![]() ![]() Their discontent, despite its economic slant, turned aggressive and xenophobic. ![]() They blamed the government for granting permits that allow vast numbers of visitors to enter as well as unlimited travel for residents from Shenzhen, a neighboring city. Protesters accused the traders of driving up retail prices and rents, while neighborhoods transform themselves to serve mainland tourists rather than local communities. Their grievances weren’t with the mechanics of voting, but with so-called “ parallel traders” from the mainland who have been sweeping tax-free products such as baby formula off the shelves in Hong Kong and reselling them across the border for profit. The protests were smaller in scale, much less representative of the Umbrella Movement’s many voices, and angrier, erupting in shopping streets and malls near the Chinese border in February and March. Three months after the police shut down the pro-democracy movement that made headlines last fall, a new wave of protests crested in parts of Hong Kong. Elaine Yu ▪ April 1, 2015Īt right: Hong Kong's tallest building, built jointly by the city and SHKP (See-ming Lee / Flickr) But Hong Kong’s protesters have yet to confront the deeper interests tying their future to that of the mainland. In its call for electoral democracy, the Umbrella movement sought to challenge China’s tight grip on Hong Kong politics. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |