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allay psychological insecurity and to boost up self confidence.
They will also be more inclined to take a more accommodating
stance toward China because they cannot afford the detrimental
consequences of Hong Kong-China confrontation. I also expect the
'stayers,' out of jealousy, a sense of self-righteousness or
economic self-interests, to cast the 'sojourners' in a negative
light, castigating their lack of moral commitment to their
community and their preoccupation with material exploitation of
their 'former' fellow citizens. That the 'sojourners' are more
likely to take a more pessimisitic view of Hong Kong's future and
more uncompromising in their attitude toward China will pit them
against the 'stayers. Moreover, as most the 'sojourners' belong
to the privileged social strata, the conflict of identities
between them and the 'stayers' will be reinforced by the rising
class conflict.
1
It is thus not accidental that in my 1988 survey 68.2 percent
of respondents declared that they would not trust people with
foreign passports or rights of residence as their political
leaders (only 17.7 percent thought otherwise). It can even be
inferred that the colonial government will gradually be seen from
an ethnic perspective, and its interests increasingly defined as
in conflict with those of the 'stayers.
Thus, as the result of moral self-righteousness, material
interests, feelings of ethnic injustice, nationalistic appeals
and fear of China, the formation of a new identity among the
'stayers' (the identities of the 'sojourners' might not be
1