local and mainlanders

There are differences in culture and political backgrounds between those from Hong Kong and China. Hong Kong was ruled by the British based on the system of Ladder Patten throughout the 1850s up until 1997, whereas China was under the control of the Chinese Communist Party from 1949 onwards.^[31] The education that people received, the culture, and lifestyle were very different which lead to the cultural conflicts. Some Hong Kong people perceive mainlanders as rude, impolite, poorly educated. This further leads to locals' nonacceptance of mainlanders, especially when they travel in Hong Kong. Travelers from the mainland are growing in a tremendous number that their existence can influence the direction of government's policies.^[32] The premise of various protests within the 2010s were related to the issue of the individual visit scheme adversely affecting the daily lives of Hong Kongers.

References