12
What is most pertinent in this connection was the popular
belief in the supremacy, fairness and justice of the market
mechanism in the allocation of resources and the distribution of
income. As a result of this belief, conflicts were channelled to
the market place, and the chance of their conversion into
political conflicts was thus reduced. The general acceptance of
the impersonal law established by the colonial regime also had
the effects of guiding conflicts into the legal system and having
them resolved there, thus sparing the government of many
political troubles.13
(8) Economic growth. The economic resurgence of the West and
the establishment of the liberal international economic order
dominated by the U.S. in the post-war period provided Hong Kong
with a hospitable environment for economic development. The
gigantic progress made by the Hong Kong economy in the post-War
period not only bolstered the government's claim to legitimacy on
the basis of performance, it also was the key solvent of
potential social and political conflicts. It was easier to
distribute more economic goods to the people when the economic
pie was expanding. Moreover, economic growth swelled the revenue
of the government, enabling it to fulfil its increasing welfare
and service commitments to society. A prospering economy also
diverted people's energy to the economic realm, thus further
assuring political peace.
13 Lau and Kuan, The Ethos, pp. 119-43. See also Lau Siu-kai, 'Social Change, Bureaucratic Rule, and Emergent Political Issues in Hong Kong,' World Politics, Vol. 15, No. 3 (March 1984), pp. 259-84.