(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Chinese political leaders are highly regarded in Hong Kong, according to a poll by the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme. The support rating for Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stands at 79.7 points, up 1.4 points since March.

Former premier Zhu Rongji is second with 75 points, followed by Chinese president Hu Jintao with 74.9 points, current vice-premier Wu Yi with 69.7 points, and Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou with 64.5 points. There is a lower level of appreciation in Hong Kong for former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, former Taiwanese vice-president Lien Chan, former premier Li Peng, and former Taiwanese presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian.

In June 2005, Donald Tsang was elected unopposed by an 800-member committee to serve as Hong Kong’s chief executive for two years. Tsang had substituted Tung Chee-hwa on an interim basis. In March 2007, Tsang won a full four-year term as chief executive, defeating Alan Leong with 649 votes to 123.

China took control of Hong Kong from Britain in July 1997. As part of the "one country, two systems" arrangement proposed by Deng Xiaoping, China must allow Hong Kong to be sovereign in all matters—except national security and foreign affairs—until 2047.

Hong Kong’s Basic Law sets no specific timetable for a democratically elected government. In September 2004, Hong Kong’s 3.2 million registered voters chose 30 members to the 60-seat Legislative Council. The representatives monitor the performance of the government, and play a role in enacting laws, as well as examining and approving budgets.

In December 2007, the Chinese government decided that the people of Hong Kong will not be able to directly elect the territory’s chief executive until 2017, and the entire Legislative Council until 2020. Democratic movements in Hong Kong—who had proposed to have direct elections by 2012—protested against Beijing’s ruling.

Hong Kong residents voted on Sept. 7 to elect 30 members of the 60-seat Legislative Council. Final results gave the group of pro-democracy parties 23 out of the 60 available seats. The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) won 10 seats, meaning it remains the largest party in the legislature. In all, pro-Beijing politicians, led by the DAB, control 35 seats in the legislature.

On Oct. 8, the new legislature was sworn in. Tsang Yok-sing—a member of both the Chinese Communist Party that has ruled China since 1949 and the DAB in Hong Kong—was elected as the new president of the legislative council.

Ma Ngok, a political scientist at Hong Kong’s Chinese University, commented on Tsang’s election, saying "The president is an important gatekeeper of authority in terms of controlling and constraining the powers of Legco. Because of his pro-Beijing image he will command less respect in the public and the chamber."

Polling Data

Please use a scale of 0-100 to rate your extent of support to (the following) with zero indicating absolutely not supportive, 100 indicating absolutely supportive and 50 indicating half-half.

Source: Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme
Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Hong Kong residents, conducted from Sept. 23 to Sept. 29, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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