Who flies the flag in battle of Tsim Sha Tsui?
Going to war over a flag is not new. But a Hong Kong conglomerate going into battle with the government over some flagpoles makes for a very different kind of territorial dispute.
The turf at the centre of this war is a small - just 25.6 square metres - but prime site on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, home to five flagpoles that are managed by The Wharf (Holdings).
The government in 1965 gave written consent for Wharf to erect, manage and maintain the poles, but two years ago the Lands Department sought to 'formalise' the agreement 'in today's standard' - which would put an expiry date on the management rights, an executive familiar with the dispute said.
The executive said Wharf did not dispute the government's ownership of the land, between the Star Ferry pier and Ocean Terminal, and did not intend to claim it. But, having managed the flagpoles for more than four decades, Wharf could not see why it should not do so indefinitely.
'If the government wants to take the land back, they should tell Wharf why and give a compelling reason.'
The government disagrees. 'There is no compromise on this issue ... we will take it back,' an official familiar with the dispute said.
The row comes a year after a dispute between the government and Wharf over the use of public space outside Times Square in Causeway Bay.
The government wants to incorporate the flagpole site into a square that will be created once the Star Ferry bus terminus is moved to Tsim Sha Tsui East.
It says the flagpoles will be preserved. So could the issue be not the poles but the flags they fly?
The flags currently promote Wharf, Harbour City, Cable TV, Wharf T&T and Star Ferry, all part of the conglomerate controlled by Peter Woo Kwong-ching.
But in 2007, several lawmakers argued the poles should fly the national or Hong Kong flags instead of Wharf's as they were on public land.
