20
and large do not have confidence in the future, nor do they trust
the Chinese government. At the same time, they also increasingly
harbor mistrust of the British government as the interests of
Britain and Hong Kong are more and more perceived to be in
conflict. 19
Political reforms, though moderate, still threaten the
political dominance of civil servants, generating among them a
growing sense of unease and frustration. Though they give verbal
support to democracy, they do not have confidence that democratic
government is likely to be achieved in Hong Kong. They are not
committed to adapt themselves to a more open mode of political
operation. As a result, they lament the decline of political
supremacy and have behavioral difficulties in dealing with the
new political challenge.20 It is thus not surprising that 'to the
extent that these senior public administrators supported
democratic government, they also demonstrated a stronger
inclination to leave the territory by 1997.121
19 Terry T. Lui and Terry L. Cooper, 'Hong Kong Facing China: Civil Servants' Confidence in the Future, Administration_ & Society, Vol. 22, No. 2 (August 1990), p. 159; Terry L. Cooper and Terry T. Lui, 'Democracy and the Administrative State: The Case of Hong Kong, Public Administration Review, Vol. 50, No. 3 (May/June 1990), p. 338; and Ian Scott, 'Sino-British Agreement and Political Power in Hong Kong,' Asian Pacific Community, No. 31 (Winter 1986), pp. 6-12.
20 Lau Siu-kai and Kuan Hsin-chi, Chinese Bureaucrats in a Modern Colony: The Case of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Centre for Hong Kong Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1986); Kathleen Cheek- Milby, 'The Changing Political Role of the Hong Kong Civil Servant, 'Pacific Affairs, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Summer 1989), pp. 220- 34 and The Civil Servant as Politician: The Role of the Official Member of the Legislative Council,' in Kathleen Cheek-Milby and Miron Mushkat (eds.), Hong Kong: The Challenge of Transformation
(Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong), pp. 256-91.
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