Calls have started to place quotas on visitors crossing into Hong Kong via the new mega bridge following weeks of congestion in Tung Chung, which spilled over into protests and arrests on the weekend.
Opened less than a month ago, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge has seen record-breaking numbers of visitors flock to the city from the mainland, with Lantau Island taking the brunt of the influx.
On Sunday, some 86,436 people passed through the city’s port checkpoint by 8pm, according to Immigration Department figures cited by Ming Pao.
Though a slight drop on figures from the same period the previous Sunday, the crowds continue to frustrate local residents of the previously relatively quiet island town.
Emotions boiled over on Sunday when a group of about 70 activists gathered in Tung Chung to protest against illegal mainland tour guides bringing groups across the bridge and into Hong Kong, who they accuse of exacerbating the problem, according to Apple Daily.
Under the city’s laws, only tour guides registered in Hong Kong can work here.
According to Apple Daily, the protesters also decried the congestion caused by the influx, with large lines for buses and businesses and restaurants swamped with patrons.
The protest group — Tung Chung Future — sought to identify and call out unlicensed mainland tour guides and demanded tourists leave, according to Ming Pao.
This led to clashes counter demonstrators from the pro-Beijing “Treasure Friendship Group”, members of which accused the anti-mainland activists of supporting Hong Kong’s independence and hurting cross border relations, the newspaper wrote.
Ming Pao reported that two people — a 59-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman — were arrested.
The latter, according to the outlet, had grabbed a man’s mobile phone that was being used to take pictures of the protest.
The 59-year-old man was accused of grabbing another man, 30, during the dispute, the SCMP reported.
Speaking to RTHK today, University of Hong Kong professor Paul Yip, a population policy expert, suggested quotas be placed on the amount of people traveling from Zhuhai and Macau to the city.
He said there needed to be “clear communication” to ensure tour groups arriving in Hong Kong had a local guide.
The issue is on the government’s radar. Speaking recently, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan said authorities would push operators to arrange more staff to help reduce lines for buses in Tung Chung by assisting passengers to board quickly.
At the same press conference, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said “concerns” had been conveyed to mainland counterparts about tour guides working illegally in Hong Kong.
“All in all, the two governments and the travel businesses of both ends of the bridge are in contact and working together to ease the pressure in Hong Kong, particularly in Tung Chung.”
Reader Interactions