THE Hong Kong Tourist Association is misguided in its boast that Hong Kong is 'one of the world's leading land reclaimers' (South China Morning Post report, April 21).
Such vast-scale dredging and dumping in the marine environment should be a matter of concern and embarrassment, rather than pride. Nothing is reclaimed and marine habitats, flora and fauna are destroyed.
We should use the phrase 'sea filling' (as in Chinese) to describe this activity accurately.
Tourists are far more likely to be appalled by Hong Kong's record on marine issues than enthralled by an ever-narrowing Victoria Harbour and the featureless amalgamation of islands.
The fate of the Chinese white dolphin (also featured in the April 21 report) is but one example of Hong Kong's internationally recognised environmental negligence.
The frequently illicit and ecologically damaging activities of Hong Kong fishing fleets in foreign waters are but another side of the same coin.
