Unsettled nerves strained by prospect of mainlanders driving in HK

Some in Hong Kong are voicing their long-term fears of what they call "the mainland invasion," a term coined in recent months by the local media and social networks to describe the escalating influx of Chinese mainland tourists.

In recent months Hong Kong residents took to the streets, urging the city government to curb the influx of mainland tourists and expectant mothers, and they have vowed to take to the street every weekend until the government answers their call.

Following a new round of protests last weekend over a trial program for cross-boundary car visits between Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, the Hong Kong government yesterday had to again assure its citizens it is only on a trial basis and in the first stage of the program only Hong Kong vehicles will be allowed to cross freely.

Closing the door

Some 200 people staged a protest at Victoria Park Saturday, urging the government to scrap the program, which would allow mainland motorists to drive into Hong Kong.

The protest was organized by a Facebook group called "Thousands against the pilot program," which 7,000 people had said they would attend on the group page, though only about 200 showed up.

Daniel, one of the organizers who initiated the event on Facebook, told the Global Times the protest was not based on discrimination against mainlanders, but was an attempt to protect the environment of the city they call home.

"I have seen the way mainland drivers roam the roads, ignoring rules and slamming their brakes. I do not want my children to cross the street while they are driving," he said.

"We want a reasonable way out of this mess. Letting mainland cars into Hong Kong is just the tip of the iceberg, what we want is to live in a place where it has always been a certain way."

Crossing the border

Under the pilot program to be launched on March 30, a limited number of Hong Kong motorists will be allowed to drive into neighboring Guangdong Province, but this is not the phase that worries local Hong Kong residents. In the second phase, mainlanders will be allowed to drive into the city - a government attempt to boost local tourism.

Currently, only cars with cross-border license plates are allowed to travel in Hong Kong and Guangdong, and the drivers must also hold a cross-border license. The new program, reached as part of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Hong Kong and Guangdong officials, will relax cross-border driving restrictions.

Hong Kong government figures show 24,000 local cars in Hong Kong have mainland licenses and 2,000 mainland cars can enter Hong Kong. A license to drive a Hong Kong car in Guangdong Province costs up to HK$700,000 ($90,269) but the cost will be lower under the new program.