Hong Kong’s leader has warned that any drastic action by the city’s taxi drivers will not gain public support, raising the possibility that a strike proposed by a major cabby union could be “hijacked” by those with ulterior motives.
Advertisement
The remarks by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu came on Tuesday, a day before a strike deadline set by an influential taxi union. Lee also revealed that the government’s Transport Advisory Committee would meet with representatives from the taxi sector and ride-hailing platforms on Wednesday.
“Any drastic action is not going to solve problems,” Lee said. “Drastic action may also hurt the interests of normal residents in their [daily lives], it is not going to receive public support,” he said.
“Also there is a potential that the issue may change its nature and … be hijacked by some people with ulterior motives. That won’t be in the interest of society and residents, and will not get public support.”
The Hong Kong Tele-call Taxi Association had threatened last week to go on strike for five days from March 5 if authorities did not respond positively by Wednesday to the union’s demand to crack down on ride-hailing services.
Advertisement
The group had arrived at its decision at an internal meeting, where about 80 per cent of attendees, representing 30,000 drivers, had agreed to the strike action.