Social Conflicts in Hong Kong

This study has attempted to inventory the everyday social conflicts that occurred during the period 1 January 1996 to 30 June 2002 as reported by the press. A total of 3,385 social conflict events were recorded. Most of the recorded social conflicts were of short duration; initiated by named associations; engaged neither allies nor antagonistic parties; had a limited number of participants; and involved the government, either as an object of claim, a party to conflict against, or an arbitrator of conflicts. The majority of conflict actions were peaceful and bounded by mutually agreed-upon principles. Outbreaks of violence were extremely rare and governmental repression self-controlled. The past several years has seen an expanding zone of conflicts and the social base of collective contention has become broader and more heterogeneous. Yet, production workers, people with a political party affiliation and students tended to be involved more often in collective action. "Civil rights and liberties," "labour and employment," "housing," "culture and religion," "economics" and "politics and government" were the six most frequent issues leading to conflict. The majority of the conflict events aimed to protest against some specific objects or to demand something or some changes. It was more likely for labour-related, political and housing issues to make use of persuasive actions, while issues concerning civil rights were more inclined to resort to protest actions.