The social conditions of Hong Kong before its return to the motherland

The third stage of the development of Hong Kong’s civil society is accompanied by the political transition, which affects the continued development of civil society after Hong Kong’s return. The civil society at this stage presents the following characteristics:

(1) It is related to the transformation of the British colonial governance style in Hong Kong from "absolute administrative dominance" to "relative administrative dominance".

Although Hong Kong civil society reflects the demand for democracy by Hong Kong residents, who are mainly Chinese, to a certain extent, the Hong Kong Governor has always firmly maintained the supreme governance authority, so that Hong Kong civil society is largely influenced by Hong Kong. British government control. A considerable number of non-governmental organizations are various consulting organizations established by the British Hong Kong government using public funds. Among them, some consulting organizations have members from all walks of life, but they are all appointed by the British Hong Kong government; some consulting organization members are not only appointed by the British Hong Kong government. , and includes several official members and is even chaired by an official. Even if the members are advisory organizations from the public, their appointments and funding sources determine that these organizations cannot be dominated or controlled by the British Hong Kong government, let alone advisory organizations where government officials serve as chairmen or members.

(2) It is linked to the British Hong Kong government’s implementation of the representative government system of “returning power to the people”, which has led to the “divergence between the road to democracy and the road to return.”

Hong Kong political groups originated from the political opposition between those who resisted China and resisted Japan and those who loved the country and Hong Kong. Even those third-sector institutions that are not directly related to politics, such as social welfare groups and various professional groups and chambers of commerce, are not immune to the basic contradictions in Hong Kong politics.

(3) It is related to the British Hong Kong government’s promotion of the internationalization of Hong Kong politics and Hong Kong’s high degree of political openness to Western countries, especially the United States and Britain.

In order to cultivate political power in Hong Kong to restrain the Chinese government after 1997, the British Hong Kong government promoted the internationalization of Hong Kong politics before 1997. Since the 1990s, the so-called "global civil society" has given Hong Kong NGOs the appearance of being "in line with the trend" in establishing and developing ties with Western NGOs. NGOs from Western countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, have The organization has accelerated its penetration and control of Hong Kong NGOs. Non-governmental organizations with strong ideological characteristics in Hong Kong (such as political groups, certain public organizations and advocacy groups, certain legislative and legal affairs groups), or non-governmental organizations with both ideological characteristics (such as certain public* ** and advocacy groups, environmental protection organizations), and have established close ties with similar organizations in Western countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom. Some private public policy research institutions and public opinion polling organizations in Hong Kong receive funding from Western countries, especially the official background of the United States and Britain. Certain political groups in Hong Kong have secret financial and political ties with political organizations or groups in Western countries, especially the United States and Britain.

(4) It is related to the British Hong Kong government’s substantial increase in social welfare, education, and medical expenditures on the eve of 1997.

As Hong Kong enters the "post-transitional period" after its return to the motherland, the British Hong Kong government's budget bill becomes "politicized." In order to maintain effective governance and achieve an honorable retreat, the British Hong Kong government significantly increased spending on social welfare, education and health on the eve of 1997, and continued to do so by allocating funds to non-governmental organizations. Most of the funding for non-governmental organizations in the fields of education, health and social welfare in Hong Kong comes from financial allocations, and these non-governmental organizations bear most of the education, health and social welfare in Hong Kong.

According to the "Research on the Current Situation of the Third Sector in Hong Kong", as of 2002, 64 kindergartens, 83 primary schools, 68 secondary schools, 100 vocational schools and more than 100 hospitals and health units in Hong Kong were composed of Operated and managed by NGOs. According to Civic Exchange Policy Institute's "Local Research and Participation in Tripartite Collaboration Research" (October 2005), Hong Kong's civil society welfare voluntary agencies currently provide welfare services to approximately 2 million Hong Kong residents, accounting for more than 90% of the total social welfare services.

Due to the increasing population and the principle of downward rigidity of interests, before and after the handover, the growth of fiscal expenditures on social welfare, education and health not only consistently exceeded the growth of the Hong Kong government's current expenditures, but also formed a pattern of "the tail is too big to lose".

(5) Linked to Hong Kong’s corporate structure with small and medium-sized enterprises as the main body.

The vast majority of enterprises in Hong Kong have always been small and medium-sized enterprises. Although the first and second transformation of Hong Kong's economy have created a number of large consortiums, some of which have become multinational groups, the pattern of small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for the vast majority has not changed. According to statistics from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, as of June 2005, more than 98% of enterprises in Hong Kong were small and medium-sized enterprises. This forces Hong Kong's non-governmental organizations to rely on public financial allocations as their main source of funding. According to the survey statistics of the "Research on the Current Situation of the Third Sector in Hong Kong" report, the main sources of funding for Hong Kong's third sector institutions are firstly government funding, subsidies and reimbursements, accounting for 28% of the objects surveyed; secondly, membership fees, accounting for 18 of the objects under investigation; the third is private donations, accounting for 15 of the objects under investigation. (Text/Zhou Bajun)