Conservatism in Hong Kong has become the underlying ideology of the pro-Beijing camp, which has been the major supporting force of the SAR administration led by the Chief Executive. It is one of two major political ideologies of Hong Kong, with the other being liberalism. Since the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, conservatism has been characterised by business elites joining with pro-Communist traditional leftists in a united front to resist the rise of the demand for democratisation and liberalisation, in order to secure continued political stability and economic prosperity while maintaining a good relationship with the communist central government in Beijing leading up to and after the 1997 handover.
Historically, conservatism derives from the Chinese tradition of familism and Confucianism. These traditions were incorporated into the British colonial government's policies by Governor Cecil Clementi in the 1920s during the rise Marxism–Leninism and communism more broadly. Anti-communist sentiment continued after the Second World War when waves of Chinese refugees fled to the colony as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) grew in Mainland China in the renewed Chinese Civil War. At this time, conservatives supported the Republic of China (ROC), and were pro–Kuomintang (KMT). After the de facto end of the civil war and throughout the Cold War, Conservatives have also taken libertarian thoughts on economic policies. Before the 1980s, most conservatives held a strong anti-communist sentiment.
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