HKU POP SITE releases the latest figures on the popularity of SAR and Central Governments, and people's confidence in the futureBack


Press Release on March 3, 2005
 

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong today releases on schedule via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the latest findings on people's trust in the HKSAR and Beijing Central Governments, their confidence in Hong Kong's future, China's future and "one country, two systems". As a general practice, all figures have been weighted according to the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population obtained from the 2001 Population Census. Recent figures are summarized below:

 
 Date of survey 21-24/6/04 21-28/8/04 11-14/10/04 18-23/12/04 17-20/2/05 Latest change
 Sample base 1,023 1,033 1,010 1,020 1,026 --
 Overall response rate 63.9% 65.4% 63.6% 68.4% 67.1% --
 Sampling error of percentages(at 95% confidence level)* +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% --
 Trust in HKSAR Government** 35% 39% 38% 39% 41% +2%
 Distrust in HKSAR Government** 35% 32% 20% 35% 29% -6%
 Trust in Beijing Government** 39% 45% 45% 51% 41% -10%
 Distrust in Beijing Government** 30% 26% 18% 19% 27% +8%
 Confidence in HK's future 60% 62% 62% 64% 64% --
 No-confidence in HK's future 26% 26% 25% 26% 21% -5%
 Confidence in China's future 80% 82% 84% 84% 80% -4%
 No-confidence in China's future 11% 11% 8% 8% 11% +3%
 Confidence in "one country, two systems" 48% 55% 59% 64% 57% -7%
 No-confidence in "one country, two systems" 35% 31% 27% 27% 29% +2%

* "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.
** Collapsed from a 5-point scale

 

The survey conducted in mid-February revealed that the level of people's trust in HKSAR Government and Beijing Government shared the same percentage, at 41%. On the other hand, 64% of the respondents had confidence in Hong Kong's future and 80% had confidence in China's future, while 57% of the respondents were confident in "one country, two systems".

 

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "Our survey was conducted before rumours spread that Tung Chee-hwa would resign from his post as Chief Executive after becoming a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. If this turns out to be true, many people's perception of the central government would change, and the figures released today would be outdated. According to our latest figures, people's confidence in Hong Kong and China's future has not changed much in the last 6 months, with a much more positive outlook in China's development. However, people's trust in the central government has gone down significantly over the past 3 months, and is now marginally above that of the SAR government, within one percentage point. This has also affected people's confidence in 'one country, two systems', but the situation is bound to change after Tung clarifies his position."

 

POP's normal practice is to release the results of our regular surveys every Tuesday at 2 pm via our POP Site, except during public holidays, each time with a forecast of the items to be released in the forthcoming week. We will review and adjust this operation regularly. The date and time of our next release of regular survey findings will be March 8, 2005, Tuesday, at 2 pm, the latest ratings of the most well-known political groups will be released. Then, on March 10, 2005, Thursday, at 2 pm, the latest popularity figures of CE Tung Chee-hwa and Principal Officials under the accountability system will be released.

 

Shall anyone have any question regarding the research design of the surveys published in the POP Site, members of the POP Team will be happy to answer them, but we will not further comment on the findings. Shall any person or journalist have any other questions, please email them to us at <[email protected]. The Director of Public Opinion Programme would answer them as soon as possible. We will keep such an arrangement under constant review, suggestions most welcome. Please note that everything carried in the POP Site 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 which represent the stand of their authors.