britain returned hong kong to china on 30 june 1997.
britain returned hong kong to china on 30 june 1997.
when did britain return hong kong to china?
30 june 1997
as a result of negotiations and the 1984 agreement between china and britain, hong kong was returned to china and became its first special administrative region on 1 july 1997, under the principle of "one country, two systems". hong kong has a different political system from mainland china. hong kong's independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. the hong kong basic law, the constitutional document drafted by the chinese side before the handover based on the terms enshrined in the joint declaration, governs its political system, and stipulates that hong kong shall have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign relations and military defence. the declaration stipulates that the region maintain its capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of its people for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. the guarantees over the territory's autonomy and the individual rights and freedoms are enshrined in the hong kong basic law, which outlines the system of governance of the hong kong special administrative region, but which is subject to the interpretation of the standing committee of the national people's congress (npcsc).
2014 hong kong protests
following the hong kong handover ceremony, when the union jack and the hong kong blue ensign were lowered to symbolise the end of british rule in hong kong, the blue ensign lost its official status and was replaced by the current flag of hong kong. in the 2010s, the former flag of hong kong was used by protesters to represent the cultural differences between hong kong and china; the flag was also used to protest against chinese interference in hong kong, as well as perceived chinese breaches of hong kong's universal suffrage (granted by the sino-british joint declaration). the first high-profile use of the old flag in protests came in 2011 during pro-democracy protests. protesters often stated that they did not use the blue ensign to endorse hong kong independence or the return of hong kong to british control, but rather because they felt that hong kong had greater freedom under british rule. the protesters also said that they used the flag to express the contrasting values of china and hong kong. advocates of the hong kong independence movement and the hong kong autonomy movement use a derivative of the blue ensign, without the british union jack and with the chinese characters for hong kong (香港) in the centre of the arms rather than the standard english "hong kong". the right to display the old flag is protected under the hong kong bill of rights ordinance and the hong kong basic law as an expression of free speech. despite this, when the old flag began appearing in protests, pro-beijing newspapers called for it to be banned. the pro-beijing camp views the flag as a symbol of colonialism and a reminder of china's losses during the era of new imperialism.
flag of hong kong (1959–1997)