HONG KONG - About 1,000 Hong Kong taxi drivers went on an impromptu strike over a new fare policy, blocking roads around the airport and causing traffic chaos, the latest in a series of cabbie complaints across China.
A wave of strikes, including in neighbouring Guangzhou, have been launched in recent weeks in protest against unlicensed competition, high fuel prices and rising rental fees as the economy comes under strain from global financial turmoil.
Police said 22 taxis were towed away from the airport highway late on Wednesday and traffic was back to normal early on Thursday.
Twenty-four drivers were arrested for "disorderly conduct in a public place" and all the men, aged between 36 and 60, had been released on bail, a police spokeswoman said.
A minor dispute over fares on Wednesday night escalated, with around 1,000 drivers joining ranks to block all three lanes of the only feeder highway from the airport to the city, the Apple Daily newspaper reported.
Police action included "forcefully breaking taxi windows to get into the taxis to drive them away, or to tow the taxis away from the scene", the newspaper said.
The new fare structure reportedly hurt the business of Hong Kong's "green" taxis serving the northern New Territories on longer haul trips, leading passengers to opt for "red" urban taxis instead.
Another group of around 100 taxi drivers also blocked roads downtown near Hong Kong's race course on Hong Kong island.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
