Liberalism in Hong Kong as the Chinese Language Movement, the anti-corruption movement, defend the Diaoyu Islands movement and so on, in which many of the student leaders became the backbones of the contemporary pro-democracy movement. In the early years of the 1980s, Hong Kong politics was dominated by the issue of the sovereignty of Hong Kong after 1997. Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of the Chinese Communist government insisted Chinese sovereignty of Hong Kong, while the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher insisted the legality of the Treaty of Nanking. Some Hong Kong liberal intellectuals see it as an opportunity to change the colonial status
Flag of Hong Kong (1959–1997) 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