HONG KONG — A Hong Kong polling group mentioned Thursday it is going to “change with the times” and stop publishing public opinion responses to matters such because the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and Taiwan’s independence.
These points are deemed taboo by Beijing, which has tightened its grip on Hong Kong after town noticed large and typically violent democracy protests in 2019.
A nationwide safety legislation designed to quell dissent has additionally been in place since 2020, with scores of civil society teams shutting down citing political strain.
Last month the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute—one of many metropolis’s few unbiased pollsters—canceled the discharge of Tiananmen-related survey outcomes following “suggestions” from an unspecified authorities division.
Institute president and CEO Robert Chung introduced Thursday the group will slash its public knowledge output by round half beginning this month, with the outcomes to 56 polling questions in 10 totally different surveys being made personal.
The affected surveys vary from the recognition of political teams to “national issues”—a ballot that featured the query, “do you trust the Beijing Central Government?”
Denying that the transfer was resulting from self-censorship, Chung mentioned the institute has to “conserve our resources and energy,” citing lowering public demand for knowledge as one other issue.
“We did not consult the government… but we were aware of the so-called risk assessment made by some government departments in the past,” Chung instructed AFP, referring to when the discharge of the Tiananmen survey needed to be canceled as a result of authorities’s “risk assessment.”
Among the 56 questions was one about Tiananmen Square, asking respondents whether or not Beijing did the best factor in the course of the 1989 bloody crackdown.
Other questions gauged assist for Taiwan and Tibet independence—each thought of untouchable points inside mainland China.
Chung confused that the affected surveys will nonetheless be performed, however the outcomes shall be saved in a paywalled database anticipated to be operational by September.
First established as a college program in 1991, the Institute began polling within the closing years of British colonial rule earlier than town was handed over to China in 1997.
One of town’s most carefully watched polls would ask residents in the event that they recognized as “Hongkongers,” “Chinese,” or some mixture of the 2.
That ballot was among the many “restricted” surveys introduced Thursday, as was a query about public satisfaction with the police.
“Some of those questions might have generated some unwarranted political disputes, which we did not intend,” Chung mentioned.
Those who need to obtain the “restricted” polling knowledge sooner or later might want to declare in an internet disclaimer that it’ll not be used for unlawful functions.
Hung Ho-fung, a political sciences scholar at John Hopkins University, mentioned the Institute has lengthy been the “most reliable source for scientific indicators” of Hong Kong public sentiments.
He added that survey respondents might not reveal their true emotions beneath the present political local weather, fearing their knowledge might be leaked.
Hong Kong police in 2020 and 2021 raided the Institute’s workplace after it helped pro-democracy activists manage an off-the-cuff major election.
The Institute will proceed to publish recognition scores of high authorities officers, together with metropolis chief John Lee—whose ranking dipped to a brand new low this month. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
