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Conservatism has deep roots in Hong Kong politics and society. Today, as a political trend, it is often reflected in but not limited to the current pro-Beijing camp, one of the two major political forces in Hong Kong, as opposed to liberalism, a dominant feature of the pro-democracy camp. It has also become a political view taken by some localist political parties.
Political conservatism in Hong Kong derives from the Chinese tradition of familism and Confucianism and was incorporated into the colonial government's policies by Governor Cecil Clementi in the 1920s in the wake of rising Marxism–Leninism and communism in general. The anti-communist sentiments continued after the Second World War when waves of Chinese refugees fled to the colony as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) swept across 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 Chinese Civil War in 1949 when the ROC government fled to Taiwan and throughout the Cold War, Conservatives have also taken libertarian thoughts on economic policies.
During the transition period that began during the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, the business elites were joined by pro-Communist traditional leftists in a strategic "unholy alliance" 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 central government in Beijing when the handover eventually happened in 1997. It has also broadened its popular support and become the backbone of today's pro-Beijing camp, which has been the major supporting force of the SAR administration led by the indirectly elected Chief Executive.