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buffer between themselves and China. All of a sudden, the
political environment in Hong Kong becomes extremely complicated.
Politically speaking, the 1997 issue means the intrusion of new
actors into the local political scene, the spawning of new social
and economic problems, the appearance of new political conflicts
and the erosion of the authority and legitimacy of the colonial
regime. On top of all this are problems arising from changes in
the international economy and issues generated by Hong Kong's own
socio-economic transformations. These problems and issues have in
turn been accentuated by the 1997 malaise.
As a result of all these momentous changes directly or
indirectly related to the 1997 issue, the favorable conditions
which have all along facilitated effective colonial governance
have become weakened. While Hong Kong is far from ungovernable,
the maintenance of effective governance in the remaining years of
colonial rule has become problematic. The Hong Kong government is
not totally oblivious to its worsening predicament, but it has
been slow in reacting to it. In groping for a way out, it has
tried different tacks singly or in combination, but without
settling upon any to date. In its desperate effort to develop a
formula to assert effective rule, the government is caught in a
web of dilemmas. Nevertheless, the closer 1997 approaches, the
options available to the government will become more and more
limited. In all likelihood, the remaining options will narrow
down to some forms of power-sharing, authority consolidation and
consensus-building by the government, which end its monopoly on