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Hong Kong support for Taiwan¡¦s UN bid
increases: poll
Staff writer, with CNA, Hong Kong
More Hong Kong residents have become supportive of Taiwan¡¦s efforts to rejoin
the UN and fewer are now identifying as Chinese since Beijing authorities
blocked imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo (¼B¾åªi) from accepting the Nobel Peace
Prize, a new poll found.
A Hong Kong University poll conducted earlier this month found that 42 percent
of the territory¡¦s residents backed Taiwan¡¦s bid to become a UN member, a 5
percent increase from similar polls in September.
The increase in support for Taiwan¡¦s efforts could have resulted from China¡¦s
refusal to free Liu from prison to attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony
in Norway, said Robert Chung (Áé®xÄ£), director of the university¡¦s Public Opinion
Program.
The poll also found that 63 percent of respondents now consider themselves ¡§Hong
Kongers¡¨ rather than ¡§Chinese,¡¨ compared to 57 percent six months ago.
Thirty-five percent of respondents see themselves as either ¡§Chinese in Hong
Kong¡¨ or ¡§Chinese,¡¨ a drop of 8 percentage points from a similar survey in June.
Chung said China¡¦s treatment of Liu was most likely also responsible for the
slide.
The good performance of Hong Kong¡¦s team at the Guangzhou Asian Games last month
and a hostage situation in the Philippines in August involving 15 tourists from
Hong Kong could have contributed to the stronger sense of Hong Kong identity
among residents, he said.
The telephone survey collected 1,000 valid samples.
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