by Charles Liu
The NanfangToday, 08:43
The death of a mainland Chinese tourist in Hong Kong as a result of “forced shopping” has prompted calls of a travel boycott to the former British colony.
While Chinese are long familiar with “forced shopping”, a practice whereby travel organizers try to force tourists to make purchases in order recoup their losses from offering travel packages at extremely low prices, the news has become sensationalized in China because a person died outside of the Mainland.
On October 19, a 54 year-old man named Miao from Heilongjiang was part of a mainland Chinese tour group that arrived in a commercial shopping area in Hong Kong’s Hung Hom area. Miao went to a Man Lok Street jewelry store with a 53 year-old woman named Zhang, but did not buy anything because it was “too expensive” and bartering proved to be ineffectual.
When Miao left to smoke by the entrance to the store, the tour group’s leader, a 32 year-old dual citizen named Deng, came to help negotiate the disagreement. However, Deng’s appearance only made things worse as things escalated to the point Deng was slapped in the face.
When Miao stepped forward to mediate, a group of four men appeared and physically assaulted both Miao and Zhang after dragging them outside. Miao suffered heavy injuries, with witnesses saying he was bleeding from the mouth when he fell to the ground, unconscious.
About 24 hours later Miao died from his injuries in a Hong Kong hospital.
Hong Kong police has categorized the incident as a case of manslaughter. Two men, a 44-year-old Hong Konger and a 32-year-old mainlander, have been arrested by police for attacking Miao. As well, both Zhang and Deng have been arrested (seen below, right and left, respectively). Hong Kong police say they are still looking for two other men in conjunction with the attack.
The incident has outraged many people from mainland China, who have had a tempestuous relationship with Hong Kong residents over cultural differences and parallel trading, among others.
The Global Times published an op-ed in which Hong Kong is slammed for its role in the death of the tourist:
No matter how you explain it, the incident still took place within Hong Kong borders. This reflects one aspect of the chaos inherent in the Hong Kong tourism market as well as revealing a severe gap in the Hong Kong law and governance over the tourism market. At the very least, this just shows that the cheating of mainland tourists in this market is rampant and unchecked.
China Daily reports the incident prompted calls in the mainland for a boycott of travel to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the China National Tourism Administration has urged Hong Kong authorities to protect the rights of mainland tourists.
But despite some Chinese news media like 163 News saying the attackers are “suspected local men”, others say the root of forced shopping stems back to the mainland. Analysts say that people called “shadow followers” follow tour groups from the mainland and force them to buy things.
See Also: Chinese Tourists Continue to Fall for Travel Scams in Pursuit of Cheap Deals
Forced shopping has been been happening in China for a number of years, with the most brazen acts caught on video and reported in the news, as when a tour guide berated a bus full of tourists in Yunnan for not spending enough money this past May.
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