HKUPOP releases an international survey on WTOBack

Riding on the International Conference on "Public Opinion: East Meets West" organized jointly with the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong initiated an international opinion survey on "WTO from the perspective of international public opinion" across 10 different countries and areas. While the results of the surveys have already been presented at the International Conference, POP today re-issues these findings to the press. The names of the participating organizations in different countries and areas, as well as their research methods, are listed as follows:

* Not telephone survey as previously described.

The standard core opinion questions used in the international survey are:

1. Do you know whether [your country] is a member of the WTO, that is, World Trade Organization?
2. [For countries already joined WTO] Do you think joining the WTO have made [your country] better or worse in terms of economic development? [For countries not yet joined] Do you think joining the WTO would make [your country] better or worse in terms of economic development?
3. Some people divide the world into developed and developing countries or areas. Would you say WTO has brought more good or harm to developed countries or areas in the world?
4. Would you say WTO has brought more good or harm to developing countries in the world?
5. Would you say WTO has brought more good or harm to the world on the whole?

The preliminary figures from the 10 participating countries and areas are listed below. The final figures are still being collated and analysed by the participating organizations:

Knowledge that one's country/area is or is not a member of the WTO (%)

* Philippines' figure refers to those respondents who said they did not know anything about WTO.

Findings from our international opinion survey shows that, among the 10 participating countries and areas spanning over Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Latin America, people in USA and Hong Kong seem to be most knowledgeable about WTO. People across all 10 countries and areas consider it an advantage for their own country or area to join the WTO, which they think has done more good than harm to the world. Nevertheless, other than the people of USA, all think WTO has brought less advantages to developing countries than to developed countries. This opinion is particularly vivid in Congo, Russia, Mexico, Hong Kong and India.

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "Hong Kong people seem relatively knowledgeable about WTO, probably because of the ongoing MC6 meeting in town. While Hong Kong was preparing for the meeting, public opinion was quite favourable to WTO, as nearly 70% thought joining WTO has brought positive advantages to Hong Kong's economic development. Likewise, 67%, 54% and 59% respectively thought that WTO has brought more good than harm to developed countries, developing countries, and the world as a whole. It would be interesting to know what Hong Kong people think of WTO after the MC6 meeting, POP will conduct a follow-up survey to gauge the effect of the meeting on Hong Kong people's perception of WTO."

Regarding the mass demonstrations during the MC6 meeting, Robert Chung observed, "Because Hong Kong people have perceived WTO rather positively, they may not endorse the demonstrations if they turn violent. On the contrary, if the protesters use mild and peaceful means to show their demands, like what Hong Kong people used to do, plus perhaps more ethnic favours and rational discussions, they may well win the heart of the Hong Kong people. They may even be able to persuade Hong Kong people to re-think the role of WTO and the prevailing world economic order."

Shall anyone have any question regarding the research design of the international survey, members of the POP Team will be happy to answer them, but we will not further comment on the findings. Because the participating research organizations are still analyzing the data, we will not upload the findings onto our HKU POP Site for the time being. Members of the press and the general public are welcome to obtain the entire preliminary report of the international survey from our POP Office, free of charge, but please call our Miss Chau at 2859-2988 first.