British Colonial Rule on Hong Kong

2098 Words9 Pages
INTRODUCTION A period of more than 150 years of British colonial rule ends at midnight on June 30, 1997 when Hong Kong and its 6,000,000 people will be handed over to China. In a part of town, there was a carnival atmosphere. In another, a sad rally and march followed by a candlelight vigil. It’s clear that before China takes control, the people of Hong Kong are divided in their feelings, terrorized by the possible enforcement of communism from China. Legal Framework Of Takeover The largest part of Hong Kong’s land area had been Britain’s under a 99-year lease granted in 1898. But the expiry of the lease presented practical difficulties, such as over land tenure, so China agreed to negotiations with Britain that led to the two countries’ “1984 Joint Declaration”, confirming Hong Kong’s reversion to China at the end of the lease. But the people of Honk Kong and the local authorities didn’t just let the British leave them in a place which could be dominated by the Chinese communism. On leaving, the British were bound to have negotiations with Chinese government, with regard to having democracy in Hong Kong. Finally, the handover was granted on a promise by China’s Communist leaders to keep Hong Kong highly autonomous and Capitalist under the Slogan “One Country, two Systems”, at least for the next 50 years from the year of transition in 1997. INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL & LEGAL SYSTEM Influence On The Political System Of Honk Kong When China took back sovereignty over Hong Kong ten years ago, it promised to preserve its unique “way of life”. The imaginative formula for doing this had two parts. The first was “one country, two systems” i.e., Hong Kong would still be capitalist, while China would pretend, ever less convincingly, to be socialist. The other was “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong”. Although its capitalist system is largely intact, but in
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