30
position vis-a-vis their employers. These are precisely the
reasons why it is the government itself who since the late 1960s
has acted as the surrogate guardian of the interests of the
workers by enacting legislations which provide a minimal level of
protection to them. The unavailability of market power and the
salience of the government as the channel of redress leave
political action as the major means for the pursuit of class
interests by the workers of Hong Kong.
31
Economic stagflation is bound to aggravate class conflict in
Hong Kong. Economic demands from the workers are bound to
increase. On the other hand, the advantaged sectors are also more
ready to defend their interests in a zero-sum economic game,
whether against the lower strata or against the government.
(2) Conflict of identities The fear of 1997 has spurred a
large number of Hong Kong people, notably those in the higher
social strata, to acquire foreign passports to safeguard their
freedom of movement after 1997. The decision of Britain to grant
the British nationality to 50,000 elite families, with the
proclaimed goal of keeping them in Hong Kong, is a prominent
example of the way the Hong Kong population will be
'internationalized.'
Though it is difficult to estimate the number of Hong Kong
Chinese residents holding foreign passports after 1997, it is
however possible that by 1997 there will be half a million of
them. As they and those without foreign passports are in
31 See Joe England, Industrial Relations and Law in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 1989).