Pro-business Liberal Party leader says chief executive should apologise to mainland visitors over protests
Head of pro-business party slams chief executive for not saying sorry for 'rude protesters' in the latest sign of rancour
Liberal Party leader Vincent Fang Kang has criticised Leung Chun-ying for "failing to apologise to mainland visitors" for local protests against them, in the latest sign of rancour between the party and the chief executive.
Fang was speaking on a Commercial Radio talk show discussing the decline in Hong Kong tourism and retail sales, which has been partly attributed to a drop in the number of mainland visitors.
The head of the pro-business party Leung's introduction of a limit on the number of infant formula milk cans travellers can take across the border and his failure to apologise for protests against mainland shoppers, which he said led to business losses.
"When did the conflicts start to intensify? It was when the restriction on milk powder was introduced. Then a minority of people started to behave impolitely," Fang said, urging the administration to lift the limit.
"The chief executive should have spoken up immediately and made clear that the rude protesters did not represent us Hongkongers. He should apologise to mainland people and let them know those protesters were only a minority and most Hong Kong people still welcomed visitors from the mainland."
Without directly responding to Fang's call for an apology, the government issued a statement hours after his remarks.
"The SAR government is concerned about the impact on Hong Kong's tourism and related industries regarding the decreasing number of tourists which may lead to economic and employment problems," a government spokesman said. "Since pregnant women coming to Hong Kong for delivery and bulk purchase of milk powder are not tourist activities, the government has no intention to change the relevant policies" at present.
The spokesman reiterated that the government is willing to listen to views on developing tourism and related sectors and called on the public to help keep Hong Kong hospitable.
The Liberal Party has been at odds with the government and the chief executive over a number of issues.
More than a week ago, the party's honorary chairman, James Tien Pei-chun, claimed Leung had interfered in a key appointment at the University of Hong Kong. The government expressed "deep regret" over the comment.
A few days earlier, party chairman Felix Chung Kwok-pan criticised Leung for being "overly proactive" on issues that suited his interests while ignoring those that did not.
Chung was particularly disapproving of Leung's intention to ditch the government's "positive non-intervention" economic policy. His comments prompted Leung to release to local newspapers a lengthy article rejecting the criticism.
Meanwhile, Executive Councillor Cheng Yiu-tong suggested that more mainland cities should be added to the individual visit scheme, which at present allows residents of 49 cities to travel to Hong Kong. "Will people from the northeast come such a long way to conduct parallel trade?" he asked as he suggested opening up the scheme to more distant cities.
While Fang described the current performance of the retail sector as "worse than during [the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003]", Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king said layoffs would be retailers' last resort to cope with the downturn.
Their comments came a day after Nikkei/Markit announced that the monthly Purchasing Managers' Index for August hit its lowest level since the global financial crisis six years ago. Employment also fell at its fastest rate since Sars, according to the report.
