Befolkningen nærede den illusion, at dette for Hongkong ville betyde, at der i modsætning til i resten af Kina kunne eksistere et parlamentarisk demokrati på grundlag af almindelig valgret og et flerpartisystem.
People laboured under the illusion that, for Hong Kong, this would mean that, unlike in the rest of China, a parliamentary democracy on the basis of universal suffrage and a multi-party system could exist.