Hong Kong’s democracy ranking dropped one place last year, while that of the mainland increased by eight places, according to an annual index just released by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Hong Kong’s new standing is 67 out of 167 countries and territories covered by the Democracy Index 2015. The city received an overall score of 6.5 out of 10, categorised as a “flawed democracy”. It scored 9.4 in civil liberties but only 4.3 on electoral process and pluralism. China’s ranking rose eight places to 136th last year, reflecting “rising popular support for the concept of democratic government,” the judges said. READ MORE: Occupy-linked DJs dumped as Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK rejects censorship accusations “This presents a challenge to the ruling Communist Party, which has counted on maintaining the support of the public by guaranteeing increasing prosperity for the burgeoning middle class, and creates a tension as the authorities clamp down on rights and freedoms in other areas,” it added. The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group that provides economic and business research, forecasting and analysis. South Korea earned the highest place in Asia, at 22nd place, one place above Japan. Taiwan, which recently elected its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, was in 31st place.