Thousands Take To The Streets In Sheung Shui

Many shops have closed, and hundreds of police officers are on standby as protesters begin a march to “recover Sheung Shui” from parallel traders.

The protest organiser, the North District Parallel Imports Concern Group, said thousands of people are expected to take part in Saturday's demonstration, given the momentum against the government’s handling of the controversial extradition bill, which has triggered mass protests and clashes between demonstrators and police in the past month.

Its spokesman, Ronald Leung, accused the government and the local district council, which is dominated by pro-establishment councillors, of turning a blind eye to rampant tax evasion by parallel traders, who reap huge profits by selling their duty-free stocks bought in Hong Kong on the mainland.

Leung added their activities had negatively affected the district’s retail mix, pushed up rents, and worsened hygiene conditions.

One of the protesters, Sheung Shui resident Mr Cheung, also expressed his discontent with the administration.

“The parallel trade problem has been around the Sheung Shui area, and affecting our daily lives for a couple of years already and it seems to us that the government has no clue as to how to solve the problem. We pay for their salaries as tax payers but they fail to do anything, nor do we see any sincerity in trying to solve the problem. So we need to voice out”, he said.

The protesters marched through several streets, where dozens of drug stores and cosmetic shops catering for mainland tourists and parallel traders are located.

Chanting slogans like "kick the parallel traders out", "district councillors are useless", and "enforce the law", their demands include scrapping a one-visit-per-week policy for Shenzhen residents; blacklisting parallel traders; strengthening law enforcement against the occupation of street space; and improving the area’s hygiene.

Localist Ventus Lau, who organised a large-scale protest in Kowloon last Sunday, also attended the Sheung Shui rally. He urged protesters to express themselves in a peaceful manner.

“I think right now the protesters are mainly peaceful and I believe if no one irritates the protesters, it will be conducted in a peaceful way. But I am just quite worried that some people may attack us or irritate our emotions”, Lau said.

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