2 in 3 Hongkongers want curb on mainland Chinese visitors
City residents call for limits on visitor numbers but say no to protests, new survey shows. And 70 per cent want special Shenzhen visas axed
Two out of three Hongkongers want to see restrictions on the travel scheme which has opened the city up to mainlanders - but the protests that have erupted against visitors from across the border have little support, according to a survey released yesterday.
Of those calling for restrictions on the individual visit scheme - which allows 270 million residents from 49 mainland cities to visit Hong Kong without joining tour groups - nearly 90 per cent don't care if there is a negative impact on Hong Kong's economy.
About 70 per cent of the respondents also want to see all multiple-visit visas for Shenzhen residents cancelled.
But nearly 55 per cent are opposed to "the actions recently taken by the public against individual travellers" from the mainland. Fewer than 17 per cent supported the protests in Yuen Long, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.
The protests resulted in violent clashes with police and counter-protesters. Pepper spray has been deployed and arrests made.
The Chinese University survey questioned 740 people and was conducted last week. Some 63 per cent said that the number of individual travellers from the mainland had exceeded Hong Kong's capacity.
At a press conference in Beijing yesterday, National People's Congress spokeswoman Fu Ying said mutual respect was needed to resolve the conflict between Hongkongers and mainland tourists.