HKU POP SITE releases the latest popularity figures of HKSAR Government, results of the Handover Anniversary survey and a column article on July 1 RallyBack


Press Release on June 30, 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 popularity figures of the HKSAR Government and survey results related to the Handover Anniversary. 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 changes in the popularity of the HKSAR Government are first summarized as follows:

 
 Date of survey 17-20/2 16/3 18-21/4 21-24/5 20-23/6 Latest change
 Sample base 1,026 1,041 1,012 1,001 1,026 --
 Overall response rate 67.1% 65.2% 66.7% 59.0% 61.9% --
 Sampling error of percentages (at 95% conf. level)* +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% --
 Satisfaction rate of SARG performance** 20% 31% 31% 35% 40% +5%
 Dissatisfaction rate of SARG performance** 39% 26% 21% 24% 17% -7%

* "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.

 

Results obtained in late June showed that, 40% of the respondents were satisfied with the HKSAR Government's performance, whereas 17% were dissatisfied.

 

On the other hand, survey results related to the Handover Anniversary are tabulated below:

 Date of survey 8-13/6/01 4-5/6/02 13-18/6/03 7-11/6/04 20-23/6/05 Latest change
 Sample base 1,074 1,010 1,043 1,027 1,026 --
 Overall response rate 72.5% 65.4% 68.0% 66.9% 61.9% --
 Sampling error of percentages (at 95% conf. level)* +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% --
 Being proud of becoming a national citizen of China 35% 40% 38% 39% 46% +7%
 Not being proud of becoming a national citizen of China 60% 54% 53% 53% 45% -8%
 Central Government's policy on HK: positive evaluations ** 28% 30% 36% 25% 36% +11%
 Central Government's policy on HK: negative evaluations ** 19% 21% 24% 29% 15% -14%
 Had positive feelings about the Central Government** 27% 38% 40% 30% 38% +8%
 Had negative feelings about the Central Government** 19% 14% 12% 18% 15% -3%

* "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.

 

Results of the latest Anniversary survey revealed that, 46% of the respondents were proud of becoming a national citizen of China after the handover, while 45% said they did not have any special feeling. As for the policy of the Central Government on Hong Kong after the handover, 36% of the respondents evaluated it positively, whereas 15% gave negative evaluations. Besides, 38% felt positively about the Central Government, compared with 15% who had negative feelings.

 

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, analyzed, "As Donald Tsang becomes the CE, the popularity of the government continues to rise. People's satisfaction rate now rebounds to 40%, almost like that at the end of 1997. As the 8th handover anniversary approaches, people are feeling more positive about the Central Government, and more satisfied with its Hong Kong policy. More people are feeling proud of becoming a Chinese national, more or less like that during the handover in 1997. Judging from opinion figures alone, development at the 8th anniversary of the SAR seems quite positive."

 

POP Site and the Hong Kong Economic Journal today also publish a column article written by Robert Chung, entitled "Propensity to Participate in July 1 Rally", in which the author discussed people's propensity to participate in the July 1 rallies over the years and analyzed the trend of turnouts in the rallies. The author also briefly discussed the effect of these rallies on the political culture of Hong Kong.

 

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. According to this schedule, the date and time of our next release of regular survey findings will be July 5, 2005, Tuesday, at 2 pm, the latest results of 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" 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.