Hong Kong border towns welcome virus controls, despite trade hit

Trers in Hong Kong's border towns are lamenting plunging business during coronavirus outbreak but some residents say y are enjoying absence of crowds of Chinese mainlanders.

influx of migrants, tourists and trers has long been a controversial topic as financial hub increasingly chafes under Beijing's authoritarian rule and ever-rising cost of living. polarisation is especially stark in towns along city's border with mainland China.

y have become huge draws for "parallel trers" who buy up tax-free goods for re-sale in China, a booming tre but one that worsens over-crowding and spiralling commercial rents. However, coronavirus outbreak has closed all but two of city's land borders with mainland.

And on Saturday officials rolled out plans attempting to ensure -- with spot checks and daily phone calls -- that all arrivals from mainland undergo 14 days of compulsory quarantine.

Parked next to one of shuttered checkpoints earlier this week, a minibus driver said he h waited for three hours without picking up a single passenger.

man, who gave his surname Lai, said he h been driving for four deces and never seen business so slow, t even during 2002-03 SARS virus outbreak that killed 299 Hong Kongers.

" situation is worse than what we h during SARS," 70-year-old told AFP.

Four empty minibuses were ahe of him in queue.

Usually, Lai could earn around HK 1,300 (170) a day shuttling between towns of Sheung Shui and Yuen Long -- ar border district in rthwest Hong Kong.

"I did t wear a mask in 2003 but w I wear one when I am driving," he said. "We transport people from all kinds of places after all." crowds began dwindling during Lunar New Year when spre of vel coronavirus through central China started being widely reported.

n border crossings began closing.

Sheung Shui, first town passengers come to after passing through w-shut Lo Wu checkpoint, was a frequent battleground between protesters and police during last year's months of pro-democracy rallies.

Sparked by a demand for greater democratic freedoms, many of demonstrations h an anti-mainland feel and embraced local grievances about issues such as parallel trers.

A pharmacist who gave his surname as Shing said business was down 30 percent over Lunar New Year, reaching 50 percent once borders started closing.

Last year's protests also slammed tre.

But he said he understood need to curb mainland arrivals.

"Maybe government should have done it earlier," he said. "Because sooner it contains epidemic, sooner our business can revive." Some Sheung Shui locals said y welcomed uncharacteristic quiet.

Candy Kwan, a mor of three, said her three grown-up children have been unable to find any surgical masks in recent weeks, a commodity snapped up across city, including by parallel trers.

She supported a complete closure of Hong Kong's border.

"What can matter more than human lives?" she asked. "I am feeling more comfortable on streets and less worried about infections after checkpoint was closed."

Ar Sheung Shui resident, a 70-year-old surnamed Chan, said she was angry with government's partial closure of border.

"It reacted like a toothpaste being squeezed," Chan said. "If it closed border earlier, we might t have h to compete with mainland shoppers for masks.

(Im source - AP)