Opinion | Hong Kong independence calls will die down once confidence in Beijing rises
Gary Cheung believes the central government should restart the political reform process for the city to restore trust in ‘one country, two systems’
Nineteen years after the handover, why do so many Hong Kong people back the idea of independence?
This was the question a Beijing official asked outgoing Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing recently. I, too, have been asked similar questions by mainland officials and academics since the Mong Kok riot in February.
The results of a recent survey by the Chinese University’s journalism school, in which 17.4 per cent of Hongkongers said they believe the city should go independent after 2047, have sent shock waves across the community. What should we make of the findings?
More young Hongkongers back independence and are less supportive of peaceful protest, poll shows
Support for independence isn’t new. In a comparative survey on national identification held between 2005 and 2007, in collaboration with universities in Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan, the University of Hong Kong found that 25 per cent of Hongkongers polled backed independence.
What’s different today is the sentiment among young people. While only 26.4 per cent of those between 18 and 24 supported independence in the earlier poll, in the recent survey by Chinese University, nearly 40 per cent of respondents aged 15 to 24 supported independence.
It is a given that a considerable proportion of people in Hong Kong favour an identity distinct from mainland China, no matter what Beijing does. By contrast, the proportion of those who back independence goes up and down, depending on their confidence in Beijing’s handling of the city’s affairs.
