Sensible, inclusive thinking key to resolving HK and mainland spat

A young visitor to a Lunar New Year market admires a soap bubble at Hong Kong's Victoria Park, Feb 17. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Leung Chunying, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said in a recent conference that he would continue discussing with the central authorities whether to limit personal trips from the mainland to Hong Kong. This has intensified the feelings of some irrational mainland tourists, with some radical ones tearing up their travel documents and posting the photos online as a protest. Comments:

Hong Kong faces a dilemma. On the one hand, some residents hope to limit the number of mainland tourists because of the improper behavior of some. On the other hand, its local economy depends, to a large extent, upon the consumption of these tourists. It is really a hard choice for the leaders of the Hong Kong SAR.

National Business Daily, Feb 28

Hong Kong used to be a major place for mainland residents to purchase luxuries, but it is losing the appeal. The price gap between luxuries in the two is shrinking, while more destinations such as Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly available.

Liu Hongwei, retail expert, Feb 26

Neither the Chinese mainland nor Hong Kong should forget their significance to one another. The former, with its huge potential, can support the latter's economic prosperity for long, while the latter can act as a window for further opening-up of the former. They need to respect each other instead of being led by the irrational views of a few.

Beijing News, Feb 28

The flow of mainland tourists resulted in a tourism boom in Hong Kong, but most of the profits have been taken away by realty developers and giant enterprises; for ordinary people, all they get is heavier traffic, rising realty prices and fast disappearing memories of good old days. That's the root problem of quarrel between the two sides.

Mainland tourists do make a contribution to the Hong Kong economy, but that's no excuse for them to behave rudely. At the same time, Hong Kong residents should not insult all mainland tourists for the improper behavior of some. Discrimination is always a harmful way of thinking.

Hong Huang, CEO of Interactive Media, via Sina micro blog, Feb 27