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Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 中华人民共和国香港特别行政区 zhōng huá rén mín gòng hé guó xiāng gǎng tè bié xíng zhèng qū | |
|---|---|
Special Administrative Region | |
 Flag | |
 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,754.97 km² |
| Population | |
• 2021 census | 7,413,070 |
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (also known as Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR; Chinese: 香港) is a special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. Another special administrative region of China is Macao.
As a special administrative region, Hong Kong has its own government with a large degree of autonomy. In general, capitalists, both native and foreign, are less restricted in their business ventures than they would be on the Chinese mainland. Inevitably, poverty is significantly more common in Hong Kong conpared to the mainland. Hong Kong also has its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar, instead of the Renminbi used on the mainland. In December 2019, 68% of residents said they would not support Hong Kong becoming independent and only 17% said they would.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
Hong Kong was one of the territories occupied by the UK during the century of humiliation. After the Opium Wars, the UK forced the Qing Dynasty to sign a treaty signing over various territories. In 1898 a treaty was negotiated giving the British Empire control of Hong Kong for exactly 99 years rent-free.
The governor of British Hong Kong was appointed by the Prime Minister of the UK directly. All governors of British Hong Kong were white Europeans born in the British Isles, and the first governor to speak Chinese was in 1982 (15 years before the end of British rule in Hong Kong). Under British rule, Hong Kong never held a single election and all positions of government were appointed hierarchically by the governor.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was handed over back to China.[2]
1967 Hong Kong uprising[edit | edit source]
The Hong Kong 1967 riots, also known as the anti-British riots, broke out in Hong Kong in May 1967. Under the influence of the cultural revolution in mainland China, communists in Hong Kong launched a rebellion against the British colonial government. The incident transformed from an initial strike and demonstration into an open rebellion, involving assassinations and bombings. As a result, 51 people lost their lives directly in the riot, and more than 800 others were injured.[3]
2019 Hong Kong riots[edit | edit source]
Starting in March 2019, a certain percentage of citizens in Hong Kong took to the streets to protest mainland China asserting its sovereignty over the island, with foreign-funded parties like Demosisto calling for independence, despite independence of Hong Kong being supported by only 17.4% of the population.[4][5] An extradition bill, which would have allowed a murderer to be extradited to Taiwan to face trial, sparked outrage in the petty bourgeois population when it was found that the PRC was also included in the bill. In June 2020, Hong Kong passed a security bill that made it illegal to receive foreign funding, and soon after all local proponents of the protests disbanded or were relegated to operations from abroad.[6][7]
Murder of Poon Hiu-wing[edit | edit source]
On 2018 February 17, Chan Tong-kai murdered his girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing in a hotel room in Taipei, Taiwan Province. Afterwards, he escaped to Hong Kong before her body was found.[8] Since Hong Kong hasn't signed any extradition agreements with any parts of China, the government had no ability to extradite him to face trial in the Taiwan Province, and they also could not try him in Hong Kong because he did not commit any crimes while in Hong Kong.[8]
Extradition Bill[edit | edit source]
The Hong Kong government responded to this problem by trying to sign an extradition agreement with the PRC and ROC governments. An extradition bill, titled "Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019", was gazetted on 2019 March 29.[9] The bill was aimed at targeting people who were in Hong Kong, but who had committed crimes elsewhere in China, by allowing their extradition. Despite the claims of many subsequent opponents of the bill, it never allowed for people who had committed crimes in Hong Kong to be extradited out of Hong Kong.
The HKSAR Government later issued the following statement on October 2019:
Chan will be a free man after being released from jail. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has no authority to impose any restrictive measures on him.[10]
United States involvement[edit | edit source]
The proposal of this bill was then capitalized on by foreign governments, mainly the United States of America.
In August 2019, Julie Eadeh, a US diplomat in Hong Kong, was caught meeting HK protest leaders.[11]
Leaders of Hong Kong’s opposition have spent years cultivating close relationships with US politicians. They have met with Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott, and Tom Cotton.[12]
The Hong Kong Democracy Council was launched on September 16, 2019, with Joshua Wong and other Hong Kong opposition figures attending the opening reception. The council was formed with the aim of “pushing the US to uphold its commitment to Hong Kong’s basic freedoms and autonomy and to preserve the US’s own political and economic interests in Hong Kong.” The majority of HKDC’s advisory board is made up of members of the NED, the Open Society Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Freedom House.[13]
Between 1995 and 2013, HKHRM (The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor) received more than $1.9 million in funds from the NED.[14]
The riots were supported by Ukrainian neo-Nazis who had fought for the US-backed Azov Battalion.[15]
In 2020, it was revealed that right-wing separatist “Kong Tsung-gan” was actually a Statesian teacher wearing yellowface.[16]
Violence[edit | edit source]
A rioter murdered an unarmed 70 year-old street cleaner by throwing a brick at his head.[17]
A rioter set fire to an unarmed civilian and burned him alive.[18] The civilian survived, although his condition is unknown.
Rioters threw Molotov cocktails at unarmed civilians.[19]
Rioters fired flaming arrows at police.[20]
Rioters vandalized 138 of the 161 rail stations in Hong Kong and destroyed lifts used by disabled people.[21]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Felix Tam, Clare Jim (2020-03-27). "Exclusive: Support for Hong Kong protesters' demands rises even as coronavirus halts rallies: poll" Reuters. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ↑ Xinhua (2022-12-03). "Profile: Jiang Zemin's great, glorious life" Xinhua. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ↑ 枫网 (2014-06-05). Hong Kong Red Guards riot British fears want early return of Hong Kong (Traditional Chinese: 香港红卫兵暴动 英国恐惧想提前香港回归).
- ↑ Reuters (2016-07-24) One in six support Hong Kong independence from China - poll
- ↑ Tony Cheung (2016-07-24) More young Hongkongers back independence and are less supportive of peaceful protest, poll shows
- ↑ The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2020). [PDF]
- ↑ Kelly Ho and Tom Grundy (2020-06-30). "Joshua Wong’s pro-democracy group Demosisto disbands hours after Hong Kong security law passed" Hong Kong Free Press.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Li Zhao (2019-11-06). "Five things to know about murder case behind Hong Kong's mass protests" China Global Television Network.
- ↑ Legislative Council of Hong Kong. "Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019" Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ↑ He Weiwei (2019-10-24). "Hong Kong or Taiwan? Debate over possible trial location of murder case" China Global Television Network.
- ↑ Dan Cohen (2019-08-17). "Behind a made-for-TV Hong Kong protest narrative, Washington is backing nativism and mob violence" The Grayzone.
- ↑ Ajit Singh (2020-06-09). "Hong Kong’s ‘pro-democracy’ movement allies with far-right US politicians that seek to crush Black Lives Matter" The Grayzone.
- ↑ Ajit Singh (2019-11-22). "Hong Kong’s opposition unites with Washington hardliners to ‘preserve the US’s own political and economic interests’" The Grayzone.
- ↑ Alexander Rubinstein (2019-06-13). "American Gov’t, NGOs Fuel and Fund Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Protests" Mintpress News.
- ↑ Ben Norton (2019-12-04). "Ukrainian neo-Nazis flock to the Hong Kong protest movement" The Grayzone. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ↑ Max Blumenthal (2020-08-08). "Western media’s favorite Hong Kong ‘freedom struggle writer’ is American ex-Amnesty staffer in yellowface" The Grayzone. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
- ↑ Clifford Lo (2019-12-11). "Hong Kong police offer HK$800,000 reward for information to find killer of cleaner hit by brick during clash between protesters and Sheung Shui residents" SCMP.
- ↑ Clifford Lo (2019-12-11). "Hong Kong father of two ‘burned alive’ after chasing protesters at MTR station in grisly act of violence police classify as attempted murder" SMCP.
- ↑ Carl Zha (2019-08-06). That escalated quickly, Molotov cocktail now used by protesters to block Road in Hong Kong
- ↑ John Bacon (2019-11-17). "Hong Kong protesters with bows, arrows battle police for control of university, dozens arrested" USA Today.
- ↑ Kenny Coyle (2022-07-16). "Hong Kong: truth is out" Monthly Review. Retrieved 2022-07-16.