18
political aspirations. The competing co-optive offensive of the
Chinese government not only lures away some members of the
colonial establishment, but also creates an even more promising
ladder of political success. Therefore, the co-optive tactics
which the government has so successfully employed in the past to
build up its ruling coalition has become less and less effective
as the means to mobilize the support of the established elites.
In fact this ruling coalition is plagued by centrifugal
tendencies within itself, and it is also more and more vulnerable
to challenge from the outside. As the government can depend less
and less on the support of the established elites, its control
over the political situation is loosened.
(4) Whilst the maintenance of effective colonial rule is
becoming increasingly an ordeal to the government, public support
of the political system and the major policies of Hong Kong
remain basically intact, though of course people would like to
see the government play a more active economic and welfarist role. 18 In my 1988 survey, it was found that 70.5 percent of
respondents agreed or very much agreed with the view that even
though the political system of Hong Kong was not perfect, it was
the best under existing circumstances. That the consultative
practices of the government continues to be endorsed is also
reflected in the survey findings as a plurality of respondents
17 Lau Siu-kai, 'The Unfinished Political Reforms of the Hong Kong Government, in John W. Langford and K. Lorne Brownsey (eds.), The Changing Shape of Government in the Asia-Pacific Region (Victoria: The Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1988), pp. 43-82; and Lau Siu-kai, Decolonization Without Independence.
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