Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1997

the colonized. But after the communist takeover of China, whatever sense of shame that mi ght have existed i n the territory has been alleviated by public antipathy towards communist rule, and utilitarian calculations. Where Chinese and Western Values Meet Ano t he r reason may be cultural. Judging f r om the respondents' interpretation of a good government, their concept of democracy is not quite the same as that in the West. What they aspire after may not be universal suffrage but a benign government w i th some non-democratic features. The political roles they are prepared to p l ay may i nc l ude mo n i t o r i ng the government, accepting its authority and respecting its executive power, but not assuming political responsibility. But concurrent w i t h such conservatism is their trust i n the political institutions in Hong Kong. The rule of law is generally held to be far more important than capable leaders, a point which shows that colonial rule has indee d made its impact on the local political culture. It also reflects the un i que amalgamation of traditional Chinese political values w i t h Western political values. Legacies of Colonialism What effects w i l l colonial legitimacy have on the successor regime in Hong Kong? Prof. Lau believes that the SAR gove r nmen t w i l l be faced w i t h the problem of constructing legitimacy for itself. Since the termination of colonial rule has not been brought about by public Prof. Kuan Hsin-chi graduated with an LLB from National Chengchi University, Taiwan, in 1963 and pursued postgraduate studies in Germany. He obtained his MA from Free University of Berlin in 1967 and his Ph.D. from the University of Munich in 1972. He then joined The Chinese University as lecturer in government and public administration in 1973 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 1981, reader in 1987, and professor of government and public administration in 1991. He is currently director of the Universities Services Centre. Chinese University Bulletin Spring • Summer 1 997 30