Chung dismissed the allegations as a “Cultural Revolution-style smear campaign.”
The China Daily, a state-run mainland newspaper, ridiculed the survey as “preposterous” and “intent on messing up Hong Kong.” Other party-controlled media in Hong Kong suggested that Chung was being manipulated by foreign interests, including British spies, alleging contacts with David Ford, a former colonial official in Hong Kong with supposed ties to British intelligence.
“I do not know David Ford, and I have never met him,” Chung said.
China’s sharp reaction has sparked wary speculation here about its motives. One theory is that officials merely want to display tough nationalist credentials ahead of a leadership transition in Beijing this year. Others note the role of local politics: Hong Kong will get a new chief executive this year — chosen by a 1,200-member committee — and will then start preparations for a real election, with universal suffrage, scheduled for 2017.
Beijing, analysts say, wants to ensure that the expansion of democracy in Hong Kong doesn’t empower “hostile forces” or encourage discussion of what it views as taboo issues, one of the most sensitive of which is identity.
A distinct identity
Determined to uproot separatist sentiment in Tibet, Xinjiang and other regions with large non-Han Chinese populations, Beijing has long insisted that all citizens view themselves only as “Chinese.” Hong Kong is almost entirely Chinese in its ethnic and cultural makeup, but after being separated from China during 156 years of British rule, it has a distinct identity.
Surveys conducted by Chung’s unit at Hong Kong University show that identification with China increased somewhat after the 1997 handover but began to decline after peaking in 2008 when Beijing hosted the Olympic Games. Just 34 percent of those surveyed last month identified themselves as primarily Chinese, and 63 percent emphasized their Hong Kong identity.
Chung declined to speculate on why Hong Kong’s residents appear to identify less with China but said he stands by his findings.
“I am not a politician,” he said. “I will let history tell the true value of my work.”
Independent media have rallied to Chung’s defense and voiced alarm at China’s reaction. Instead of attacking Chung, the Ming Pao newspaper said, Beijing officials should ask why Hong Kong’s people “are growing cool towards China.”
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