Consultative Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

“ As the questions to be surveyed in a commercial context are relatively simple and clear, the design of the questionnaire is a relatively easy job. If the survey is on political, social or current affairs issues, especially when there are divergent opinions on the existing issue of political structure, the presentation of the questions, the contents of the answers and the number of choices available will each be a possible source of further disputes among people of different political views. ”

“ The holding of a referendum requires rules for such procedures as the registration of voters and the voting, which must be conducted in compliance with strict political standards. Since the Basic Law is the business of the Chinese Government while Hong Kong is to remain under British administration prior to 1997, the registration of voters and voting under these circumstances will touch on many complicated political issues. ”

“ Since the CCBL is an organization comprising people of various political views, it is difficult to guarantee that the survey will be free from any political influence and conducted objectively and fairly. In fact, regarding the presentation of some political questions, it is quite impossible to find a standard that is objective, unbiased and acceptable to all. In this respect, lessons can be drawn from the experience of the Hong Kong Government in its public opinion poll conducted in 1987 on the reform of the political structure in Hong Kong. ”

“ The accuracy of the survey results very often depends on the respondents' understanding of the issue itself and of the questions asked in the survey at that time. Their opinions are at the same time influenced by the public opinion and the happenings around them. The attitude of the public towards certain issues may change tremendously within a certain period. Thus, many marketing researches are conducted regularly, for example, twice to four times a year. ”

“ During this consultation period, people from various sectors submitted to us all sorts of opinions which covered almost everything and were expressed in all forms. We herein thank them sincerely for their concern for the Basic Law (Draft) . Our Secretariat is at the moment processing these opinions so that they can be compiled into the consultation report which, apart from being submitted to the Drafting Committee for reference, will be made available to the public as in the previous round of consultations. ”

“ These surveys mainly centre around issues concerning the political structure, the legitimacy of the Basic Law, and confidence in Hong Kong's future. These surveys have different target respondents: some take the general public in Hong Kong as their target respondents while others are confined to a certain district or members of a certain organization. The methods of survey and the forms of questionnaires also differ from one to another. Hence, the CCBL cannot summarize the contents of these surveys in the main text of the consultation report. ”

“ Among them 17 submissions are from 242 organizations which form themselves into groups. Some organizations sent in more than one submission. Each submission from an organization or a group of organizations is treated as a single unit. The organizations are from a wide range of fields, such as industry and commerce, finance, law, the professions, mass media, labour and grass-roots organizations, religious bodies, organizations of foreign nationals and concern groups. Many of these organizations have a long history. ”

“ It is most unfortunate that the Hong Kong public have been denied a chance of meeting them.
In the whole process of drafting the Basic Law. the drafters are naturally the ones who contribute the most and work the hardest. Likewise in the consultations on the Basic Law, our advisers and members are the ones who contribute the most. ”

“ If a piece of opinion is submitted by a concern group or a group of members of an organization, the CCBL will process it as a submission from a group of individuals.
11. No organizations requested that their submissions be kept confidential. In order to help the Drafting Committee better understand these opinions, the CCBL when acknowledging receipt of their submissions also required the organizations to provide details in respect of their functions, objectives, memberships, and the procedures through which their submissions were prepared. ”

“ There are 11 types which are in the form of a questionnaire (listing the various proposals, or a number of comments or suggestions for amendment regarding a certain article, and the signatories being asked to make their own choice; some of these questionnaires contain a column entitled "reasons" allowing the signatories to write down their reasons for choosing a particular model or accepting a particular view) . ”

“ Publicity and explanation of the Basic Law is important to the collection of opinions. Regarding the publicity programmes for this round of consultations, the CCBL having benefited from last year's experience in the first round of consultations continued to adopt some of the more effective forms of publicity. It has also improved and supplemented these forms in accordance with the characteristics and conditions of this round of consultations to achieve better results. ”

“ Another way is to provide several alternatives for the respondents to choose from. However, if the alternatives are interrelated, it is necessary to simplify them or screen them or rewrite them so that the respondents will easily understand the questions and the meaning of the various answers. ”

“ The sources of opinions are not confined to individuals and organizations from different fields in Hong Kong, some of the opinions are from overseas.
Submissions from Individuals or Groups of Individuals
4. Out of the 3,513 submissions from individuals or groups of individuals, 3,442 are from individuals and 71 are from 720 individuals who form themselves into groups. Each of these submissions is treated as a single unit. ”

“ Numerous organizations and individuals have rendered us support and assistance in this second round of consultations, but it is quite impossible to mention them individually here. May we extend once more our most sincere thanks to all of you. ”

“ In addition to the seminars and discussion sessions organized by the CCBL, organizations of various sectors also held different Basic Law-related promotional and consultative activities in accordance with their own characteristics and needs. ”