1. The sample used in the questionnaire survey was drawn by means of a multi-stage design. The target population was Chinese inhabitants in Hong Kong aged 18 years old or over. Since the full list of such adults was impossible to obtain, we used the list of permanent and residential areas from the Census and Statistics Department's computerized Sub-Frame of Living Quarters. With the assistance of the Department, a replicated systematic sample of 2,500 addresses was selected which, after the exclusion of vacant, demolished and unidentifiable addresses, plus those without Chinese residents, was reduced to 2,127. The next stage of sampling involved the selection of households and eligible respondents. Interviews were required to call at each address. If there were two or more households, only one would be selected according to a random selection table. For each selected household, the interviewer listed all persons aged 18 years old or over, and the respondent was then selected by means of a random selection grid (a modified Kish grid). Face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires were carried out by interviewers recruited from local tertiary institutions, mainly the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Fieldwork was conducted mostly during 25 May and 26 June 1998. At the end of the survey, 988 cases were successfully completed, yielding a response rate of 46.5 percent which can be considered satisfactory in the context of Hong Kong.

2. Siu-kai, Lau, “Decolonization à la Hong Kong: Britain's search for govemability and exit with glory in Hong Kong,” The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Vol. 35, No. 2 (07 1997), pp. 28–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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6. All the associations or correlations reported are significant at the .05 level, using either the x² test or the Pearson correlation coefficient.

7. Siu-kai, Lau. Democratization, Poverty of Political Leaders, and Political Inefficacy in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998).Google Scholar

8. Instead of the labels “pro-London” and “pro-Beijing,” the labels of pro-Britain and pro-China are used in common parlance in Hong Kong. However, for the sake of conceptual clarity, the former pair are used in this article.

9. See for example Shiu-hing, Lo, “Political opposition, co-optation and democratization: the case of Hong Kong,” in Pang-kwong, Li (ed.), Political Order and Power Transition in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997), pp. 127–157.Google Scholar

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15. In the past “right” meant pro-Nationalist China. But this meaning has been much diluted with the dissipating political influence of Taiwan's Nationalist regime on Hong Kong.

16. Panebianco, Angelo, Political Parties: Organization & Power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 50.Google Scholar

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20. See the bi-monthly polls conducted by the Home Affairs Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government since May 1998.

21. Wong, Timothy Ka-ying, “Issue voting,”Google Scholar in Kuan, et al. , Power Transfer and Electoral Politics, pp. 105–129.Google Scholar

22. Siu-kai, Lau, “Livelihood issues take a back seat,” South China Morning Post, 17 05 1998, p. 11.Google Scholar

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25. The poll was conducted by the Social Science Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong. See Pinguo ribao (Apple Daily), 5 01 1999, p. A18.Google Scholar

26. See the Hong Kong Transition Project, The Matrix: What's Real and What's Not in Hong Kong Public Opinion (07 1999), mimeo., p. 28.Google Scholar

27. The most visible internal rift appears in the DP. It is in the midst of a mounting crisis in reconciling its grassroots and middle-class orientations. See Yeung, Chris, “Struggle to strike a balance,” South China Morning Post, 17 12 1998, p. 19Google Scholar; and “Call for calm at party crossroads,” South China Morning Post, 1 01 1999, p. 13.Google Scholar

28. Opinion polls show that public support for the Legislative Council had failed over the past year. In addition, party leaders trailed behind senior government officials in popularity. See for example, Pinguo ribao, 28 12 1998, p. A1Google Scholar;ibid. 5 January 1999, p. A18; and Hong Kong Standard, 1 04 1999, p. 4.Google Scholar

29. Tsui, Clarence, “Search for successors proves an uphill job,” South China Morning Post, 04 5, 1999, p. 13.Google Scholar