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Ever since Hong Kong was handed again to Chinese language rule, 2047 has loomed — the deadline for the way lengthy issues could be nominally allowed to remain the identical within the semi-autonomous metropolis.
The UK had leased many of the land in trendy Hong Kong from China in 1898, with the 99-year lease expiring in 1997 — prompting negotiations which finally led to the town being handed over to Chinese language management.
No Hong Kong residents have been occasion to the discussions, nor have been they consulted in regards to the remaining choice, which had a profound impact on their futures and freedoms.
The 50-year rely: The settlement, signed by British and Chinese language leaders in 1984, included a proviso that “Hong Kong’s earlier capitalist system and life-style shall stay unchanged for 50 years.”
This might be achieved by a precept known as “one nation, two programs,” advised by China’s paramount chief Deng Xiaoping. Beneath this mannequin, Hong Kong could be beneath Beijing’s sovereignty, whereas retaining its restricted democratic freedoms.
China and Hong Kong’s transformation: Within the many years since, as China emerged as a superpower, the Communist Occasion confirmed no signal of lessening its grip, with political repression solely growing beneath chief Xi Jinping.
For a few years, Hong Kong loved protected freedoms of speech, meeting, and press, drawing multinational corporations into the town and a repute as China’s “gateway to the West.” It was the one place on Chinese language soil allowed to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Sq. bloodbath, or to overtly maintain pro-democracy protests and demand better electoral reforms.
However lately, public fears have grown that the 50-year deadline has arrived early, as the town confronted political upheaval, the introduction of a sweeping nationwide safety legislation by Beijing, and a crackdown on the town’s pro-democracy opposition teams.
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