Fewer than one-fifth of young people in the SAR consider themselves Chinese, and more than half link their identity primarily to Hong Kong, according to a survey released yesterday.
Only 18.6 per cent out of 623 Form Three to Form Six students interviewed said they would tell others they were Chinese, but 54.3 per cent considered themselves to be 'Hongkongers'.
A further 8.9 per cent said they were 'Hong Kong Chinese', and the rest said they did not care about their identity. The survey was conducted by the Breakthrough youth organisation in April and May.
A total of 23.3 per cent of respondents said they would feel uncomfortable if they were called 'compatriots' when they travelled to the mainland, and a further 10 per cent would actively correct the term, saying they were 'Hong Kong people'.
In addition, 90.3 per cent of respondents said they considered National Day to be just an ordinary holiday. Only five per cent said they would join in celebrations to mark the festival.
Andrew Tang Cheuck-wing, Breakthrough's senior researcher, said the survey showed the sense of national identity among young people was weak.