Over half of Hongkongers do not believe gov’t officials ‘care much’ about what they think, survey finds
Hong Kong Free Press
More than half of Hong Kong people believe government officials do not “care much” about what they think, a university survey has found.
The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong released the results of its survey on people’s interest in politics on Tuesday.
According to the findings, 56.2 per cent people agreed with the statement that “government officials do not care much what people like me think,” while 18.2 per cent disagreed with the statement. Just under 20 per cent of the respondents said “half half.”
A total of 709 people were interviewed via landline and mobile phone from July 31 to August 12, the institute said. It has conducted the survey annually since 2022.
Compared to the previous two years, the percentage of respondents agreeing with the statement about how much they believed the government was concerned with their views has increased. In 2022, 47.7 per cent people agreed with the statement.
Around 53 per cent of respondents in the recent survey believed that they had no say in government policies, while less than 3 per cent thought they had a say.
The survey also found that over 60 per cent Hongkongers were not interested in politics, with only 5.4 per cent reporting that they were “very interested in politics.”
Expressing opinions
According to the survey, most Hongkongers do not express their opinions via government channels or directly to the authorities.
When asked whether they turned to district councillors or lawmakers to share their views, 78.8 per cent said “never.” Around 80 per cent said they have never expressed opinions to NGOs.
Separately, 80.9 per cent people said they never directly shared their opinions with governmental departments or officials.
Monitoring the gov’t
Meanwhile, 43.1 per cent of the people surveyed did not believe that the Legislative Council could effectively monitor the government. Around 30 per cent said they thought it could.
When asked about their perception of political parties, only 26.3 per cent of respondents said these parties represented opinions from a variety of people, while over 46 per cent disagreed with the statement.
Hong Kong has seen a massive crackdown on civil society and the pro-democracy camp since the 2019 protests and unrest. Most pro-democracy parties and civil groups have disbanded as the government rolled out laws and measures to ensure “patriots’ govern the city.
In March, 2021, Beijing passed legislation to ensure “patriots” govern Hong Kong. The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced a pro-Beijing vetting panel to select candidates. The Hong Kong government said the overhaul would ensure the city’s stability and prosperity. But the changes also prompted international condemnation, as it makes it near-impossible for pro-democracy candidates to stand.
Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019.
The number of seats chosen democratically by the public were slashed from 452 to 88 – reducing the power of public votes to a fifth. The rest are to be chosen by the city’s leader and government-appointed committees.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn, the opposition were shut out, voting hours were slashed by an hour, and each local council is to be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.
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