People's distrust in the Hong Kong government has risen to a new high, similar to the level immediately before former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa quit in March 2005, a survey has found.
Those who said they did not trust the administration doubled in the past two months, from 14 per cent in August to 28 per cent at the end of last month. The level of trust slipped one percentage point to 45 per cent during the period.
The University of Hong Kong survey followed one published by the university on Tuesday, which found Tsang's popularity rating of 48.4 points out of 100 had dropped to a level approaching Tung's lowest point, reached in July 2003.
The level of distrust in the government, at 28 per cent, was at the same as the findings of a similar poll conducted in February 2005, days after Tung announced his resignation. He had seen his popularity rating fall to 35 per cent during July 2003, when the now-shelved Article 23 national security bill was opposed by half a million protesters.
A total of 52 per cent said they trusted Beijing, a four-percentage-point rise from the August survey. Distrust in Beijing rose by three percentage points to 19 per cent in the latest poll.
Sixty-seven per cent of respondents said they still had confidence in Hong Kong's future, a drop of four percentage points from the previous survey. Faith in the 'one country, two systems' principle fell from 71 per cent to 67 per cent, but confidence in China's future remained at 87 per cent. The latest poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3 per cent.