CUHK
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A telephone survey was conducted from 19 to 21 August 2013 by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to study the public views on recent social confrontations in Hong Kong.  893 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 46.8%.  The sampling error is + or –3.28 at a confidence level of 95%. 

Major findings are summarized as follows:

While nearly three-fifths of the respondents (58.8%) said they disapproved the radical behavior of anti-government protesters, only 11.8% expressed their approval.  28.3% answered ‘so-so’.  Likewise, 61.0% of the respondents disapproved the radical behavior of pro-government protesters, 11.7% approved.  A quarter (25.7%) neither approved nor disapproved. 

Concerning their views over the possibility of more frequent occurrence of physical clashes between anti- and pro- government groups in the future, 57.3% of the respondents were worried and 20.3% felt otherwise.  21.5% said ‘so-so’.  Furthermore, almost three-fifths of the respondents (58.5%) predicted that these confrontational incidents would become more serious in the next three years.  On the contrary, less than one-tenth (8.9%) showed optimism and believed that these would be eased.  A quarter of the respondents (24.0%) indicated no change. 

The respondents were also asked if they agreed with the statement that ‘As most people in Hong Kong do not favour the use of violence, these social confrontations would not be further escalated.’  33.8% agreed and 30.2% disagreed.  31.5% reported ‘so-so’.  While one-third (33.6%) of the respondents agreed that ‘Large-scale social riots would erupt should these confrontational incidents continue to occur’, 37.6% dismissed this possibility and 26.8% said ‘so-so’.