Advertisement
Advertisement
Alex Lo
SCMP Columnist
My Take
by Alex Lo
My Take
by Alex Lo

No place for Yuen Long protest bigots

Uncontrolled parallel trading activities may be a big bone of contention between many Hong Kong people and mainland visitors. 

Uncontrolled parallel trading activities may be a big bone of contention between many Hong Kong people and mainland visitors. But judging from the more violent protests in recent weeks including the ones in Yuen Long on Sunday, the issue has been hijacked by fringe groups within the pan-democratic camp.

Sunday's rallies followed similarly chaotic ones in Tuen Mun and Sha Tin last month. Given their similar tactics and deliberate provocation against police and other peaceful protesters, such radical groups as Hong Kong Indigenous and Civic Passion have been trying to recreate Occupy Central 2.0. We have all seen their uniformed T-shirts, flags, provocative face masks and body armour before. Members from both groups led the more violent clashes with police during the Occupy protests in October and November. Now they have taken to verbally abusing anyone who might look like they are from the mainland.

Their bigotry and chauvinism make them borderline fascists, led by rabble-rouser-wannabes like Wong Yeung-tat. A founder and leader of Civic Passion, Wong has repeatedly denounced as "useless" mainstream pan-democrats like unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan and groupings like the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. A onetime protege of Raymond "Mad Dog" Wong Yuk-man, even the mad dog himself and the radicalised People Power have proved inferior to the brand of confrontational politics championed by Wong Yeung-tat.

While associations such as the North District Parallel Imports Concern Group indeed represent residents in New Territories neighbourhoods affected by parallel traders, most members of those fringe groups don't even live there. They show up through their own social media networks and are highly organised.

By politicising the rallies, these groups have shamelessly fanned anti-mainland sentiments by channelling understandable anger and concerns among many Hong Kong people. What is a very real social problem is being skilfully exploited to legitimise their political agenda, challenge the police and discredit the government.

In the process, innocent mainlanders are being made scapegoats and affected residents are used and exploited.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: No place for Yuen Long protest bigots
Post