A group of Hong Kongers published a newspaper ad yesterday describing mainland Chinese as “locusts” and demanding the government take action to stop their “infiltration” into the southern territory.
The full-page advertisement in the widely read Apple Daily is the latest in a number of incidents that suggest mounting anger in Hong Kong about the political and economic influence of mainland China in local affairs.
It features an enormous locust overlooking Hong Kong’s skyline with the words: “Hong Kongers have had enough.”
Photo: AFP
Online group Golden Forum funded the page-11 ad with donations from users of its Internet chat service.
The group “strongly demands ... a stop to the unlimited infiltration of mainland Chinese couples into Hong Kong,” it said in the ad, referring to the thousands of mainland women who travel to the territory to give birth every year.
Many Hong Kongers also dislike the shadowy role that Beijing plays in local politics, along with the flashy displays of wealth by mainland Chinese tourists, who are visiting the territory in increasing numbers to splurge on luxury goods.
Last month, Italian clothing chain Dolce & Gabbana apologized to the people of Hong Kong for allegedly discriminating against them in favor of wealthy mainland shoppers.
The “Anti-Locusts” campaign follows remarks by a Chinese professor calling residents of the former British colony “bastards,” “dogs” and “cheats.”
Peking University professor Kong Qingdong (孔慶東) said Hong Kong people were “used to being the dogs of British colonialists — they are dogs, not humans.”
Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under the “one party, two systems” arrangement, giving it limited autonomy to enjoy civil freedoms not seen on the mainland.
The professor was furious at a video that went viral online showing Hong Kongers scolding a mainland girl for flouting rules against eating on the city’s subway trains.
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