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Since 1993, POP has been monitoring Hong Kong people's feeling towards June Fourth by conducting annual surveys days before June Fourth anniversaries. Regular questions asked include people's evaluation of the actions taken by the Beijing students and the Chinese government back in 1989, their appraisal of human right conditions in China, their perception of Hong Kong people's role in helping China develop, their attitude towards June Fourth commemorative activities, and their support of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China ("the Alliance").

According to our latest survey conducted this May, among 1,103 respondents successfully interviewed, 36% believed that Beijing students had taken the correct actions in 1989, 16% said no, and 48% did not express an opinion. Compared to that of last year, people's support of the Beijing students has dropped 9 percentage points to a record low, and the number of ambivalent respondents has risen. Regarding the actions taken by the Chinese government, 61% said they were wrong, 11% said they were right, 29% did not express an opinion.

On the human right condition in China, 62% believed the situation would become better in three years' time, 20% thought it would stay the same, 3% believed it would get worse, 15% did not make any guess. Compared with the condition in 1989, 63% said it has improved, 24% said it was the same, 4% said it has deteriorated, 10% did not give a definite answer. It seems that most respondents believed that China has improved, and would continue to improve.

Regarding the role of Hong Kong people to instigate the democratic and economic development in China, 72% and 79% respectively said Hong Kong people has a role to play in either area. Both figures dropped slightly from that of last year. If one had to make a choice, 43% thought Hong Kong people should put more effort on instigating development in China's economy rather than its democracy, 32% said the effort should be equally split, 17% chose democracy. Likewise, 50% said China needs economic more than democratic development, 28% said both, 16% chose democracy.

According to this survey, 47% wished to see a reversion of China's official stand on the June Fourth Incident, 31% did not have an opinion, while 22% supported China's current stand. Public opinion has been rather stable in this aspect in the last four years. As to the popularity of the Alliance, 740 out of 1,103 respondents were able to give a definite score, and the average support rating of the Alliance is 49.9, which is a record low across all anniversary surveys. However, only 13% thought the Alliance should be disbanded, 45% said no, 42% did not express an opinion.

On the whole, it seems that most Hong Kong people are critical of the Chinese government in the way it handled the incident. They would like to see a reversion of its official stand. Most people, however, believed that the human right condition in China has improved, and are confident of its future development. Most people believed China needs economic development more than democracy, and would like to see Hong Kong people pay their effort in both areas.