Appendix II
Summary of views expressed by grassroot organisations in the Southern District in the future
of Hong Kong
The organisations that had been visited include Kaifong associations resident associations, mutual aid committees, landlords corporations, sports associations, youth centres and religious bodies. The following is a summary of the views
expressed:
1)
A.
B.
2)
A.
Attitude towards China
Sovereignty over Hong Kong
The
Participants in the discussion all agreed that Hong Kong is part of Chinese territority and its sovereignty is in China's hand. Yet they felt that it would be inappropriate for China to regain Hong Kong in 1997. ripe time should be when the development in economy, living standard and rule of law in China is more comparable to Hong Kong and when the constitutional system in Hong Kong is more democratic.
Confidence in China
As the participants come from different backgrounds, they had varying views on the guarantee made by China about Hong Kong's future. The extent of confidence can be divided as follows.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Those who had lived in China and had experience of the various political campaign had no confidence at all. They indicated extreme fear.
Some had considerable reservation and doubt about the Chinese administration as its policies were influenced by the leader in authority then. There was no legal safeguard at all.
Some believed that China would honour its promise. In recent years, China has been actively making improvement in various respects like the Special Economic Zones policy following this line of development, China should be trusted.
Some thought that they were manual labourers whose only aspiration was to lead a stable living and to enjoy freedom of movement. As the question of the future of Hong Kong is a major issue they had no say whatsoever.
Attitude towards Britain
Some felt that Britain should not have mentioned the validity of the three treaties to China in the beginning. Hong Kong should be left to continue like Macao.
.../2