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===Protest===
===Protest===
On 22 January 2012 about 150 protesters gathered at the [[Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|Liaison Office]] to protest against Kong Qingdong's statement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hong-kongers-protest-beijingers-alleged-put-down-2012-01-23?link=MW_latest_news |title=Hong Kongers protest Beijinger's alleged put-down |publisher=MarketWatch |date=2011-10-18 |accessdate=2012-01-23}}</ref> People brought their pet dogs and carried signs saying "We are not dogs".<ref name="wash1" /> Some protesters have pointed out that HongKongers feel Chinese, but don't like the Communist party, which deformed Chinese culture and tradition.<ref name="wash1" />
On 22 January 2012 about 150 protesters gathered at the [[Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|Liaison Office]] to protest against Kong Qingdong's statement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hong-kongers-protest-beijingers-alleged-put-down-2012-01-23?link=MW_latest_news |title=Hong Kongers protest Beijinger's alleged put-down |publisher=MarketWatch |date=2011-10-18 |accessdate=2012-01-23}}</ref> People brought their pet dogs and carried signs saying "We are not dogs".<ref name="wash1" /> Some protesters have pointed out that HongKongers feel Chinese, but don't like the Communist party, which deformed Chinese culture and tradition.<ref name="wash1" /><ref name="jakarta">{{cite news|title=Anger in Hong Kong After Comments from Mainland China Professor|url=http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/anger-in-hong-kong-after-comments-from-mainland-china-professor/493014|newspaper=[[JakartaGlobe]]|date=23 January 2012|accessdate=23 January 2012}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|title=逾百人中聯辦抗議要求孔慶東道歉|url=http://hk.news.yahoo.com/逾百人中聯辦抗議要求孔慶東道歉-090000552.html|accessdate=23 January 2012|newspaper=[[Sing Tao Daily]]|date=22 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="kong_fos">{{cite news|title=網友中聯辦示威 孔慶東指荒唐 「借政府打壓言論自由 給港人丟臉」|url=http://hk.news.yahoo.com/網友中聯辦示威-孔慶東指荒唐-借政府打壓言論自由-給港人丟臉-212017372.html|accessdate=23 January 2012|newspaper=[[Ming Pao]]|date=23 January 2012}}</ref>

===Reaction===
Many Hong Kong citizens were infuriated by his remarks<ref>{{cite news|title=唐英年批孔慶東應有教授品格|url=http://news.chinatimes.com/mainland/11050501/112012012200099.html|accessdate=22 January 2012|newspaper=Want Daily|date=22 January 2012}}</ref>, and Hong Kong's ''Open'' magazine openly asked for Kong to be [[Banishment|banished]] from Hong Kong, as well as suggesting that the [[Communist Party of China]] has been supporting Kong Qingdong behind the scene<ref name="ntdtv">{{cite news|title=孔慶東否認罵港人是狗 轉向南方報系開火|url=http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/b5/2012/01/22/a649919.html.-孔慶東否認罵港人是狗-轉向南方報系開火.html|accessdate=22 January 2012|newspaper=New Tang Dynasty Television|date=22 January 2012}}</ref>. The [[Hong Kong cinema|Hong Kong actor]] [[Anthony Wong (Hong Kong actor)|Anthony Wong]] also rebuked Kong's remarks, suggesting that “if the Hong Kong people are dogs, then Kong Qingdong is a blood relative of dogs”<ref name="epoch">{{Cite news|url=http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/12/1/21/n3492865.htm孔慶東粗暴「狗言論」%E3%80%80港人怒吼|title=孔慶東粗暴「狗言論」港人將圍堵中聯辦|newspaper=[[Epoch Times]]|accessdate=22 January 2012|date=21 January 2012}}</ref>. Petitions for expelling Kong from [[Peking University]], which was previously called for when he rejected the ''[[Southern Weekly]]'' interview with an expression of profanity, was also renewed<ref name=expel>{{cite news|title=請北大開除孔慶東|url=http://www.chinareviewnews.com/crn-webapp/mag/docDetail.jsp?coluid=0&docid=101988741|accessdate=23 January 2012|newspaper=中國評論月刊|date=23 January 2012}}</ref>.

In response, Kong Qingdong criticized the protest as "an attempt to suppress (his) freedom of speech through government action".<ref name="kong_fos" /> Mainland reaction to Kong’s remarks had been divided; while some criticized his insult on the Hong Kong people, others have expressed support for Kong<ref name="wash_post">{{cite news|title=Beijing professor and descendant of Confucius provokes anger by insulting Hong Kongers protest Beijing'|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/confucius-ancestor-welcomes-year-of-dragon-with-dog-insults-for-hong-kong/2012/01/22/gIQAh2g4IQ_story.html|author=Higgins, Andrew|accessdate=23 January 2012|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]}}</ref>. Commentators remarked that the incident indicated a long-standing degradation of Beijing-Hong Kong relations, brought about by Beijing’s [[Human rights in the People's Republic of China|reluctance to affirm the rights]] of Hong Kong residents and the perceived boorishness of the influx of mainland visitors<ref name="wash_post" />.

After exposure by the media, however, Kong Qingdong claimed that he only made the remarks for the [[Hong Kong people]]’s benefit, and that he only called “some” Hong Kong people dogs<ref name="wash_post" /><ref name="jakarta" />; according to ''[[Ming Pao]]'', Kong claimed that “normal people–educated people–people who claim that they are people” should all understand what he meant; and that he thinks “every place has some people who are dogs. Some Beijing people are dogs. If someone really says that all Hong Kong people are dogs, then I agree, that person should apologize. Since the only party claiming that Hong Kong people are dogs is ''Southern Daily'', I demand that they apologize to both the Hong Kong people and me!”<ref name="ntdtv" /><ref>{{cite news|title=孔慶東回應-香港為什麼老虎屁股摸不得|url=http://hk.news.yahoo.com/孔慶東回應-香港為什麼老虎屁股摸不得-211025155.html|newspaper=[[Ming Pao]]|accessdate=22 January 2012|date=21 January 2012|quote=（孔慶東）相信「正常人、受過教育的人、自稱是人的人」都會清楚其言論的真正意思。}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.mingpao.com/20120122/gaa1.htm|title=東鐵罵戰主角籲勿分化 孔慶東堅稱「部分港人是狗」|newspaper=[[Ming Pao]]|accessdate=22 January 2012|quote=「我說過香港人是狗嗎？沒有！ … 我說哪裏都有一部份人是狗，北京也有一部份是狗 … 假如真有一個人說『香港人是狗』，那這個人應該道歉。而這句話恰好是南方報系說的，所以我鄭重要求南方報系向我並同時向香港人民道歉。支持南方報系認罪的舉手！」}}</ref> The online video network that published Kong’s remarks later claimed that Kong’s views do not represent the network’s<ref name="epoch" />.


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 06:53, 24 January 2012

2012 Hong Kong Anti-mainlander conflicts are a series of social tensions that triggered protests between Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese in Hong Kong territory. Since the 1997 handover, Hong Kong's sovereignty was transferred from the British colonial administration to the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong has since been managed as a Special Administrative Region. Social tensions in 2012 have escalated to protests and statements made by both sides.

HK professors targeted

Robert Chung

Since 1997 Robert Chung Ting-yiu (鐘庭耀), professor from University of Hong Kong, has been conducting surveys every few months to see how Hong Kong citizens view their own identity.[1] In the December 2011 poll, it showed that 63% of the people considered themselves Hong Konger first, and 34% think of themselves as Chinese.[1] This is the highest mark in 10 years for people wanting to be Hong Kong citizens, and the lowest mark in 12 years for people wanting to be Chinese citizens. More and more HK people are denying they are Chinese.[2]

Two Beijing newspapers in the territory Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao said Chung was a "political fraudster" with "evil intentions" to incite people to deny they are Chinese. One pro-Beijing columnist even asked whether Chung's actions are subversive or whether his scholarship is a slave of political dirty money.[3] Chung rejected the charge of bias, and released a statement that the "Cultural Revolution-style curses and defamations are not conducive to the building of Chinese national identity among Hong Kong people".[4]

Dixon Sing

Another professor targeted was Dixon Sing (成名) of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. In December 2011 Pro-Beijing media said he was an anti-China "Western trained vicious dog" because he gave interviews to Falun Gong media. But his real issue may have been to support the 2010 Five Constituencies Referendum.[3] At least 2 out of 14 articles were released to ask the university to fire him.[3] The Communist party officials see both professors as a connection between pro-democracy movements and the way HK people see themselves.[5] The Students' union have since come out to protect professor Sing in a public statement about the One Country, Two Systems being violated. They believe that regardless of pro-establishment or pro-democratic views, the views need to be respected in order for academic freedom to exist.[6][7]

Anti-Mainland mother protest

On 1 January 2012 a protest was held by more than 1,500 pregnant women and mothers with strollers against the number of mainland Chinese mothers giving birth in the city.[8] Hong Kong hospitals have been suffering from a shortage of resources since huge groups of mainland women have been giving birth in HK. In 2011 nearly half of all babies born in HK (38,043 out of 80,131) were born to mainland Chinese mothers aiming to get HK citizenship and HK education.[1] HK in general have one of the world's lowest birth rate. The hospital systems are stressed. Nurses in the region have accused the city's government of being incompetent and said HK citizens should be prioritised over non-locals.[8] For 2012 the HK government have already reduced the quota for number of mainland women allowed to give birth in public hospitals.[8] The quota call was made after doctors themselves made a rare public call to pressure the government to put a stop on the number of babies allowed as resources were stretched too thin.[8] The cap is now set at 3,400 for public and 31,000 for private hospitals.[9]

Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced a four point plan to hold back the wave of mainland women.[1] Heavy charges are imposed on non-locals who turn up at emergency stops to give birth immediately. The immigration department will get more resources for border checks. Local authorities will crack down on people who assist women enter the territories. More raids will be done on unlicensed pregnant women hotels.[1] About HK$6.6 million of public hospitals' bad debt in 2010-11 was from non-local mothers not paying their bills.[10]

Anti-Kong Qingdong protest

Dispute on MTR

In January 2012 Ken Wai, a Hong Kong passenger asked a mainland woman and her kid to stop eating on an MTR subway in Mandarin on a train bound for Mong Kok East Station.[11] On the Hong Kong subway, eating is not allowed. While the kid stopped eating, the mother accused him of making trouble and laughed at his bad Mandarin.[12] This infuriated Mr. Wai who started the dispute with them in Cantonese. The subway staff had to stop the train, and ask both parties to get off the train to solve disputes. On 18 January Mr. Wai conducted an interview with Xinhua News Agency on the issue and expressed his anger.[12]

Responses

A harsh public comment on V1.CN followed this incident by professor Kong Qingdong (孔慶東) from Peking University who is an ultra leftist, and also a descendent of Confucius.[13] He responded publicly "You Hongkongers are Chinese, right? But as I know, many Hongkongers don't think they are Chinese. They claim that we are Hongkongers, you are Chinese. They are bastards. Those kinds of people used to be running dogs for the British colonialists. And until now, you Hongkongers are still dogs. You aren't human."[11] Kong then claimed that Hong Kong citizens had failed to accept their responsibility to speak the "real Chinese language (Mandarin)" because of the "residues of colonialism". He then threatened "If Hongkongers keep discriminating against mainlanders in that way, then we won't provide the territory with water, vegetables, fruit and rice." And asked "Can Hongkongers still survive? Go to seek help from your British daddy."[11]

Both running candidates for the next Chief executives position, Henry Tang and Leung Chun-ying have come out to complain about Kong's public statement.[14] Henry Tang responded by saying professor Kong Qingdong needs to be responsible for his own statement and that HK citizens are not dogs. He emphasized this is how Hong Kong citizens deal with each other in a free society.[14] Leung Chun-ying responded by saying that Kong's statement did not actually reflect the views of mainlanders. He added that this is part of the HK spirit to respect the law, and that professor Kong Qingdong should not be over reacting.[14]

Protest

On 22 January 2012 about 150 protesters gathered at the Liaison Office to protest against Kong Qingdong's statement.[15] People brought their pet dogs and carried signs saying "We are not dogs".[13] Some protesters have pointed out that HongKongers feel Chinese, but don't like the Communist party, which deformed Chinese culture and tradition.[13][16] [17][18]

Reaction

Many Hong Kong citizens were infuriated by his remarks[19], and Hong Kong's Open magazine openly asked for Kong to be banished from Hong Kong, as well as suggesting that the Communist Party of China has been supporting Kong Qingdong behind the scene[20]. The Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong also rebuked Kong's remarks, suggesting that “if the Hong Kong people are dogs, then Kong Qingdong is a blood relative of dogs”[21]. Petitions for expelling Kong from Peking University, which was previously called for when he rejected the Southern Weekly interview with an expression of profanity, was also renewed[22].

In response, Kong Qingdong criticized the protest as "an attempt to suppress (his) freedom of speech through government action".[18] Mainland reaction to Kong’s remarks had been divided; while some criticized his insult on the Hong Kong people, others have expressed support for Kong[23]. Commentators remarked that the incident indicated a long-standing degradation of Beijing-Hong Kong relations, brought about by Beijing’s reluctance to affirm the rights of Hong Kong residents and the perceived boorishness of the influx of mainland visitors[23].

After exposure by the media, however, Kong Qingdong claimed that he only made the remarks for the Hong Kong people’s benefit, and that he only called “some” Hong Kong people dogs[23][16]; according to Ming Pao, Kong claimed that “normal people–educated people–people who claim that they are people” should all understand what he meant; and that he thinks “every place has some people who are dogs. Some Beijing people are dogs. If someone really says that all Hong Kong people are dogs, then I agree, that person should apologize. Since the only party claiming that Hong Kong people are dogs is Southern Daily, I demand that they apologize to both the Hong Kong people and me!”[20][24][25] The online video network that published Kong’s remarks later claimed that Kong’s views do not represent the network’s[21].

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Manthorpe, Jonathan. "Opinion: Hongkongers bemoan the influence of waves of Chinese visitors". Vancouversun.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  2. ^ "美洲台灣日報". Taiwan Daily. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  3. ^ a b c "Review & Outlook: Hong Kong Struggle Sessions - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  4. ^ "China slams survey that shows rising Hong Kong resentment". Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  5. ^ "China Takes Aim at Hong Kong Academics". The Weekly Standard. 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  6. ^ Facebook link
  7. ^ Student Union statement in pdf
  8. ^ a b c d AFP Sunday, Jan 15, 2012 (2012-01-15). "Hong Kong women protest against mainland mothers". News.asiaone.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Jan 24, 2012. "Asia Times Online :: Here be dragons". Atimes.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ South China morning post. 20 January 2012. Tsang vows to curb mainland birth tourism.
  11. ^ a b c South China morning post. 21 January 2012. HK people labelled as dogs by mainlander.
  12. ^ a b ChinaHush (2012-01-15). "Mainland Visitors Eating On A Hong Kong Train Caused A Huge Fight". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23. {{cite web}}: Text "44" ignored (help); Text "8,074" ignored (help); Text "Jan. 22, 2012, 3:35 PM" ignored (help)
  13. ^ a b c "Confucius descendent incites controversy with insults to Hong Kongers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  14. ^ a b c "明報新聞網-要聞-要聞-唐英年﹕港人不是狗-20120122". News.mingpao.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  15. ^ "Hong Kongers protest Beijinger's alleged put-down". MarketWatch. 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  16. ^ a b "Anger in Hong Kong After Comments from Mainland China Professor". JakartaGlobe. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  17. ^ "逾百人中聯辦抗議要求孔慶東道歉". Sing Tao Daily. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  18. ^ a b "網友中聯辦示威 孔慶東指荒唐 「借政府打壓言論自由 給港人丟臉」". Ming Pao. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  19. ^ "唐英年批孔慶東應有教授品格". Want Daily. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  20. ^ a b "孔慶東否認罵港人是狗 轉向南方報系開火". New Tang Dynasty Television. 22 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  21. ^ a b "孔慶東粗暴「狗言論」港人將圍堵中聯辦". Epoch Times. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  22. ^ "請北大開除孔慶東". 中國評論月刊. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  23. ^ a b c Higgins, Andrew. "Beijing professor and descendant of Confucius provokes anger by insulting Hong Kongers protest Beijing'". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  24. ^ "孔慶東回應-香港為什麼老虎屁股摸不得". Ming Pao. 21 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012. （孔慶東）相信「正常人、受過教育的人、自稱是人的人」都會清楚其言論的真正意思。
  25. ^ "東鐵罵戰主角籲勿分化 孔慶東堅稱「部分港人是狗」". Ming Pao. Retrieved 22 January 2012. 「我說過香港人是狗嗎？沒有！ … 我說哪裏都有一部份人是狗，北京也有一部份是狗 … 假如真有一個人說『香港人是狗』，那這個人應該道歉。而這句話恰好是南方報系說的，所以我鄭重要求南方報系向我並同時向香港人民道歉。支持南方報系認罪的舉手！」
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