Two arrested as Tung Chung protesters clash over influx of visitors from mainland China to Hong Kong
- Emotions boil over as 44,000 descend on Lantau Island via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
- Residents bemoan ‘low-quality’ visitors and impact of unlicensed tour guides
Police arrested two people as protesters clashed with each other in Tung Chung on Sunday as tensions erupted over the influx of tourists from mainland China into Hong Kong.
Three weeks after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opened, a record-breaking number of tourists have used the crossing. On Sunday alone, 86,436 passengers passed through the city’s port checkpoint by 8pm, with 44,888 visiting Hong Kong, the Immigration Department said.
With Lantau Island bearing the brunt of those arrivals, community activists have become increasingly vocal about unlicensed tour guides from across the border bringing visitors to the city.
Emotions finally boiled over on Sunday afternoon when Tung Chung Future, a local activist group, staged a protest to reclaim the town from mainlanders, and called on residents to join them in identifying unlicensed travel agents.
Outside Tung Chung station, where the protests happened on Sunday afternoon, a 72-year-old woman was arrested after grabbing a man’s phone which he was using to take pictures of the protest.
Later, a 30-year-old man reported that he had been injured when he was grabbed by a 59-year-old man during a dispute at 2.50pm. The older man was also arrested.