Clashes as Hong Kong protesters vent at China border traders
Clashes broke out between police and Hong Kong demonstrators Saturday as the latest anti-government protests took aim at traders coming across the border from mainland China.
Police used pepper spray and batons against masked protesters in Sheung Shui, a town near the border with China, after thousands marched to complain about "parallel traders".
Sheung Shui boasts dozens of pharmacies and cosmetic stores that are hugely popular with mainland merchants who snap up goods in Hong Kong -- where there is no sales tax -- and resell them across the border.
Protesters used bottled water to clean their eyes of pepper spray while one demonstrator was bleeding from a head wound, an AFP reporter said.
While parallel traders bring business to regions near the border, they are also a source of tension for locals.
"It's really annoying. The rent has gone higher. Other small shops and restaurants can't survive. The whole region has become a place serving for parallel traders instead of local residents," protester Siu Hok-yan, 74, told AFP.
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