Survey reveals soaring levels of public dissatisfaction with Hong Kong's government
Research by independent Hong Kong Transition Project indicates high levels of discontent over governance and the prospects for constitutional reform
Almost two thirds of permanent residents are dissatisfied with the performance of the SAR government under Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, only the second time a majority has expressed discontent, according to a new survey. The first was in 2004, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest.
Those surveyed were particularly unhappy with the Chief Executive over the past year: “Dissatisfaction with Leung’s performance has risen from 53 per cent dissatisfied in 2013 to 65 per cent dissatisfied in 2014,” the report said.
Hongkongers were also unhappy with the performance of the central government in Beijing, with a majority saying they think it could do better for the first time since 2004.
When it comes to Beijing’s governance over Hong Kong, 56 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied, on a par with levels in 2004.
The findings come from the Hong Kong Transition Project, an independent research group that has been surveying peoples’ views on political development and constitutional reform since 1991 as part of study of the transition from British colonial subjects to SAR citizens.
The Project’s report, released on Wednesday, Constitutional Reform: Consultation looms as Hong Kong Consults, distinguishes between the views of different age groups and finds younger people are more discontented than their elders.
More than three out of four under the age of 40 are dissatisfied with the government’s performance, with a third of those in their 20s and 30s “very dissatisfied”. Ninety per cent of students said they were dissatisfied, with the same number in the under-20 age group.