Support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests dips, but 49% strongly oppose China's national security law, finds survey
Support for year-long pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong has slipped, now getting the backing of a slim majority, as the city braces for the imposition of Beijing-drafted national security legislation, a survey conducted for Reutersshowed.
Protests escalated last June over a since-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions of defendants to mainland China. They later morphed into a push for greater democracy, often involving violent clashes with the police.
Opposition to the demands rose to 21 percent from 15 percent.
Samson Yuen, assistant professor in the political science department at Lingnan University, said support for the protesters' demands was "still high" but could have dropped because the security law has overtaken the protests as the main topic in the public discourse.
"Who would still talk about (protest) demands when the national security law is coming?," said Yuen.
Lam's office and China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, which comes under the State Council, or cabinet, did not respond to requests for comment.
For the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, 1,002 respondents were randomly surveyed by telephone. The results were weighted according to the latest population figures.
Opposition to Security Law
The poll was conducted when Beijing's intention to introduce legislation against terrorism, subversion, separatism and foreign interference was known but few details were available.
While the draft of the new law is yet to be finalised, key features of the legislation have since been released, revealing that Communist Party central authorities will have overarching powers over its enforcement, including final interpretation rights.
The poll showed 49 percent of respondents strongly opposed Beijing's move, with 7 percent "somewhat" opposing it. Support for the legislation added up to 34 percent, with the rest indifferent or undecided.
"I object to the law because the (Beijing) government is interfering in Hong Kong's business," said engineer Charles Lo, 29, who participated in the survey. "It will also suppress our freedom of speech and hinder the democracy movement."
The law has stoked fears that Beijing is further eroding extensive autonomy promised to the territory when Britain handed it back to China under a "one country, two systems" formula in 1997.
Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have repeatedly said the legislation would only target a small number of "troublemakers", while rights and freedoms would be preserved. They say it will bring stability to a city rattled by the protests.
"Before June last year, I didn't think Hong Kong needed national security laws because we were so peaceful and safe, but now I think it's necessary," said another survey respondent, Hui, a retiree in her 50s.
The poll also showed that support for the idea of Hong Kong independence, which is anathema to Beijing and is expected to be a focal point in the looming legislation, remained relatively unchanged at 21 percent. Opposition to the idea grew to 60 percent from 56 percent.
Compared to the previous poll, fewer respondents primarily blamed the local government - 39 vs 43 percent - or the police - 7 vs 10 percent - for the current state of affairs in Hong Kong, while more blamed the pro-democracy camp - 18 vs 14 percent - and the central government in Beijing - also 18 vs 14 percent.
Another finding was a rise in support for local, pro-Beijing politicians ahead of the Sept. 6 election for the Legislative Council, known as Legco.
Pro-Beijing candidates were supported by 29 percent of respondents, up from 22 percent. Support for pro-democracy politicians remained strong at 53 percent, but dropped 5 points.
A split in lower level district elections in November resulted in the pro-democracy camp winning over 80 percent of the seats.
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