[SCMP Archive] HKIS votes Bush

[First published on Sep 27, 1992] ARKANSAS Governor Mr Bill Clinton may be ahead in the opinion polls in the United States, but the youth of Hong Kong have given their backing to President George Bush.

The Hong Kong International School held a mock US election and the results were startling. The students put Mr Bush well in the lead with 48 per cent, while Mr Clinton trailed with 37 per cent. Mr Ross Perot, who was included on the ballot, had 15 per cent.

Although the “family values” issue is big in the US, what the HKIS students were voting on were foreign policy matters. Because of the international setting in which we live, foreign policy is an important topic. Whether or not China retains its Most Favoured Nation trading status with the US directly affects the prosperity of Hong Kong. With Mr Clinton in office, that trade status may be revoked. That is probably the reason Mr Bush took the lead in our mock election.

Mock election organizer Katharine Fifield said: “It’s a very tight race and I just don’t know who’s going to win.”

For the older set, Americans in Hong Kong are preparing a convention of their own, called “Election Central ‘92” and held at the J.W.Marriott Hotel on November 4. Organizers include not only AmCham Members, but 16 enthusiastic teens from HKIS, too.