appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Ng Kang-chung

The rule of law has been picked as society's most important core value, with democracy ranked fourth and family bottom in a Chinese University poll.
But the results, released yesterday as democracy activists continued to occupy roads in Admiralty and Mong Kok, also showed that young people rank democracy most important.
Overall, about 23 per cent of respondents gave rule of law the top ranking, while just over one in 10 chose democracy in the poll conducted last week by the university's Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies.
"Hong Kong people are pragmatic. Democracy has not often been on the very top of their concerns," said Dr Victor Zheng Wan-tai, a research fellow with the institute.
"While the Occupy Central protests made headlines in recent weeks, there are many people who do not support striving for democracy by illegal means like occupying roads."
Respondents ranked freedom second with 20.8 per cent and "just and corruption-free" was the third with 15.3 per cent. Just 1.6 per cent said family was most important.
The institute interviewed 804 people by telephone between Tuesday and Thursday last week, asking them to choose from a list of 11 social values.

	READ MORE: Click here for all the latest Occupy Central stories
Other values in the list included "market economy" and "fair competition". The sampling error was plus or minus 3.46 per cent at a confidence level of 95 per cent.
Further analysis of the findings showed 23.4 per cent of those aged 30 or below ranked democracy the most important value, with only 10.3 per cent of them choosing rule of law - an almost direct reversal of the overall figure.
These figures compared with 8.5 per cent and 28.7 per cent, respectively, for those aged 31 to 50.
Of those who identified themselves as "pro-democracy", 23.8 per cent said democracy was the most important, and 14.5 per cent chose rule of law. For "middle-roaders", the figures were 5.9 per cent and 28.3 per cent, respectively.
Only 1.2 per cent of those who identified themselves as "pro-establishment" said democracy was most important, while 31.8 per cent gave rule of law the top ranking.
In a poll by the institute in 2012 on how to achieve a harmonious society, over 55 per cent of respondents rated "social harmony" the most important direction of social development, followed by "economic development" at 22.6 per cent.
Only 17.8 per cent chose "democracy and freedom" as the most important.
Political scientist Dr Chung Kim-wah, of Polytechnic University, shared similar views to Zheng.
"While most of us agree that Hong Kong's democracy is not perfect, we still enjoy much freedom," he said.
"But if Hong Kong does not have rule of law, it will be the end."
This week, the Bar Association issued a statement warning of "an erosion of the rule of law" and "going down a slippery slope towards a state of lawlessness" after protesters vowed to ignore court injunctions against their occupation of sites in Mong Kok and Admiralty.
This followed a statement by the association earlier in the month that occupation of public places and roads was "potentially unlawful" and that "civil disobedience does not constitute any defence to a criminal charge".
 


Former jailed ringleader of Hong Kong’s Occupy movement Shiu Ka-chun reveals cancer battle

Nothing brings Hongkongers and mainland Chinese closer together than sports

Former Hong Kong politician ‘major backer’ of firearms purchase from US in ‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ plot, court hears

Article 23 and the tragedy of Hong Kong

Occupy Central

Rule of law more important to Hongkongers than democracy: poll

"Hong Kong people are pragmatic. Democracy has not often been on the very top of their concerns," said Dr Victor Zheng Wan-tai. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

While activists continue to occupy roads in the city, a new survey has found that justice is the No 1 core value for 'pragmatic' Hongkongers


The rule of law has been picked as society's most important core value, with democracy ranked fourth and family bottom in a Chinese University poll.


Rule of law more important to Hongkongers than democracy: poll

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While activists continue to occupy roads in the city, a new survey has found that justice is the No 1 core value for 'pragmatic' Hongkongers

While activists continue to occupy roads in the city, a new survey has found that justice is the No 1 core value for 'pragmatic' Hongkongers