Hong Kong’s equality watchdog has suspended plans for a legal amendment to protect mainland Chinese from discrimination in the city, saying the situation had improved in recent months.
Linda Lam, the new chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), said on Thursday when she met the press that the commission did not see any “urgent need” to outlaw intra-racial discrimination.
“The atmosphere [between mainland Chinese and Hongkongers] is peaceful and harmonious since Hong Kong opened its borders after the pandemic, therefore we do not see any urgent need to legislate against ‘intra-racial’ discrimination,” Lam told reporters in Cantonese. She served in the Department of Justice for 29 years before joining the EOC.
The EOC in March 2023 proposed a legal amendment to better regulate discriminatory behaviour against mainland Chinese in Hong Kong by adding the criteria of a person’s homeland or residential identity to existing racial discrimination laws.
Ricky Chu, the then-head of the commission, said at the time this would mean that all those from mainland China – including new immigrants, permanent residents, tourists or students – would be protected from discrimination.
Chu added that while there was no concrete framework for such legislation, he hoped the amendments would be completed by the end of the year.
Lam said the decision to suspend the law change did not mean the EOC no longer cared about the issue.
“We will keep our studies and research… When it is appropriate [to proceed with legislation], we will respond very fast. Meanwhile the EOC will carry on promotion and education among the public to deliver the message of tolerance, mutual support and mutual understanding,” Lam said.
‘Relaxed atmosphere’
Hong Kong has seen heated debate about prejudice and discrimination against mainland Chinese over the past 10 years as more mainland Chinese visited or settled in the city.
Conflicts arose in recent years when some Hong Kong restaurants barred mainland Chinese after the Covid pandemic broke out in mainland China in early 2020, local media reported. Last May, flight attendants from the city’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific were accused of discriminating against Mandarin-speaking passengers.
Chu said when he met the press last Friday before he stepped down as EOC’s chairperson that the commission had introduced some measures against discrimination, such as reaching out to those restaurants and advising them not to ban mainland Chinese visitors.
He said the “atmosphere had been relaxed” in Hong Kong and he felt no regrets about not accomplishing the legislative change.
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