{"id":15962,"date":"2017-10-06T06:42:20","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T22:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=15962"},"modified":"2017-10-07T03:44:37","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T19:44:37","slug":"hong-kongs-mtr-corporation-profiteering-from-sky-high-property-prices-and-state-repression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/10\/06\/15962\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong\u2019s MTR Corporation profiteering from state repression"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA tool of the government\u2019s\u00a0political crackdown\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

Adam N. Lee, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s state-owned rail giant MTR has expanded aggressively overseas in the past decade. The company has exploited the worldwide mania for privatisation of formerly publicly owned transport systems to establish itself as a global force. It now derives one-third of its revenue from operations in Europe, Australia and mainland China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Sweden, MTR is now the third biggest employer in the capital Stockholm,\u201d says Per-\u00c5ke Westerlund of the socialist party, R\u00e4ttvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI in Sweden). \u201cSeveral groups of unionised workers have grievances against the company, which operates the Stockholm subway system, the capital\u2019s regional railway, and has also taken over national rail routes. This summer, MTR\u2019s subcontractor at the regional railway sacked 24 cleaning workers and cut working hours for another 41.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Melbourne, Australia, MTR owns 60 percent of Metro, which operates the city\u2019s trains. In 2015, the company\u2019s attacks on working hours and conditions triggered the transport network\u2019s first strike since 1997.<\/p>\n

12 October protests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Per-\u00c5ke and other activists will protest outside the Swedish headquarters of MTR on 12 October, as part of a global protest day against the increasing political repression in Hong Kong. Especially after mass democracy protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Revolution, the Chinese dictatorship is determined to tighten its control over nominally autonomous Hong Kong by reining in its vociferous democracy movement. The past year has seen political show trials, imprisonment of democracy activists and a judicial \u201ccoup\u201d removing six legislators \u2013 around one-fifth of the opposition ranks in Hong Kong\u2019s semi-elected Legislative Council.<\/p>\n

\n

Protesters believe\u00a0MTR as a government-owned company (the Hong Kong\u00a0<\/span>government owns 76 percent of all MTR stocks) should be held to account for its actions. Internationally, the company is sensitive to adverse publicity especially when its record on industrial relations is already heavily criticised. Campaigners who support democratic rights in Hong Kong believe they can make an impact by increasing pressure on MTR and the Hong Kong government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Controversial high-speed railway<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company has long been controversial in Hong Kong with its highhanded monopoly practises and major role in the city\u2019s highly speculative property market. MTR is famous for its \u201cRail plus Property\u201d (R+P) model where new rail lines are rolled out in cahoots with property developers to increase real estate prices. Hong Kong now has the \u201cmost unaffordable\u201d housing in the world according to several studies.\u00a0Now MTR attempts to copy its \u2018successful\u2019 Hong Kong model around the world, spreading the disaster of Hong Kong\u2019s housing crisis to other countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But controversy has reached a new level with the high-speed railway project linking Hong Kong to the mainland Chinese city of Guangzhou.<\/p>\n

Not only is this a widely criticised \u2018vanity project\u2019 intended as a tribute to the rulers in Beijing, it is also seen as a \u2018Trojan Horse\u2019 importing mainland China\u2019s authoritarian practises into Hong Kong. It is the world\u2019s most expensive railway kilometre for kilometre. Just 26km long, the Hong Kong section of the railway has cost US$11 billion to build.<\/p>\n

Socialist Action (CWI in Hong Kong) activist Leo Cheung, who is also active in a campaign group against the new railway, explains, \u201cMTR will operate the high-speed railway which is being used as a tool for political repression. Under the government\u2019s plans, which are determined by political rather than economic priorities, the Hong Kong-China border checkpoint will be located in Hong Kong city centre which means mainland Chinese police and immigration officials will be allowed to operate in Hong Kong openly and legally for the first time, implementing the laws of the Chinese regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

These laws means banning protests and all criticism of the Chinese government, and rigorous censorship of internet and media. Increasingly, it also come to mean kidnappings of political critics to face imprisonment in China, and harsher prison sentences for Hong Kong protestors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means the rule of the dictatorship will extend directly into Hong Kong,\u201d says Cheung.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"
Planned new terminus for Hong Kong high-speed railway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Chinese mainland law enforcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

The joint checkpoint in Hong Kong, which is under construction and will be operated by MTR, will see a quarter of the huge terminal building \u2013 around 105,000 square meters \u2013 leased to China and therefore legally no longer under Hong Kong jurisdiction, where the right to protest and freedom of speech enjoy greater protection than in China. Arrest cells will be housed on the basement floor of the China-controlled area.<\/p>\n

In the face of massive criticism, the Hong Kong government, which justifies this plan on dubious \u201ctime saving\u201d grounds, has failed to answer if for example Facebook and other websites that are banned in China will also be banned in the China-controlled station area and on the train, where mainland laws will also apply. To questions whether train passengers will be banned from discussing what are taboo topics in China, like the 1989 Beijing massacre, or Taiwanese independence, the Hong Kong government has been evasive.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people fear with good reason that the Chinese regime will extend the area under their police control once the precedent has been established at the high-speed railway terminus. The aim is to normalise the presence of mainland police in Hong Kong,\u201d says Leo Cheung.\u00a0\u201cFor this reason, we are calling for a mass boycott campaign, which because the project is already very expensive and not justified on economic grounds, could become a real problem for the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chinese regime\u2019s official military newspaper has admitted there is also a military aspect to the Hong Kong-Guangzhou high-speed railway. It can be used to quickly send troops and weapons to Hong Kong if the local police are not able to suppress political protests.<\/p>\n

Protests against repression<\/strong><\/p>\n

Protests are planned in more than 18 countries on 12 October against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments over the unprecedented political crackdown of recent months. Protesters will demand the release of political prisoners and an end to government manipulation of elections in Hong Kong. The campaign is organised by the group Global Solidarity \u2013 Stop Repression in Hong Kong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA tool of the government\u2019s\u00a0political crackdown\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,133,148,124],"tags":[199,174,1007,4490,3607,9243,1633,9245,165],"class_list":{"0":"post-15962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-hong-kong","9":"category-international","10":"category-news","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-china-2","13":"tag-democracy","14":"tag-hong-kong-en","15":"tag-mtr","16":"tag-political-prisoners","17":"tag-repression","18":"tag-stop-repression-in-hong-kong","19":"tag-sweden"},"yoast_head":"\nHong Kong\u2019s MTR Corporation profiteering from state repression - 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