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Hong Kong's anti-shopper protests have sparked a war of words.

Negative online comments against Hongkongers surge since Lunar New Year holiday

Widespread criticism of Hongkongers, including calls for travel boycotts to the territory, have emerged in mainland online forums in the wake of angry protests against tourist shoppers in Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.

Widespread criticism of Hongkongers, including calls for travel boycotts to the territory, have emerged in mainland online forums in the wake of angry protests against tourist shoppers in Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.

Mainland internet users have expressed growing resentment on several popular online chat rooms and mobile social media like WeChat.

There are mounting calls for people to postpone shopping and sightseeing visits to Hong Kong. Some even suggested cutting water, power and food supplies to the territory.

"Calls for boycotting Hong Kong must be the hottest topic among my friends on WeChat," said Zhou Lei, a Guangzhou teacher in her 30s.

"It's hard to ignore it because every day I open my account I found more friends have spread similar posts that express strong anger and disappointment with Hongkongers."

Zhou shared many popular posts complaining about Hongkongers' discrimination against mainland tourists, under such headings as "Hong Kong son, what does your mother owe you?".

Meanwhile, other commentators called for an end to the negative posts, saying Hongkongers and mainlanders should show each other more respect.

"I'm no fan of shopping in Hong Kong. [But] many of my friends live there and I love Hong Kong culture and respect its society," Liang Zhongqun, a marketing director in Guangzhou wrote on WeChat. "Hongkongers with a grudge against mainland tourists are a minority. It's an individual freedom to visit Hong Kong or not. But please stop spreading such posts."

Chen Shifeng, a Guangzhou newspaper columnist, said extreme opinions from Hong Kong, highlighted by mainland media, did not represent the majority.

Zhang Zhian, dean of the school of communication and design at Sun Yat-sen University, said online cross-border tensions were bound to increase.

"Hong Kong's political movement will be an important defence issue for mainland leaders in the long term. Even small conflicts will raise tensions on both sides," Zhang said.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Mainland backlash over HK's anti-shopper stand
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