A Chow Tai Fook jewellery shop on Nathan Road in Mongkok

Although Hong Kong tycoons are reluctant to voice their opinions about the ongoing Occupy Central that erupted in the city more than a month ago, according to an opinion poll conducted by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Business Daily, and reported by Xinhua,  close to 600 business groups in the city oppose the protests. 

Among the 600 questionnaires distributed to the city’s major business groups, 57.81 percent of the 563 respondents said they “strongly oppose” the protests, while 40.53 percent said they “oppose” the protests.  The remaining 1.6 percent responded “neutral”, with not one respondent expressing support.

Not surprisingly, more than 95 percent of the business groups polled said the protests are disorderly, while almost 98 percent said the protests are disrupting Hong Kong’s economy.

The results are a stark contrast to the recent poll conducted by Hong Kong University’s Public Opinion Programme, which revealed the Hong Kong Federation of Students, a leading force behind Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, has become more popular than any of the city’s 12 major political parties, sporting a support rating of 47.1 percent, the SCMP reported.

The Liberal Party’s popularity also increased after its former leader, James Tien Pun-chun, was stripped of his seat on the nation’s top advisory body, the CPPCC, last month for criticising CY Leung.

In an interview with three international newspapers, Leung said universal suffrage would give the city’s poor more say in Hong Kong’s policies, a group comprising a significant percentage of the city’s population.

Photos: CHRIS STOWERS — McClatchy