ACCORDING to Lu Ping, ''Hong Kong has always been an economic city, not a political city.'' The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has said that ''if you ask anyone in the street what he or she is most concerned with, I bet over 90 per cent will say it's their livelihood''.
The accuracy of this observation is borne out by regular surveys, which consistently show that livelihood issues top the list of concerns of people in Hong Kong.
This does not mean, however, that there is a paucity of political activity in Hong Kong, or that people are indifferent to political issues. Even the casual observer will notice that this is not the case.
The local pages of Hong Kong newspapers are often dominated by political news. Every major paper has a specialist team of political editors and reporters. Political issues frequently feature not only in editorials and commentaries, but in regular columns and comic strips. This is very different from 10 years ago.
Some of the most popular radio and television programmes are about politics and current affairs. In daily phone-in programmes people talk about 1997, Sino-British relationship and Government policies. At the City Forum, which takes place every Sunday and is broadcast live on television, the topics debated are mostly political.
There is an abundance of political periodicals in Hong Kong, paralleled in few other places. Even entertainment magazines find it fashionable to include political gossip pages.
Banners appear on street corners. Although many may carry slogans on livelihood rather than political matters, they are put up by political groups or individuals who are going to contest elections.
