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Press Release on December 23, 2015

| Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the HKSAR Government) |
| Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the Beijing Central Government) |
| Detailed Findings (People's Trust in the Taiwan Government) |
| Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in HK's Future) |
| Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in China's Future) |
| Detailed Findings (People's Confidence in "One Country, Two Systems") |

Special Announcements

1. Since the figures released by Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong at the “HKU POP SITE” (http://hkupop.pori.hk) today come from the last tracking survey on this topic conducted by POP in 2015, the half-yearly averages published in the website are good for year-end stories. Because the handover of Hong Kong occurred on July 1, it may be more appropriate and accurate to analyze macro changes of Hong Kong society using half-yearly rather than yearly figures. Moreover, a chronology of major events as reported by the local newspapers over many years past can be found in the “Opinion Daily” at the “POP Site”. This may also be useful in running year-end reviews. For details of the release of other year-end surveys, please refer to the “Future Release” section at the end.

2. To facilitate academic study and rational discussion, POP has already released for public examination some time ago via the “POP Site” the raw data of all 86 regular rating surveys of CE CY Leung, as well as the 181 regular rating surveys of former CE Donald Tsang and 239 regular rating surveys of former CE CH Tung, along with related demographics of respondents. Please follow normal academic standards when using or citing such data.

Abstract

POP interviewed 1,012 Hong Kong people between 10 and 15 December 2015 by means of a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers. Our latest survey shows that Hong Kong people’s trust in the local and central governments have somewhat improved compared to three months ago, with net trusts standing at positive 8 and negative 1 percentage points, while people’s net trust in central government goes up significantly by 8 percentage points. People’s trust in the Taiwan Government, however, has not changed much, its latest net trust stands at negative 10 percentage points. As for the confidence indicators, people’s net confidence in the future of Hong Kong, China and ‘one country, two systems’ have all rebounded significantly, after their plunges three months ago. People’s confidence in the future of China remains the highest among the three, with a net confidence of positive 34 percentage points, increased significantly by 8 percentage points as compared to three months ago. Meanwhile, people’s net confidence in the future of Hong Kong and “one country, two systems” have risen significantly by 10 and 14 percentage points to positive 4 and positive 7 percentage points respectively. Further analysis shows the older the respondent, the more one trusts the HKSAR government, whereas the younger the respondent, the more one distrusts the central government and the less confident in “one country, two systems”. The maximum sampling error of all percentages is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while that of net values needs another calculation. The response rate of the survey is 65%.

Points to note:

[1] The address of the “HKU POP SITE” is http://hkupop.pori.hk, journalists can check out the details of the survey there.
[2] The sample size of the survey is 1,012 successful interviews, not 1,012 x 65.4% response rate. In the past, many media made this mistake.
[3] The maximum sampling error of all percentages is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. When quoting these figures, journalists can state “sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% at 95% confidence level, sampling error of net values not more than +/-8%”.
[4] Because of sampling errors in conducting the survey(s) and the rounding procedures in processing the data, the figures cannot be too precise, and the totals may not be completely accurate. Therefore, when quoting percentages of the survey(s), journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places, but when quoting the rating figures, one decimal place can be used.
[5] The data of this survey is collected by means of random telephone interviews conducted by real interviewers, not by any interactive voice system (IVS). If a research organization uses “computerized random telephone survey” to camouflage its IVS operation, it should be considered unprofessional.

Latest Figures

POP today releases on schedule via the POP Site the latest findings on people’s trust in the HKSAR, Beijing Central and Taiwan Governments, and their confidence in Hong Kong’s future, China’s future and “one country, two systems”. From 2014, POP enhanced the previous simple weighting method based on age and gender distribution to “rim weighting” based on age, gender and education (highest level attended) distribution. The latest figures released today have been rim-weighted according to provisional figures obtained from the Census and Statistics Department regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population in 2015 mid-year and the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution collected in the 2011 Census. Herewith the contact information of various surveys:

Date of survey	Overall sample size	Response rate	Maximum sampling error of percentages[6]
10-15/12/2015	1,012	65.4%	+/-3%

[6] Errors are calculated at 95% confidence level using full sample size. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified.

Recent popularity figures of SAR, Beijing Central and Taiwan Governments and people’s confidence in the future as well as “one country, two systems” are summarized below:

Date of survey	15-18/12/14	9-12/3/15	15-18/6/15	9-17/9/15	10-15/12/15	Latest change
Total sample size[7]	1,014	1,024	1,003	1,006	1,012	--
Overall response rate	67.3%	68.6%	65.6%	65.1%	65.4%	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding & error[8]	--
Trust in HKSAR Government[9]	37%	37%	38%	38%	38+/-4%	--
Distrust in HKSAR Government[9]	35%[10]	37%	35%	37%	31+/-4%	-6%[10]
Net trust	2%[10]	0%	3%	2%	8+/-6%	+6%
Mean value[9]	2.9 (Base=622)	2.9 (Base=615)	3.0 (Base=651)	2.9 (Base=632)	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=675)	+0.1
Trust in Beijing Government[9]	33%	33%	36%	36%	35+/-4%	-1%
Distrust in Beijing Government[9]	41%[10]	42%	42%	44%	36+/-4%	-8%[10]
Net trust	-8%[10]	-9%	-6%	-9%	-1+/-7%	+8%[10]
Mean value[9]	2.8[10] (Base=550)	2.8 (Base=604)	2.8 (Base=558)	2.8 (Base=570)	2.9+/-0.1 (Base=599)	+0.1
Trust in Taiwan Government[9]	22%	26%	21%[10]	22%	15+/-3%	-7%[10]
Distrust in Taiwan Government[9]	28%[10]	23%[10]	24%	31%[10]	25+/-3%	-6%[10]
Net trust	-6%[10]	4%[10]	-4%[10]	-9%	-10+/-5%	-1%
Mean value[9]	2.8 (Base=473)	3.0[10] (Base=466)	2.9 (Base=415)	2.8 (Base=399)	2.8+/-0.1 (Base=441)	--
Confidence in HK’s future	49%[10]	45%	49%	44%[10]	48+/-4%	+4%
No-confidence in HK’s future	43%[10]	48%[10]	43%[10]	50%[10]	44+/-4%	-6%[10]
Net confidence	6%[10]	-3%[10]	6%[10]	-6%[10]	4+/-7%	+10%[10]
Confidence in China’s future	65%[10]	61%	71%[10]	58%[10]	62+/-4%	+4%
No-confidence in China’s future	29%[10]	31%	23%[10]	32%[10]	28+/-3%	-4%[10]
Net confidence	36%[10]	30%	48%[10]	26%[10]	34+/-7%	+8%[10]
Confidence in “one country, two systems”	46%[10]	43%	52%[10]	43%[10]	50+/-4%	+7%[10]
No-confidence in “one country, two systems”	47%[10]	52%[10]	43%[10]	50%[10]	43+/-4%	-7%[10]
Net confidence	-2%[10]	-9%	9%[10]	-7%[10]	7+/-8%	+14%[10]

[7] Starting from March 2011, these questions only use sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned. The sub-sample sizes of the surveys range from 644 to 692, and the increased sampling errors have already been reflected in the figures tabulated.

[8] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and of net values not more than +/-8% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[9] Collapsed from a 5-point scale. The mean value is calculated by quantifying all individual responses into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 marks according to their degree of positive level, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, and then calculate the sample mean.

[10] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level under the same weighting method, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant or not is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful.

Latest survey revealed that 38% of the respondents trusted the HKSAR Government, 35% trusted the Beijing Central Government, and 15% trusted the Taiwan Government. The net trust values are positive 8, negative 1 and negative 10 percentage points, while the mean scores of these trust indicators are 3.0, 2.9 and 2.8 respectively, meaning close to “half-half” in general. On the other hand, 48% of the respondents had confidence in Hong Kong’s future, 62% had confidence in China’s future, while 50% of the respondents were confident in “one country, two systems”. The three net confidence values are positive 4, positive 34 and positive 7 percentage points respectively.

Indepth Analysis

In the survey, we also asked respondents for their age. If they were reluctant to give their exact age, they could give us a range. According to their answers, we grouped them into 18-29, 30-49, and 50 years or above. Herewith further analysis of respondents’ trust in HKSAR Government, Beijing Central Government and confidence in “one country, two systems” by age:

Date of survey：10-15/12/2015		18-29	30-49	50 or above	Overall Sample
Percentage of trust / distrust in HKSAR Government[11]	Trust	23+/-8% (24)	39+/-6% (103)	43+/-6% (135)	39+/-4% (262)
	Half-half	36+/-9% (36)	28+/-6% (75)	27+/-5% (84)	29+/-3% (195)
	Distrust	41+/-10% (42)	31+/-6% (83)	26+/-5% (81)	30+/-4% (207)
	Don't know / hard to say	0+/-0% (0)	2+/-2% (5)	4+/-2% (12)	2+/-1% (17)
	Total	100% (102)	100% (266)	100% (312)	100% (680)
	Mean value	2.7+/-0.2 (Base=102)	3.0+/-0.2 (Base=262)	3.2+/-0.1 (Base=300)	3.0+/-0.1 (Base=664)

[11] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

Date of survey：10-15/12/2015		18-29	30-49	50 or above	Overall Sample
Percentage of trust / distrust in Beijing Central Government[12]	Trust	12+/-6% (14)	34+/-7% (72)	44+/-6% (134)	35+/-4% (220)
	Half-half	25+/-8% (29)	28+/-6% (58)	20+/-5% (59)	23+/-3% (147)
	Distrust	62+/-9% (72)	33+/-6% (69)	27+/-5% (82)	36+/-4% (224)
	Don't know / hard to say	1+/-1% (1)	6+/-3% (12)	8+/-3% (25)	6+/-2% (38)
	Total	100% (117)	100% (211)	100% (301)	100% (629)
	Mean value	2.3+/-0.2 (Base=116)	2.9+/-0.2 (Base=199)	3.2+/-0.2 (Base=276)	2.9+/-0.1 (Base=591)

[12] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

Date of survey：10-15/12/2015		18-29	30-49	50 or above	Overall Sample
Percentage of confidence / no-confidence in “one country, two systems” [13]	Confidence	34+/-9% (42)	50+/-7% (116)	55+/-6% (160)	49+/-4% (317)
	No-confidence	63+/-9% (77)	45+/-7% (102)	34+/-6% (98)	43+/-4% (278)
	Don't know / hard to say	3+/-3% (4)	5+/-3% (12)	11+/-4% (32)	7+/-2% (47)
	Total	100% (123)	100% (230)	100% (290)	100% (642)

[13] Differences among sub-groups are tested to be statistically significant at 95% confidence level.

Opinion Daily

In January 2007, POP opened a feature page called “Opinion Daily” at the “POP Site”, to record significant events and selected polling figures on a day-to-day basis, in order to let readers judge by themselves the reasons for the ups and downs of different opinion figures. In July 2007, POP collaborated with Wisers Information Limited whereby Wisers supplies to POP each day starting from July 24, a record of significant events of that day, according to the research method designed by POP. These daily entries would be uploaded to “Opinion Daily” as soon as they are verified by POP.

For the polling items covered in this press release, some items within the previous survey were conducted from September 9 to 17, 2015 while this survey was conducted from December 10 to 15, 2015. In between these two surveys, herewith the significant events selected from counting newspaper headlines and commentaries on a daily basis and covered by at least 25% of the local newspaper articles. Readers can make their own judgment if these significant events have any impacts to different polling figures.

14/12/15	Media report the implementation of the Competition Ordinance.
1/12/15	International Monetary Fund agrees to include renminbi in benchmark SDR currency basket.
30/11/15	The latest estimate cost of high-speed railway revised to HK$84.4 billion.
27/11/15	Mainland and Hong Kong reach CEPA service trade agreement.
22/11/15	The turnout rate of the District Council Election reaches a record high of 47%.
20/11/15	The Innovation and Technology Bureau is established.
4/11/15	Xi Jinping will meet Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore.
31/10/15	Territory-wide System Assessment will be reviewed by Education Bureau.
10/10/15	Commission on Poverty announces 960,000 Hong Kong people are living in poverty, falls to a six-year low.
30/9/15	The Council of The University of Hong Kong rejects Johannes Chan’s appointment as Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
27/9/15	First anniversary of the Occupy Movement.

Commentary

Edward Chit-Fai Tai, Senior Data Analyst of Public Opinion Programme, observed, “Our latest survey completed in mid-December shows that Hong Kong people’s trust in the local and central governments have somewhat improved compared to three months ago, with net trusts standing at positive 8 and negative 1 percentage points, while people’s net trust in central government goes up significantly by 8 percentage points. People’s trust in the Taiwan Government, however, has not changed much, its latest net trust stands at negative 10 percentage points. As for the confidence indicators, people’s net confidence in the future of Hong Kong, China and ‘one country, two systems’ have all rebounded significantly, after their plunges three months ago. People’s confidence in the future of China remains the highest among the three, with a net confidence of positive 34 percentage points, increased significantly by 8 percentage points as compared to three months ago. Meanwhile, people’s net confidence in the future of Hong Kong and ‘one country, two systems’ have risen significantly by 10 and 14 percentage points to positive 4 and positive 7 percentage points respectively. Further analysis shows the older the respondent, the more one trusts the HKSAR government, whereas the younger the respondent, the more one distrusts the central government and the less confident in ‘one country, two systems’. As for the reasons affecting the ups and downs of various figures, readers are welcome to make their own judgment using the detailed records displayed in our ‘Opinion Daily’.”

Future Release (Tentative)

• December 29, 2015 (Tuesday) 1pm to 2pm: Popularity of CE and HKSAR Government

No. of hits since Jun 3, 2000: 81,051,133

No. of hits since Jan 1, 2018: 189,185

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Everything carried in this website does not represent the stand of the University of Hong Kong. Dr Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, is responsible for everything posted herewith, except for column articles and messages posted at the opinion platforms. Any responsibility, legal and otherwise, arising from any such item shall vest entirely with its author. The intellectual property of all information contained in this website, including questionnaire design and research reports, originally belongs to HKU POP unless specified otherwise. HKU POP opens their copyright to the world via this website, but would request all users to acknowledge their source properly.

HKU POP all rights reserved.

Last update :  26/6/2019