self storage THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY (February16), some netizens staged in an "anti-locustcampaign" a protest march along CantonRoad, hurling verbal abuse at mainland tourists andtelling them to "go back to the mainland". A numberof tourists were humiliated for no reason, and someshops were unable to carry on with their normalbusiness. Yesterday, four principal officials,including the Chief Secretary, unanimouslycondemned the protest, with Secretary for SecurityLai Tung-kwok saying that the police would take upthe matter as required by the law.The police put the number of protesters at 50. Buteven if there were more than 200, as the organisersof the protest claimed, they represented only a verysmall minority of the Hong Kong population, andenjoyed little public support. In fact, many citizensare of the opinion that the protesters' uncivilisedbehaviour has brought disgrace on Hong Kong. Theprotest therefore must not be regarded as anexpression of mainstream views. Still, the behaviourof this handful of extremists has through the mediacome to be known in mainland China andelsewhere, dealing a heavy blow to Hong Kong'simage as a tourist city.And the unkind treatment mainland tourists havereceived in Hong Kong is likely to causeunhappiness and even indignation among themainland people. Will their interest in coming toHong Kong be dampened? This remains to beseen. What we fear is that, if retaliatory measuresare taken against Hongkongers on the mainland,cross-border conflicts will intensify, and exchangesbetween Hong Kong and the mainland will suffer amajor setback.It should also be noted that members frompro-independence groups took part in theanti-mainland march, and brandished the city'sformer British colonial flag. In recent years, activitiesstaged by these groups have always led toexaggerated accounts of their sizes and influence,though their memberships are in fact very small. Willtheir participation in the march this time be exploitedto provoke the central government? We will have towait and see.Protest marches against mainland tourists willonly do harm rather than good in terms of HongKong's economy, Hong Kong's image, cross-borderexchanges, and Hong Kong's relations with thecentral government. That said, we do not see howHong Kong as it is today can cope with the hugenumbers of tourists, who are expected to grow to 70million in the next three years, and to more than 100million in 2023. The government must take concretesteps to improve Hong Kong's carrying capacity fortourism if the growth is not to become a cause ofcross-border confrontation and conflicts.Of course improving Hong Kong's carryingcapacity is no simple task and requires a wide rangeof efforts. There must be proactive long-termplanning for the provision of adequate facilities. Butone thing may be done to ease the situation in theshort term - the improvement of the multiple-entrypermit plan.The plan, which is for Shenzhen residents, hasfuelled parallel trade between Hong Kong andShenzhen, and is probably directly responsible fortourist overcrowding in Hong Kong, especially inareas adjacent to Shenzhen, such as North Districtand Yuen Long, as a result of which the localinhabitants' daily lives are seriously affected. TheSAR government should enter into discussions withthe mainland authorities about this with a view toimproving the plan, so that cross-border relationsmay not get any worse.承載力不足激化矛盾政府須多管齊下紓解前日，網民發起「驅蝗行動」，在廣東道遊行示威，指�內地旅客，叫他們「滾回去」，不僅使部分旅客無辜受辱，一些商舖營運也受到影響。一名司長及三名局長昨日一致譴責示威者的行徑，其中保安局長黎棟國表示警方會依法處理，云云。這次遊行，警方說有50 人遊行，即使如搞手所說超過200 人參與，在香港社會仍然只是極少數，缺乏廣泛認同，至於他們的不文明舉措，不少市民更認為是香港社會之恥；所以，這次遊行所提出的訴求，在本港絕非主流；但是，這一小撮人的極端行徑，透過傳媒傳送到內地和其他國家地區，對旅遊城市形象的影響甚為負面。內地旅客在香港的遭遇傳到內地，相信內地民�會感到難受甚至憤怒，會否因此影響內地民�來港旅遊的意欲，值得觀察；若港人在內地遭到報復式對待，則兩地矛盾更尖銳，交流交往會出現大倒退。還有值得注意的是，這次針對旅客的遊行，隊伍�有鼓吹港獨團體成員，他們拉出前朝港英旗幟；近年，人數寥寥可數的港獨活動，每出現一次，都被一些人故意放大其規模和能量；今次會否又被利用作刺激中央的神經，值得觀察和注意。總之，針對內地旅客的遊行，從經濟層面、本港形象、內地與本港交流交往，以至本港與中央的關係等，都只看到壞處，看不到有任何好處。只是，按目前情�和預期3 年後旅客增至7000 萬人次、到2023 年超過1 億，現在看不到香港憑什麼能力接待如此龐大的旅客群。當局必須切實對應承載力問題，才可避免旅客增加被轉化為內地與本港對峙、衝突的局面。接待旅客承載力牽涉許多方面，並非一招兩式就可以化解，除了積極規劃長遠設施，短期內可以起到紓緩效果的是優化「一簽多行」。一簽多行適用於深圳居民，為港深的水貨活動帶來極大動力，本港市面旅客�多，特別是北區、元朗等鄰近深圳的地區，經常出現人滿之患，當區居民日常生活大受影響，相信與此有直接關係。特區政府應該提出與內地當局商議，短期內做到優化一簽多行，則起碼不會使矛盾更趨尖銳。Glossaryindignation /?�nd �g'ne ��n/feelings of anger and surprise because you feelinsulted or unfairly treatedretaliatory /r �'tali ?tri/intended to do something harmful or unpleasant tosomeone because they have done something badto you firstbrandish /'brand ��/hold or wave something aggressively or excitedly迷利倉
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