HK seeks fewer mainland visitors

[third eye]

@Chinese-Dragon

Whats the background ? Is this stage managed or is this a genuine issue ?

Can you share your views & the sentiment of the people on the ground .

To me the last para contains what should happen.

HK seeks fewer mainland visitors[2]- Chinadaily.com.cn

Visiting mainland Chinese families rest under an advertisement board at a shopping district in Hong Kong February 23, 2015

Chief executive says region can't handle load, while others say tight controls would be divisive

While the number of Chinese mainland visitors to Hong Kong fell for the first time in 20 years over the Spring Festival holiday, the government in the special administrative region wants to cut it back even further.

Speaking before the start of an Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the individual visit program involving 49 mainland cities should not be expanded but tightened up.

"I have been advising the central government not to expand the scheme, as Hong Kong's capacity to receive tourists is limited," Leung said, adding that the subject will be discussed in the coming "two sessions".

The drop, though a slight 0.3 percent over the first three days of the festival, is the first holiday decrease in about two decades, according to Reuters, quoting an industry group.

The Chinese mainland leads the world in outbound tourism, with more than 100 million people traveling overseas in 2014. Of those, 40 million visited Hong Kong.

Ip Kwok-him, a delegate to the National People's Congress from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the number of visitors to Hong Kong has grown fast, which has aided the development of tourism and retail industries and created job opportunities, thanks to the multi-entry permit under the current individual travel scheme.

However, Ip said, growth in visits from the mainland had also put pressure on ports, tourism facilities and even local people's livelihoods. And so tourists sometimes do not enjoy quality service.

Shi Wenjing, a financial auditor in Shanghai, said a tighter travel control policy would create a gap between the mainland and Hong Kong that would be good for neither.

"When the whole world is trying to attract mainland tourists to visit their countries by loosening visa requirements, it is ridiculous to hear that Hong Kong, which is part of our own country, is trying to push mainland visitors outside," Shi said.

Wei Xiao'an, secretary-general of the China Tourism Leisure Association, was skeptical about any tightening of visitation.

"Hong Kong, along with Macao and Taiwan, has long been a popular destination for Chinese mainland tourists and shoppers because of the short flight, familiar language and cheap price of goods," said Wei. "So it is an irresistible trend."

"The limited capacity theory is not that convincing," Wei said. "When someplace is overwhelmed by visitors, other visitors go somewhere else. The number of tourists should be adjusted by the market, not government policies."

 

[Rechoice]

 

[GeHAC]

Market regulation determines everything，just ignore them

 

[TaiShang]

I wonder why Indian regime is so racist and genocidal. This case, when compared to the good situation of China's Hong Kong, seeks no attention that it deserves.

@Chinese-Dragon , sir, please do not engage this Indian troll who has just joined many of his countrymen in their latest mass China-hating troll threads.

Their intention is clear: The filthy regime things it is cunning. In fact, what they seek is to mock and engage in endless garbage talking while pretending to be respectful.


India’s 15M Christian ‘Untouchables’ … deny faith or no gov’t benefits
Michael F. Haverluck, Saturday, January 03, 2015

As if life wasn’t hard enough being a Dalit in India — the lowest rung in the nation’s caste system — the government just made it tougher by forcing believers to convert back to Hinduism if they want to receive government benefits.

Often referred to as the “Untouchables,” Dalits in India are the most severely oppressed group of Indians, living in extreme poverty. Life is even more unbearable for those in this class who profess to be Christians, as now they are not only the target of religious discrimination and persecution, but government oppression, as well, since state officials declared that only Hindu Dalits can receive government program benefits. Today, there are an estimated 15 million Dalit Christians in India.

According to a report issued this week by International Christian Concern (ICC), converting back to Hinduism is the only means by which poverty-stricken Christian “Untouchables” can receive the state benefits they desperately need — a decision and sacrifice any Christians are still unwilling to take.

"It … has left millions of Dalits to have to decide between choosing to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior and receiving government benefits that have the ability to take their families out of poverty,” International Christian Concern’s India correspondent reported. “All added up, this discrimination has affected the official appearance of India's religious landscape."

For nearly 65 years, Christians have had it rough living in India. The latest government crackdown on this devoted group will prove to be another test of their faith.

“Dalit Christians suffer caste oppression both before and after their conversion,” Rev. Madhu Chandra Singh told ICC. “After their conversion, Dalit Christians begin to suffer religious persecution from religious fanatics, but also a denial of Scheduled Caste benefits because of the Schedule Caste Order of 1950, which I term a double discrimination of Dalit Christians.”

Denying faith for benefits

Signs of the Indian government effectively getting Christians to deny their faith for benefits have already manifested.

An elder of a Baptist church, who ICC referred to as “Mr. Ratnam” for safety purposes, recently asked Pastor Aharon from his Baptist church if he would write a letter to the government explaining that he and his family are not Christians or members of the local Baptist church — where 30 to 40 Dalit Christians worship each Sunday in a structure purposely located outside the village.

“I need this letter in order to show the government that we are low caste Hindus, so that my son can do higher studies under the Schedule Caste reservation quota,” Ratnam told ICC, explaining that his son would not be eligible to receive government assistance and would probably be precluded from continuing his education without the letter.

Ratnam says that he’s left with no other choice, but insists that God will have compassion on him.

“I know that I love Jesus and I will continue to do so,” Ratnam explained. “God understands my situation.”

He expressed his desire to provide his children with an easier and more comfortable life than he had.

“I do not want my children to struggle like we do as unskilled laborers barely meeting the ends,” Ratnam continued. “I want my children to study and to escape the struggles that we are going through because we are uneducated. Myself and my family could be denied the Scheduled Caste benefits because I go to church and believe in Jesus.”

And the pressure India’s government officials are putting directly on Dalit Christians is already being felt.

"We found ourselves in a worse position being Christians,” Ratnam asserted. "As Hindus, we had no status, but at least we were given Scheduled Caste benefits.”

No escaping it

ICC contends that Ratnam’s situation as a Christian Dalit is by no means uncommon in India.

“Every Christian family in this village has similar stories of what they term discrimination,” ICC’s India correspondent points out. “Both by the government, because of being denied the Scheduled Caste reservation benefit, and by general society for still being from the Dalit caste. For many in the village, once the authorities discover a Dalit is a Christian, their Scheduled Caste benefits are taken away and they become a target for Hindu radicals; all while remaining on India’s lowest social rung.”

The recent qualification to receive government benefits is reported to be part of an aggressive state-run scheme to keep Dalits from converting to Christianity and to convert Christians back to Hinduism who already accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.

“For Hindu radicals, this connection between government benefits and religious identity is a very convenient way of de-incentivizing Hindu Dalits from choosing to convert to Christianity,” ICC argues. “It also is a way radicals convince Christian Dalits to convert to Hinduism, using the promise of Scheduled Caste benefits, which would provide greater opportunities for Dalits, to convince them to convert.

The new policy for government assistance is viewed as nothing less than an aggressive government campaign to Hindu-ize India, which can be seen throughout the country.

“One such incident took place in Asroi village, 19 miles from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, where Hindu radicals in Aligarh declared a ‘successful ghar wapasi’ (re-conversion) of 72 Dalits who had become Christians in 1995,” ICC reported. “One of the 72 Dalits, who converted to Hinduism, said it was because they were unhappy with the rights they were denied under the Scheduled Caste benefits system because they changed their religion.”

Faith exchange

Christians have no place in India’s government, according to one official who was able to raise through the ranks in Andhra Pradesh’s bureaucracy via the Scheduled Caste benefits. In order to attain his position, he had to conceal his Christian faith.

“The government is forcing us to lie,” the government official attested.

However, he wasn’t able to live a double for very long and ended up proclaiming his belief in Christ and sacrificing his post.

"Whatever the consequences, God will take care of us," the official expressed to ICC.

According to Christian rights actvisst Franklin Caesar, the government's manipulation is unconstitutional.

“This system is against the fundamental rights provided to all India’s citizens in the Constitution,” Caesar told iCC. “The Presidential Order of 1950 has destroyed fundamental and constitutional rights of Dalits from Christian and Muslim backgrounds; the benefits must be delink[ed] from religion.”

The latest statistics provided by the Catholic Church in India indicate that more than half (60 percent) of the 25 million Christians in India are Dalits (15 million). These Untouchables’ faith is tried and tested daily, as they’ve remained committed to Christ and even convert to Christianity knowing that such a decision will disqualify them from receiving Scheduled Caste benefits from the Indian government.

“Unofficially, it is rumored there are millions more Dalits who consider themselves Christians privately, but due to fear of losing their Scheduled Caste benefits, officially report themselves as Hindus,” ICC points out. “If Dalits from Christian backgrounds would be allowed to receive Scheduled Caste benefits, India’s religious landscape would likely change overnight.”

With the political shift in India, Christian Dalits have their faith tested on a daily basis.

“Every day in India, Dalit Christians are forced to choose between living openly as a Christian and receiving government benefits meant to assist Dalits who have suffered discrimination in India for generations,” ICC explains. “This choice between government aid and the ability to openly believe one’s religion of choice is a clear denial of Dalit Christians’ Article 25 freedom of religion rights.”

Regardless of this injustice, the Hindus presiding over India are positioned to make Christian Untouchables’ lives difficult for some time to come.

“With Hindu nationals currently in power, it is highly unlikely that this situation will change any time soon, denying constitutional rights for millions and artificially inflating the numbers of Hindu in India’s multi-religious society,” ICC’s India correspondent concludes.


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This is a user comment:

More despicable gov't manipulation, this time in India. Why are millions switching from Hinduism to Christianity? There has to be a good reason for this change, since it means a loss of benefits. Yet, they do it anyway. A very compelling story.

I have to believe as the author does, that if Dalits were free to be Christian without penalty, many more "Hindus" would freely say they are really Christians. The caste system is supposed to have ended. But it's really alive and well. Another nation where the privileged ignore the law because it benefits them to do so.