Wednesday, June 21 2006 13:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hong Kong: The popularity of the Hong Kong government has dipped by nine percentage points ahead of an annual pro-democracy rally, a survey indicated Wednesday.

A telephone poll of more than 1,000 people found that only 60 percent said they trusted the government of the former British colony compared to 69 percent in April.

Trust in the central government in Beijing also dipped sharply over the same period from 53 percent to 46 percent, according to the poll by the University of Hong Kong. The poll results come just days before an annual July 1 pro-democracy march in the city of 6.8 million, which has attracted up to 500,000 protestors in past years.

Much lower numbers are expected at this year's march as record turnouts in 2003 and 2004 coincided with the declining popularity of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa. His successor Donald Tsang, who took over in June 2005, has much higher popularity ratings but is viewed as being firmly under the thumb of China's leaders who chose him for the job.

Hong Kong was a British colony for 156 years before being returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a 'one country two systems' arrangement guaranteeing political freedoms.