SCMP:Tsang's disapproval rating at record high

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's disapproval rating has reached a record high after the July 1 protest, a poll shows.

Forty-five per cent of 1,006 people interviewed on the phone last week said they lacked confidence in him, the highest proportion to hold that view since he became the chief executive in 2005.

The figure was also 6 percentage points higher than that recorded in the previous survey late last month, the University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme found.

At the same time, the proportion of people who approved of Mr Tsang's performance dropped from 45 to 40 per cent.

His support rating also fell by 1.6 points to 53.8 points.

"Both in terms of the support rating and the approval rate, the popularity of Donald Tsang has dropped again after a rebound two weeks ago, probably due to the effect of the July 1 rally," Robert Chung Ting-yiu, director of the programme, said.

The latest poll was conducted after thousands of people marched on July 1 to air a range of demands, including calls for Mr Tsang's resignation and universal suffrage.

Some protested against the outsourcing of civil servants' work, while a group of investors who lost money on minibonds, a high-risk derivative investment, demanded compensation for their losses.

A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Executive said Mr Tsang respected the findings of the poll.