Hong Kong’s Return to China
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Hong Kong’s Return To China: Year In Review 1997
Hong Kong’s Return To China , At midnight on June 30/July 1, 1997, the crown colony of Hong Kong (see Map ) officially reverted to Chinese sovereignty, ending 156 years of British rule. After a formal handover ceremony on July 1, the colony became the Hong Kong special administrative region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China. The ceremony culminated a 13-year transition that had been initiated by the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong, signed by the heads of the two governments in December 1984. The agreement stipulated that under Chinese rule the HKSAR would enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in matters of foreign relations and defense, and that the social and economic systems as well as the lifestyle in Hong Kong would remain unchanged for 50 years after 1997. Many observers, however, expressed considerable skepticism about China’s pledge to abide by the "one country, two systems" plan outlined in the agreement. They feared that China would drastically curtail the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents. Great Britain had acquired Hong Kong Island from China in 1842, when the Treaty of Nanking was signed at the end of the first Opium War (1839-42). Unsatisfied with incomplete control of the harbour, the British forced China to cede Kowloon Peninsula south of what is now Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island less than 20 years later, after the second Opium War (1856-60). By the Convention of 1898, the New Territories together with 235 islands were leased to Britain for 99 years from July 1, 1898. After the communists took power in China in 1949, Hong Kong became a sanctuary for hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing communist rule. In the following decades the Chinese government insisted that the treaties giving Britain sovereignty over Hong Kong were invalid. CONNECT WITH BRITANNICA Although in 1984 Britain and China agreed on the terms of the handover of Hong Kong, Sino-British cooperation during the transition period deteriorated after the appointment in 1992 of Chris Patten as Hong Kong’s last colonial governor. Sharply breaking with past practice, Patten initiated a series of political reforms designed to give the people of Hong Kong a greater voice in government via democratic elections to the Legislative Council (LegCo). China’s crackdown on the student-led democracy movement in 1989 fed anxiety in Hong Kong regarding the handover and led to the political awakening of a previously quiescent population. Beijing made efforts to stonewall Patten’s reforms, which it condemned as a betrayal of London’s earlier promises to manage the transition as an exercise in which Hong Kong had no voice of its own. When Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, led by barrister Martin Lee, routed pro-Beijing politicians in the 1995 LegCo elections, Beijing denounced Patten and began a series of strong measures aimed at reestablishing its influence. On March 24, 1996, China’s 150-member Preparatory Committee, which had been created to oversee the handover, voted to dissolve LegCo and install a provisional legislature after Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty. In December 1996 a China-backed special election committee selected the 60 members of the provisional body, just days after it had overwhelmingly elected 59-year-old shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa (see BIOGRAPHIES) the first chief executive of the HKSAR. Tung, whose tottering corporate empire had been salvaged by a large infusion of government-supplied capital in the 1980s, soon signaled his intention to roll back Patten’s reforms, announcing in April 1997 proposals to restrict political groups and public protests after the handover. In essence, what Lee called the "Singaporization" of Hong Kong--i.e., the imposition of authoritarian control--had begun even before the Union Jack was lowered in the colony for the last time. TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE Emmenthaler. Slice of swiss cheese on a white background. Say Cheese Pomp and pageantry marked the formal handover ceremony. In attendance were numerous dignitaries from around the world, including Pres. Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng of China, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (see BIOGRAPHIES). Prince Charles, who gave a short speech in which he congratulated the colony on its political, economic, and social successes, told the people of Hong Kong, "We shall not forget you, and we shall watch with the closest interest as you embark on this new era of your remarkable history." President Jiang, the first mainland Chinese head of state to visit Hong Kong since 1842, reassured residents that China would carry out the "one country, two systems" plan of local autonomy, which had been contrived principally by Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Deng had passed away on February 19, just four and a half months before the handover he had hoped to witness. (See OBITUARIES.) On the morning of the handover, several thousand specially trained troops of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were deployed in Hong Kong as garrison forces symbolizing the reassertion of China’s sovereignty. Chinese authorities did not attempt to suppress several rallies outside the LegCo building on June 30-July 1, even when Lee addressed thousands of demonstrators from a balcony after LegCo had officially been dissolved. The protests proceeded peacefully. BRITANNICA LISTS & QUIZZES The Warwick Regiment on the main road, Simonstown, South Africa, during the Boer War, c. 1901 HISTORY QUIZ Name the African Battle A mug shot taken by the regional Colombia control agency in Medellín HISTORY LIST Pablo Escobar: 8 Interesting Facts About the King of Cocaine Chocolate wrapped in foil FOOD QUIZ Chocolate Shooting star (Dodecatheon pauciflorum). SCIENCE LIST Botanical Sex: 9 Alluring Adaptations Tung, in his first speech as chief executive, skirted the issues of political rights and democracy, choosing to espouse "traditional Chinese values." He also dwelled on mundane but important issues such as housing and education, vowing to increase the rate of home ownership in Hong Kong to 70% in the next 10 years and to provide better training for teachers. Tung counted on enhanced social programs, including government payments to the elderly poor, and continuing prosperity to marginalize political opposition to his new administration. Most citizens of Hong Kong, of whom 95% were ethnic Chinese, appeared ready to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being. Tung and the provisional legislature prepared for the first posthandover legislative elections in mid-1998 by reworking the rules of the political game. On July 8 it was announced that only 20 of the 60 legislative seats would be filled via a system of proportional representation. The remaining 40 seats would be chosen by electoral colleges and an election committee, as they were in the period prior to the implementation of Patten’s reforms. This change virtually ensured the dominance of Hong Kong’s business and professional elite, most of whose members valued stability--which they identified with their own power--over democratic representation. In the first months after the handover, Hong Kong was indeed stable. The outlook for the free exercise of political and civil rights in Hong Kong was clouded, however. Members of the Democratic Party protested that the new electoral system was created to minimize their influence, and Lee predicted that the Democrats would win no more than 10 of the 20 directly elected seats. TRENDING TOPICS Ottoman Empire Great Famine Code of Justinian Thomson atomic model Daoism Eyjafjallajökull volcano Intolerable Acts Opium Wars Harlem Renaissance Russian Revolution of 1917 President Jiang hailed the "return of Hong Kong to the motherland" as a great historical event that presaged Taiwan’s eventual reunification with mainland China. Both Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang and its main opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party, vigorously rejected Jiang’s assertion and vowed to resist Beijing’s attempts to exert pressure on the island nation. In late June Taiwan conducted live-fire military exercises, which were intended as a signal to China that Taiwan would resist any attempts at reunification. On June 28 approximately 70,000 people in Taiwan attended a "Say No to China" antireunification rally. Although the Taiwanese government encouraged China to protect freedom in Hong Kong, it made it clear that Taiwan would not be absorbed in a similar manner. The United States, rather than Great Britain, was the principal Western power interested in holding China to its pledge of respecting Hong Kong’s political and economic autonomy. Both U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Albright informed Beijing that its behaviour with respect to Hong Kong would be considered a touchstone in Sino-American relations, and U.S. congressional leaders reinforced this message. Chinese leaders, meanwhile, severely restricted the access of their own citizens to Hong Kong, whose per capita gross domestic product of more than $24,000 was roughly 40 times that of China and whose habits of free expression and political participation were not ones that Beijing wished its own citizens to emulate.
Monument in commemoration of Hong Kong's return to China
Following is the translation of the inscription on the Monument in Commemoration of the Return of Hong Kong to China : In Commemoration of the Return of Hong Kong to China Situated in southern China and endowed with a deep-water harbour, Hong Kong is home to generations of inhabitants who have traded by sea. In the wake of the Opium War in 1840, Britain seized and occupied Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and later took the "New Territories" by lease. Benefiting from the interaction between East and West, Hong Kong has developed into a free port that promotes international trade and operates under the rule of law. The people of Hong Kong, with their diligence, vigour and entrepreneurial skills, and supported by the motherland, have achieved great success in their endeavours and have turned Hong Kong into an international centre of finance, trade and transportation. In the last century, China was plagued by turmoil and suffering, and her patriots remained determined to reclaim lost territories. Having gained in strength steadily since the implementation of the policy of reform and opening-up, our country declared its decision to recover Hong Kong in 1997. The great statesman Deng Xiaoping put forward the ingenious concept of "one country, two systems", and "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" with a high degree of autonomy. This won popular and enthusiastic support. China and the United Kingdom signed the Joint Declaration after diplomatic negotiations. The British Government agreed to return Hong Kong to China, while the Chinese Government decided to establish the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in accordance with the Chinese Constitution. Consequently, the National People's Congress established the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the HKSAR. After extensive public consultations, the National People's Congress adopted the Basic Law. The Preparatory Committee was then formed, charged with the duty of preparing the establishment of the HKSAR. Subsequently, following the election of the Selection Committee, the Central People's Government appointed Tung Chee Hwa as the first Chief Executive of the HKSAR. At midnight of 30 June 1997, the governments of China and the United Kingdom held a Handover Ceremony in Hong Kong. President Jiang Zemin and the Prince of Wales jointly officiated at the ceremony. Thousands of guests from all over the world attended and witnessed this spectacular ceremony. The national flag and the HKSAR flag were raised high amidst thundering cheers; the People's Liberation Army moved into Hong Kong. It was indeed a glorious and historic moment. Two years have now passed. Both the Central Authorities and the HKSAR Government have strictly abided by the Basic Law, and the people in Hong Kong have lived in peace and contentment. To commemorate the return of Hong Kong to China, the Preparatory Committee decided to erect this monument. It is hoped that all Chinese and future generations of Hong Kong people will follow their predecessors in perseverance and observance of the law, will love the country and Hong Kong, and will continue to develop, in a gradual and orderly manner, a democratic system for their prosperity. Hong Kong will stand as a great cosmopolitan city and an important economic, trade, and cultural centre in south China. May Hong Kong thrive and prosper forever! Erected by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, on this First Day of July, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-nine. End/Thursday, July 1, 1999
Tenth Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return to China - Riding out the tough times and readying for a new leap
Getting off to an unfortunate start This year marks the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China on July 1, 1997. In retrospect, it was by no means an easy start. The very next day after Hong Kong's return to China, the Asian financial crisis erupted, triggered by the devaluation of the Thai baht. Subsequently, Hong Kong's economy deteriorated rapidly and prices continued to fall. A wave of deflation reached across different sectors of the economy with prices falling not only in goods and services but also in assets such as real estate and stocks. In particular, sharp falls in housing prices left a large number of households debt-burdened with liabilities exceeding assets, which put a damper on household consumption. Amid the declining fiscal revenues, the Hong Kong government continued to expand fiscal expenditures in a bid to stave off deflation, resulting in a huge fiscal deficit. Riding on the worldwide information technology (IT) boom, Hong Kong's economy rebounded sharply in 2000. The trend, however, did not last long as the economy slowed down with the bursting of the IT bubble. Then in 2003 came the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which resulted in further deepening of the recession. While many Asian currencies had dropped sharply over the course of the 1997-98 financial crisis, the Hong Kong dollar had remained pegged to the U.S. dollar at the official exchange rate of HK$7.8 to US$1. This lowered Hong Kong's competitiveness as an international business center, making its currency, prices, wage rates, and rents more expensive than in other parts of Asia. With currency devaluation ruled out as a policy option, Hong Kong had to count on further falls in wage rates and prices - i.e., further deflation - to improve its competitiveness as well as to revive the economy. Furthermore, under the linked exchange rate system, Hong Kong interest rates had to follow those of the United States, leaving little room for Hong Kong to stimulate the economy through monetary policy, namely, by cutting interest rates. CEPA as an impetus for recovery Fortunately, the conclusion of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between mainland China and Hong Kong in June 2003 served as a turning point for recovery from the sluggish economy that followed Hong Kong's return to China (figure). Hong Kong's economy has been growing at a rapid pace - 8.6% in 2004, 7.3% in 2005, and 6.8% in 2006 - while the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.3% compared to its high of 8.5% in the second quarter of 2003 (all figures are seasonally adjusted).CEPA covers not only liberalization of trade in goods and services but also facilitation of trade and investment. With the signing of CEPA, the import of all goods, except certain prohibited items, from Hong Kong to mainland China became entitled to zero-tariff treatment. This has been contributing to the formation of new competitive industries by linking Hong Kong's competitive advantages in financing, information, business startups, and technology transfer more strongly with mainland China's advantage in scientific technology and its abundant human capital. Another pillar of CEPA is that mainland China opened its service sector market - financial services, retail, logistics, telecommunications, etc. - to Hong Kong companies ahead of the timetable committed to at the time of accession to the WTO. Most significantly, CEPA has enabled mainland Chinese banks to relocate certain operations - handling of international securities and bonds as well as foreign exchange trading centers - to Hong Kong, where they are encouraged to expand their business through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). While facilitating business and capital flows from mainland China to Hong Kong under CEPA, Hong Kong's service-sector companies are being encouraged to advance into the mainland market. In addition, CEPA stipulates as follows: "In order to further promote the development of the tourism industry of Hong Kong, the Mainland will allow residents in Guangdong Province to visit Hong Kong individually. This measure will be implemented on a trial basis first in Dongguan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen and it will be extended to the entire Guangdong Province no later than 1 July 2004." With this as a start, the scope of applicable areas has since gradually expanded to include 49 cities in addition to Guangdong Province. From "going out" to "come on in" Until recently, Hong Kong promoted its integration into the Chinese economy in the form of encouraging Hong Kong companies to "go out" into mainland China. Indeed, Hong Kong has now become the largest investor in mainland China, exceeding the U.S., European countries, and Japan. Yet on the other side of the same coin, Hong Kong's manufacturing sector has been substantially reduced in scale, accounting for only 3.5% of Hong Kong's GDP as of 2005. Though it is quite a rational choice for profit-seeking companies to relocate production bases to China, concerns have been raised about the subsequent hollowing out of the Hong Kong economy. Fortunately, with CEPA serving as a catalyst, goods, people, and capital began to flow into Hong Kong. First, in the flow of goods, Hong Kong is a vital relay point linking the China to the rest of the world. Re-exports (transit trade) - primarily those related to mainland China - accounted for 94.5% of Hong Kong's total exports, worth US$315.5 billion in 2006. China now provides 46.4% of Hong Kong's trade (imports and exports) and is its largest trading partner. Meanwhile, in terms of the flow of people, the number of visitors to Hong Kong increased from 13.06 million in 2000 to 25.25 million in 2006. The rise in visitors from mainland China was especially sharp, reflecting substantially eased visa restrictions. Mainland Chinese visitors jumped from 3.79 million in 2000 to 13.6 million or 53.9% of the total visitors to Hong Kong in 2006. Furthermore, in terms of the flow of capital, Hong Kong is serving as a primary offshore financial center for mainland Chinese companies. As of the end of 2006, a total of 231 mainland Chinese ("H-share" and "red chip") companies are listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEx). The market capitalization of these companies' stocks amounted to US$811.7 billion, roughly half the market capitalization of all stocks listed on the market. Meanwhile, the cumulative total of funds raised by these mainland Chinese enterprises was US$179.4 billion. In recent years, there have been a series of large-scale initial public offerings (IPOs), including those by China Construction Bank, the Bank of China, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. On the other hand, the cumulative total of direct investment from mainland China to Hong Kong reached US$163.1 billion as of the end of 2005, accounting for nearly 30% of total foreign direct investment in Hong Kong. For mainland Chinese companies, establishing a base in Hong Kong secures a foothold to move into the international market. By shifting from a "going out" strategy to a "come on in" strategy, Hong Kong is now evolving from just a "gateway" to China into a "business platform" serving China. Indeed, the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economy and Social Development, launched in 2006, calls for securing Hong Kong's status as a center for international finance, trade, and (sea and air) freight services by supporting a range of service sectors in Hong Kong including financial services, logistics, tourism, and telecommunications. "Sinicization of Hong Kong" versus "Hong-Kongization of China" The decade following Hong Kong's return to China has witnessed not only the "Sinicization of Hong Kong" but also the "Hong Kongization of China." The idea of maintaining "one country, two systems" for 50 years after 1997 was put forth by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Regarding the 50-year period, during which China is to make no change to Hong Kong's capitalist system, Deng explained: "We say '50 years' not on the impulse of a moment but in due consideration of China's reality and development requirements" (December 19, 1984). Based on this remark, it seems China was assuming that it would take 50 years before differences between Hong Kong and mainland China - both in terms of the system and development stages - converge. However, the Hong Kongization of China has been proceeding at a much faster pace than expected; both the market economy and private ownership systems are fast taking hold in mainland China with the level of people's incomes rising rapidly. Indeed, the Hong Kongization of China will assure the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and a smooth transition to the "one country, one system" regime slated for 2047. June 29, 2007
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Chinese President Hu Jintao recalled the historical process of Hong Kong's return to the motherland at a gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the inauguration of the third-term government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in Hong Kong on Sunday morning.
2 July 1 1997 is a historic day marking Hong Kong's return to China.
3 The valuable exhibits include commemorative postal items on Hong Kong's return to China, congratulatory letters and telegrams from various countries sent in 1997, special first day covers of diplomatic series of China, commemorative covers for the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's Voyages to the West, as well as postal items on the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.