Economist.com Cities Guide: Hong Kong Briefing - May 2006

News this month

Holy uproar

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Hong Kong's outspoken Catholic leader, has called on the Vatican to halt talks with China. At issue are two new bishops Beijing has appointed without Rome's approval. Although officially atheist, the mainland government has sanctioned its own version of the church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. The Vatican, which offers diplomatic recognition to Taiwan but not Beijing, is working to improve its ties with the mainland.

But Cardinal Zen, who was anointed by Pope Benedict XVI in February, said Beijing had destroyed any sense of trust by appointing the prelates without a nod from the Vatican. He suggested the move was a deliberate affront, an effort by the heads of the Chinese church to deflect the encroachment of the Vatican. Either way, Cardinal Zen argued that the Holy See needs to send a strong message that appointments made without the pope's blessing are unacceptable.

Ghastly greens

The safety of food imported from mainland China has once again been brought into question after dangerous chemicals were found in vegetables in Hong Kong supermarkets. Greenpeace, an environmental organisation, found traces of DDT, an insecticide banned in most developed countries, in samples taken from the ParknShop and Wellcome supermarket chains between November and March. Pesticide levels above international norms were discovered in 30% of the 55 samples. Aside from DDT, the chemicals included Lindane, an anti-lice concoction banned in Hong Kong, methamidophos, a dangerous organophosphate, and cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos, two widely used pesticides.

The Greenpeace report, issued in late April, was the latest in a string of food scares to worry Hong Kongers. In the last year bird-flu fears brought a temporary halt to live chicken imports from the mainland; excessive levels of a carcinogenic fungicide halted imports of live eels and several freshwater fish species; and an outbreak of a swine virus in north-west China slowed pig imports. The Hong Kong government has pledged to improve food testing at the mainland border. Wellcome and ParknShop will improve their internal testing procedures and stop using producers who use too many pesticides.

Watch your step

Hong Kong's wartime past was dredged up on April 8th with the discovery of hundreds of second world war-era munitions beneath a major road. It took more than ten hours for bomb-disposal experts to recover and render safe the 588 pieces of ordnance—including rockets, bombs, grenades and artillery shells—discovered by drainage workers about a metre beneath Kowloon’s Tonkin Street. Sixteen of the devices needed to be detonated on site. Days later, workers unearthed several more pieces in a ditch next to the site.

Hong Kong was the scene of fierce fighting between British and Japanese forces during the second world war; the cache is thought to have been left behind by fleeing Brits at the end of 1941. Hikers are advised not to touch anything that resembles a bomb, and at least one island is still off limits because of fears over unexploded bombs. Reclamation of the site upon which Hong Kong Disneyland now sits required the disposal of unexploded ordnance from the seabed around Lantau Island.

Tamar tussle

Plans to build a brand-new government headquarters at Tamar, on the central business district's last parcel of waterfront, look set for approval. Months of political manoeuvring by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Hong Kong's chief executive, seem to have paid off with a majority of the Legislative Council, the territory's pseudo-parliament, expected to approve the $660m project. Securing support for this has been a priority for Mr Tsang, whose leadership suffered a big setback in December when the Legislative Council rejected Beijing-approved proposals for democratic reform.

The plan has been heavily criticised by those who question the need for the government to move from its existing headquarters nearby. Environmentalists note that the complex will require major new roads, creating more air pollution, and developers see the government's use of such prime land as wasteful. The proposed 4.2-hectare site on the shores of Victoria Harbour in the Admiralty district is now used for public events such as concerts and exhibitions.

Mainlanders stay away

While cosmopolitan Hong Kongers tend to see themselves as a cut above their mainland compatriots, they are happy to milk mainlanders for their tourist dollars. But there was a 20% drop in visitors during the week-long May Day holiday, a peak-time for tourism. A spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Tourist Guides Association told the South China Morning Post that the number of guides employed during the May Day holiday had halved, and their overall earnings were down by 70-80%.

Many say this drop in tourists is caused by the behaviour of unscrupulous tour operators. Competition for mainland tour groups, together with the flourishing of unlicensed tour guides, have led tour operators to demand money from local tour guides for each tourist in the group. The guides are forced to squeeze more of a commission from the retailers and hotels they steer their visitors to, and these businesses then pressure tourists to spend more money. The effect has been sleazy: some tour groups reportedly were told that they could not get lunch or be allowed to return to their hotels unless they purchased souvenirs. At the same time, prices for hotels commonly used by mainlanders have risen between 20% and 40% in the last year.

Catch if you can

May 2006

Le French May

Until June 21st 2006

Hong Kong's annual seven-week homage to all things French kicked off on May 1st with a programme that ranges from highbrow to hip-hop. Highlights include a retrospective of the work of Isabelle Huppert (pictured), one of France's most famous actresses. Ms Huppert has worked with many of the country's finest directors and has appeared in some 70 films, a selection of which will be shown during the festival.

Elsewhere, a French hip-hop crew, the Fonky Family, will appear at several venues in Hong Kong Island's Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district. And opera fans can enjoy a truly multicultural performance of Georges Bizet's “Carmen”, with lead roles sung by French, Chinese and American artists. By teaming up with restaurants, galleries and venues across town, the festival aims to give fans of French culture a feast for all the senses.

Various venues. For more information see the website.

More from the Hong Kong cultural calendar