Mainland netizens are offering training, hefty daily salaries and bonuses to people willing to form “quarrel squads” and take on Hong Kong’s parallel trading protesters.
A video of a mother and her child being harassed by a group of Hong Kong youths at the Tuen Mun protest this past weekend has been making the rounds on the social media.
The protesters have since issued an apology for their behaviour after conceding that the woman and her crying daughter were not parallel traders, but it seems some on the mainland are not going to be that quick to forgive.
The incident has prompted several users of the Chinese social media network Weibo to attempt to form their own “fight squads”, which could potentially go to any subsequent Hong Kong protests and argue on behalf of the mainland.
A Weibo user with the screen name “Kim1Chan” wrote that he wants to recruit a 14-strong team and send them to Hong Kong next month.
Before crossing the border to deal with the protesters, the members would first be trained in the art of public speaking in order to build up their eloquence, voice presence and ferocity.
In the recruitment pitch, which has since been taken down, Kim1Chan wrote that each member would be given a monthly salary of CNY3,000 (HKD 3,720), and a 10 percent bonus for every Hongkonger driven to tears.
Standard working times apply, with an eight-hour shift expected to be completed from 9am to 5pm. The deal is further sweetened with the inclusion of a meal.
Another Weibo user who goes by the name “Furious Ng Junior” upped the ante further by offering CNY5,000 (HKD6,198) monthly and CNY500 (HKD619) bonus deal.
As a result of the parallel trading demonstrations and general anti-mainland sentiment in Hong Kong, some mainlanders have vowed never to return, while others have been so turned off after visiting that they have resorted to destroying the documents that allow them to cross border, then posting pictures online.
Parallel trading activities – a phenomenon whereby traders abuse the multiple-entry policy to transfer goods such as milk powder to China, therefore causing a shortage of goods in Hong Kong’s northern towns – have been a major concern for both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, who see them as a threat to cross-border relations and an initiator of political unrest.
Photo: Jonathan Kos-Read via Flickr
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