''Locust'' () is an

ethnic slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...

against the

Mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC), ...

people in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The derogatory remark is frequently used in

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, and localist publications in Hong Kong, especially when the topics involves the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, immigrants, parallel traders, and the pro-democracy movement.

Origin

In 1901,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

merchant Archibald John Little recorded the expression of comparing

ethnic Chinese The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

people to locusts, expressed by French

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest

Armand David Father Armand David (7 September 1826, Espelette – 10 November 1900, Paris) was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist. Several species, such as Père David's deer, are named after him — be ...

. in his book, ''Mount Omi and beyond: A record of travel on the Tibetan border'', Little referenced David's animosity toward the Chinese people:

In Hong Kong

, "''wong chung''", the Cantonese word for locust, is used in a derogatory sense against mainland Chinese under the backdrop of ongoing tensions between Hongkongers and mainland China. Chinese people are called ''wong chung,'' locust in

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, by local residents. The usage of the word began in Hong Kong local blogs and

message boards An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

such as

HKGolden The HKGolden (Hong Kong Golden Forum; ) is an Internet forum for topics related to computer hardware and software among Internet users in Hong Kong in the early 2000s. HKGolden has become an Internet community. The forum is a part of HKGolden.co ...

. Popular songs with lyrics modified, containing derogatory slurs such as "locusts" and "'' Cheena"'' directed toward mainland Chinese people, were regularly produced and shared between online communities. Mainland Chinese working and studying in Hong Kong regularly experience discrimination. The term locust became prominent in 2012, when some local residence paid full-page advertisement, depicting mainland Chinese as locusts on local tabloid-newspaper Apple Daily HK. The ethnic slur then gained widespread usage in subsequent protests against mainland Chinese immigrants, tourists,

birth tourists Birth tourism is the practice of traveling to another country for the purpose of giving birth in that country. The main reason for birth tourism is to obtain citizenship for the child in a country with birthright citizenship (''jus soli''). Such ...

, and parallel traders, where residences would chant and sing songs targeting mainland Chinese people. These provocative words sometimes lead to physical conflicts between the protesters and pedestrians. In Hong Kong, some people may consider the usage and discrimination toward mainland Chinese morally justified due to Hong Kong's colonial history, cultural differences, and nostalgia toward British rule. Some protesters choose to express their frustrations on ordinary mainlanders instead of the Chinese government. Due to the rising

tribalism Tribalism is the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles. Human evolution has primarily occurred in small hunter-gatherer groups, as opposed to in larger and more recently settled agricultural societies or civ ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

in Hong Kong and China, the ethnic racism between Hong Kongers and mainlanders is reinforced and reciprocated.

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based writer Ling Woo Liu argued that the usage of ethnic slur alienated mainland Chinese people who are sympathetic toward Hong Kong's cause. Chinese media ''

Southern Weekly ''Southern Weekly'' (literally ''Southern Weekend;'' ), is a Chinese weekly newspaper based in Guangzhou, and is a sister publication of the newspaper ''Nanfang Daily''. History and profile ''Southern Weekly'', founded in 1984, has its head ...

'' believed the grievance of Hong Kong people is generated by the economic stagnation, crowded living space, inadequate public services in recent years. The article stated that

Hongkonger Hongkongers (), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong people, typically refers to residents of the territory of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the ...

's anger is misdirected as mainlanders are used as the sole scapegoat by localist movements.

Origin

In Hong Kong

References

See also