TNAG-2217-FCO40-3184-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 117

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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