TNAG-2217-FCO40-3184-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 127

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government critics. If people begin to derive satisfaction from

public criticism of the government, their support for it must

have waned.

what all these signs of 'ungovernability' reflect is a

strained government-people relationship, as escalating demands

for governmental actions, increasingly overburden an enfeebled and

disintegrating government. Naturally an intensified government-

people conflict will inevitably reinforce the social conflicts

mentioned earlier. Furthermore, it is even possible that the

government-people conflict would take on an anti-British and

anti-colonial coloration, for it is quite likely that the

weakened Hong Kong government will be increasingly perceived as

self-serving, catering primarily to its own interests or the

interests of Britain or selling out Hong Kong's interests to

China. The appearance of anti-British and anti-colonial

sentiments would unavoidably further erode the government's

ability to rule.

Nevertheless, despite all the negative factors detracting

from the government's capability to rule, in the short run I

would not foresee any possibility of collapse of governmental

authority. That is basically because the conditions relevant to

effective governance, though eroded, still remain moderately

strong. Most importantly, the economy of Hong Kong, despite

stagflation, is still a viable one. Hong Kong is likely to

continue to benefit from the growth of the economies in the Asian

Pacific Region. Its economic linkage with China will also prove