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Since the resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong by the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong has become increasingly integrated with the Chinese mainland. One of the key factors behind the growth of cross-border activities has been the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), which was introduced after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in early 2003 and the serious economic recession that followed. Faced with high unemployment and flagging consumption, the Hong Kong government actively pursued the issue of economic integration between the mainland and Hong Kong with the central government as a way of boosting Hong Kong's economy. The IVS was introduced in mid-2003 under a special policy called the "Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" (CEPA).
Under the IVS, mainland Chinese from certain designated mainland cities are allowed to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis. Previously, they were only allowed to visit relatives, to travel on business visas or with group tours. Because of this unprecedented relaxation, Hong Kong has experienced a large and growing number of mainland visitors. The substantial increase in tourism from the mainland is helping to boost Hong Kong's economy by reducing the unemployment rate. However, the Hong Kong government underestimated the social problems that could result from the increasing numbers of tourists, and continued to ask Beijing for a further extension of the IVS in order to bring more tourists to the territory. In 2009, the introduction of the one-year multiple-entry policy led to an explosive growth in the number of IVS visitors. The increased numbers exacerbated a number of problems such as congestion in shopping areas, the growth of parallel trading activities, an increase in the number of anchor babies (shuang fei ying er[...]), and a shortage of powdered milk products and other daily goods.1More importantly, the Hong Kong government failed to take effective measures to address these problems, leading to mounting public dissatisfaction with its performance.2
Previous studies have found that economic development and the political performance of a government are two powerful determinants of political trust. People with a more favourable evaluation of the economic and political performance of their government usually have a...