Hong Kong media vilification of mainland Chinese immigrants fails to reflect real attitudes, survey finds
Numbers accepting and rejecting new arrivals in city are about the same, according to university study
Hongkongers’ attitudes towards new mainland Chinese immigrants are not as negative as they are being portrayed in the media, according to a survey that showed the numbers who rejected and accepted them were roughly the same.
While almost 60 per cent of those polled thought new immigrants caused a strain on social welfare programmes, nearly half agreed with the statement that they should not be isolated because “we are all Chinese”.
Around a quarter (27.3 per cent) opposed mainland Chinese emigrating to the city, while a similar number (26.3 per cent) said they accepted it. The remaining 41.7 per cent were neutral.
The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong polled 743 people aged 18 and above by telephone at the end of October to gauge their views on new immigrants.
“The negative attitudes of local Hongkongers towards new immigrants from the mainland China largely came from worries about the negative consequences on social and economic resources, but less from discrimination originated from their identity,” the institute said in the report.