'Trust in One Country, Two Systems near record low'

Ray Poon (left) of Path of Democracy says the One Country, Two Systems principle is in danger as people don't believe in it. Photo: RTHK

A pro-government think tank on Monday warned that people's faith in One Country, Two Systems is hovering near record lows and urged the government to set up a panel to advise it on the issues regarding the city's autonomy.



The think tank founded by executive councillor Ronny Tong also called for a warning system to be established to deal with people's expectations on issues, which may affect their views towards governance.



The think tank had asked the public about their thoughts on One Country, Two Systems every two months. In August, their confidence level went down 3.26, on a ten-point scale. But it bounced back slightly to 3.53 in December.



Ray Poon, a co-convenor of the think tank, explained that the slight bump was likely due to a High Court ruling that the government's mask ban was unconstitutional, the landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates in November's district council elections, as well as a review panel proposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam to look into the cause of the protest movement.



But he said the figures still reflect a confidence crisis.



"We do think that the One Country, Two Systems principle is in danger, because the people have a lower rating for it. It might be due to [fact that] the long awaited promise of universal suffrage... is still not actualised. And also another camp of people, especially pro-establishment, think that the national security aspect is not totally fulfilled," he said.