More than half of Hong Kong residents think government 'doesn't care enough' about their views: poll

More than half of Hong Kong residents believe government officials “don't care enough” about what they think, according to a university survey.

The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong has published the results of its research. survey about people's interest in politics on Monday.

According to the results, 56.2% of people agreed that “government officials don't care much about what people like me think,” while 18.2% disagreed with this statement. Just under 20% of respondents said “half of half.”

The institute, which has been conducting the survey annually since 2022, said it interviewed a total of 709 people via landline and mobile phones between July 31 and August 12.

Compared with the previous two years, the percentage of respondents agreeing with the statement about how much they think the government cares about their views has increased. In 2022, 47.7% of people agreed with the statement.

Some 53 percent of respondents to a recent survey believe they have no say in government policy, while less than 3 percent believe they do.

The survey also found that more than 60 percent of Hong Kong residents have no interest in politics, with only 5.4 percent reporting they are “very interested in politics.”

Expression of opinion

Most Hong Kong residents do not express their opinions through government channels or directly to authorities, according to a survey.

When asked whether they had approached district councillors or legislators to share their views, 78.8% said “never”. About 80% said they had never expressed their opinion to NGOs.

In addition, 80.9% of respondents said they had never directly shared their opinions with government departments or officials.

Government Monitoring

Meanwhile, 43.1% of respondents do not believe the Legislative Council can effectively oversee the government. About 30% said they believe it can.

When asked about their perception of political parties, only 26.3% of respondents said that these parties represent the views of a wide range of people, while more than 46% disagreed with this statement.

Following the 2019 protests and riots in Hong Kong, a major crackdown on civil society and the pro-democracy camp began. Most pro-democratic parties And civil groups disintegrated because the government has adopted laws and measures that guarantee the city will be governed by “patriots”.

In March 2021, Beijing passed the law ensure Hong Kong is governed by “patriots”. Moving reduced democratic representation The legislature has tightened control over elections and introduced a pro-Beijing vetting committee to select candidates. The Hong Kong government said Major repairs will ensure stability and prosperity of the city. However, these changes have also drawn international condemnation because they make it virtually impossible for pro-democracy candidates stand.

Plans for major repairs Elections to the district council were announced in May 2023 to ensure that only “patriots” are electedfollowing pro-democracy landslide in the last elections in 2019.

The number of seats elected democratically by the public was reduced from 452 to 88, reducing the power of the public vote to one-fifth. The rest must be chosen by the city leader and committees appointed by the government.

The boundaries of the electoral districts were redrawn, the opposition was sidelinedvoting hours have been shortened by an hour and each local council must be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial times. All candidates are subject to national security checks to ensure ensure patriotism.

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