No Tension 'Tolerated' as China Limits Visits to Hong Kong

Tension between Hong Kong and visitors from China will not be "tolerated", the financial hub's leader said today as he confirmed a cap on the number of trips mainlanders can make to the southern city.

An influx of millions of Chinese visitors to Hong Kong has prompted angry rallies by frustrated residents tired of seeing public transport clogged and shelves periodically wiped clean of daily necessities purchased for resale over the border.

Meanwhile anxiety over China's increased influence remains high in the former British colony months after mass protests by city activists demanding greater democracy from Beijing ended in December with no concessions on reform.

Mainland authorities have stopped allowing residents from the border city of Shenzhen to make unlimited visits to the semi-autonomous territory, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Monday, restricting them to one visit per week in a bid to ease the pressure.

"Anything that increases tension between Hong Kong and mainland society is not tolerated," Leung said.

He also warned against further protests targeting mainland visitors, describing them as "unruly" and "counter-productive".

Some of the recent protests have led to clashes with police and several arrests.

The decision was aimed at curbing the practice of parallel trading, Leung said, in which mainlanders buy up daily necessities such as baby formula in Hong Kong then resell them in China's border towns to avoid tariffs.

"The visa arrangements become one-visit-per-week for Shenzhen residents. This is a policy suggested by the Hong Kong government and adopted by the Central authorities," Leung told reporters, confirming reports at the weekend.

Admitting that the move will not put an end completely to parallel trading, he added the government will continue to crack down on any illegal activities.

Hong Kong opened up to Chinese tourists in 2003 as part of a bid to revive its economy following an outbreak of the respiratory disease SARS, allowing mainland Chinese to visit as individual travelers rather than being part of an organized tour.

Last year alone an estimated 47 million tourists from China streamed to Hong Kong, dwarfing the city's population of seven million.

About 4.6 million of the visitors made trips to Hong Kong more than once a week, according to Leung.