Mainland Chinese should be safe from ‘intra-racial discrimination’ in Hong Kong, regardless of residency, equality body says
- Equal Opportunities Commission says mainlanders, whether tourists or residents, should be covered by city’s laws against discrimination by Hongkongers
- Commission highlights increased tension between mainlanders and Hongkongers since 2019 social unrest and coronavirus pandemic
People from mainland China in Hong Kong, whether tourists or residents, should be covered by a proposed extension to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, the equality watchdog has said.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) on Monday told lawmakers that it had followed up with the government on the findings of a 2021 study on how discrimination, harassment and vilification from Hongkongers against those from the mainland could be tackled.
“We hope that the scope of the legislation should cover those from the mainland who live and study or carry out activities in Hong Kong, regardless of their years of residency,” Ricky Chu Man-kin, the commission head, told the Legislative Council’s panel on constitutional affairs.
“This is exactly where the concept of intra-racial discrimination stems from. We’re looking into how we can define the origin of the individual when amending the anti-discrimination law.”
Chu added that the commission had teamed up with the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to look at the geographical problems and what wording could be used in the amendments.
Some of the city’s residents have had a turbulent relationship with people from the mainland, who had been labelled with derogatory terms such as “locusts” and “communist thieves”.
A localist movement set up to promote Hong Kong identity and autonomy emerged in 2015 as resentment towards mainland tourists and cross-border parallel traders grew.
Hatred against mainlanders peaked during the 2019 anti-government protests, when some protesters attacked those who showed support for Beijing.
Hong Kong has four anti-discrimination ordinances, which cover gender, disability, family status and race. The commission earlier said that the race discrimination ordinance might not provide enough protection for mainlanders.
But Chu said the ordinance did not prevent the commission from taking on cases of alleged discrimination against people from the mainland by Hongkongers.
“The ordinance does not stipulate that the person who discriminates and the person who is discriminated against should belong to the different races,” he explained.
“If there is an appropriate case brought to the EOC, it is possible that we can attempt to get involved and refer the case to the court.”
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But Chu said, despite restaurants barring mainlanders during the 2019 social unrest, no one had filed complaints and the commission could only appeal to the businesses involved.
Chu added the government was prepared to take the commission’s recommendations for legal amendments into consideration.
But he said he agreed with the views of some panel members that the introduction of extra legislation should be “the last resort”.
“The EOC is planning to address the issue by the means of intra-racial discrimination legislation in the hope that the rights of mainland residents and the treatment they receive can be formally regulated,” Chu explained.
He said there had been no increase in complaints or enquiries involving discrimination against mainlanders since border quarantine restrictions were lifted in January.
But he admitted there were media reports that some social media influencers had “complained about seeing discrimination against mainlanders when they came to Hong Kong”.
“But based on our observation, these are isolated incidents, which do not represent Hongkongers’ overall attitude towards mainlanders,” Chu said.
Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, a lawmaker, said tensions between Hongkongers and mainlanders had reached a peak in 2019, when visitors spoke English rather than Mandarin to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
“Since 2021, I have also helped with some of these cases, with one Hong Kong university student pouring hot water on a schoolmate from the mainland,” she added.
But she emphasised these were “isolated incidents”.
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“I feel that there has been a societal change since then … so I agree that more time is needed to study how we should amend the law to avoid overcorrection,” Leung said. “I have noticed many more mainlanders have been offered high positions since 2021.”
Carmen Kan Wai-mun, another lawmaker, said the commission should update the findings of the 2021 study so the government could re-evaluate the need for legal amendments as there had been more collaboration between the city and the mainland over the past two years.
She also highlighted that the commission should work on public education on respect for mainlanders rather than just legal sanctions.
“I think the legislation should be the last resort,” she said. “It’s quite pathetic if intra-racial discrimination is so severe that it has to be resolved by legislation.”
The watchdog handled 749 complaints related to gender, disability, family status or race between April last year and January.
The figures were 13 per cent down on the previous year’s numbers and 85 per cent of the complaints were dealt with within six months.
The commission handled 65 racial discrimination allegations over the period, including cases carried over from the previous year.
Chu added that the commission had also carried out conciliation work on 139 cases over the period and 119, or 86 per cent, were resolved, compared with the 60 to 70 per cent success rate recorded in previous years.
