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 October 25, 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 17-20/2/05 11-14/4/05 20-23/6/05 22-25/8/05 17-21/10/05 Latest change
 Sample base 1,026 1,009 1,026 1,004 1,009 --
 Overall response rate 67.1% 62.8% 61.9% 63.5% 65.6% --
 Sampling error of percentages(at 95% confidence level)* +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 3% --
 Trust in HKSAR Government** 41% 44% 56% 57% 62% +5%
 Distrust in HKSAR Government** 29% 14% 13% 15% 9% -6%
 Trust in Beijing Government** 41% 40% 48% 46% 50% +4%
 Distrust in Beijing Government** 27% 26% 22% 26% 21% -5%
 Confidence in HK's future 64% 67% 77% 73% 74% +1%
 No-confidence in HK's future 21% 19% 11% 20% 17% -3%
 Confidence in China's future 80% 79% 78% 82% 84% +2%
 No-confidence in China's future 11% 12% 11% 11% 10% -1%
 Confidence in "one country, two systems" 57% 56% 59% 64% 65% +1%
 No-confidence in "one country, two systems" 29% 31% 24% 27% 26% -1%

* "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.

 

Survey conducted in mid-October revealed that 62% of the respondents trusted the HKSAR Government, and 50% trusted the Beijing Central Government. On the other hand, 74% of the respondents had confidence in Hong Kong's future and 84% had confidence in China's future, while 65% of the respondents were confident in "one country, two systems".

 

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "All five indicators of confidence and trust have increased, indicating a period of positive governance. The amount of trust people place in different governments reflects an attitude deeper than their general appraisal of government performance. The fact that a record high of 62% since the handover now say they trust the SAR Government reflects a shift in people's attitude towards the government. Nevertheless, the government cannot afford to become complacent, because the figure is still lower than those registered in the year before the handover."

 

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 October 27, 2005, Thursday, at 2 pm, the latest figures of people's appraisal of the local news media and the subjective freedom indicators will be released. Then, on November 1, 2005, Tuesday, at 2 pm, we will release the latest popularity figures of CE Donald Tsang and the HKSAR Government. Meanwhile, we will release the findings of our Policy Address follow-up survey as soon as possible.

 

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.