Protesters rally in Sheung Shui against cross-border parallel traders
Scuffles break out during rally outside Sheung Shui station against visitors from mainland, who are accused of distorting local economy
Fights broke out in Sheung Shui yesterday during an angry protest against cross-border parallel traders.
"Reclaim Sheung Shui! Protect our homes!" they chanted, echoing slogans written on the placards they were waving. They said the numbers of parallel traders buying goods in the neighbourhood and travelling through the station had been creating a nuisance for years. Parallel traders buy goods in one market to smuggle into another, where they sell them without authorisation.
The protests also drew about 300 onlookers - including some parallel traders - who stood around the station and on a footbridge.
It did not take long for clashes to break out after two young protesters held up a sign reading: "Chinese people eat s***!", together with a modified colonial-era Hong Kong flag.
While fellow protesters asked the two to put the sign away, some middle-aged men, offended by the slogan, ran at them aggressively, denouncing the pair as "Japanese". Police officers intervened to stop the scuffle.
The duo and one of the men who attacked them - believed to be a parallel trader - were taken to a police station but were later released. More scuffles took place around the MTR station, with witnesses saying a trader slapped protesters.
