Recently I have been interested in the division between Hong Kong and China: where it came from, how the two regions grew differently and how the British Handover Deal formed in the 1980s shaped China's increased control over the Hong Kong democracy today.
This interest began when I got a BBC news alert on my phone about the protests in Hong Kong. I was interested as I had read about the new surveillance system in China. Therefore I was surprised by the protest as I imagined this would be particularly dangerous. The article said 'Hong Kong, a former British colony, is part of China but run under a "one country, two systems" arrangement that guarantees it a level of autonomy. Its citizens enjoy rights not seen on the mainland.' I thought this was really interesting and I had never known Hong Kong was a former British colony or that it was separate from "mainland China". So I decided to do some further research, I learnt that the 'one country, two systems' policy established by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. I also learnt the reasons for the protest stemmed from the fear of loss of the autonomy that the two systems guarantees.
What I found most interesting was how strong the link is between Hong Kong's GDP and their independence from China. In the 1980s Thatcher made a deal Handover with Deng Xiaoping which said Hong Kong would be part of mainland China by 2047 and until then would need to give Hong Kong a certain degree of independence; this entails that the social and economic lifestyle and rights and freedoms would be maintained. These 'liberal western ideals' would be in exchange for Hong Kong's GDP. This is of particular significance as the GDP at the time of the Handover made up almost a fifth of China's economy, therefore giving Hong Kong huge power over China. However, over time Hong Kong has made up less and less of China's economy. Therefore Hong Kong's control over their rights and freedoms and autonomy has shrunk because of their lesser economic value. This is due to the increase in China's other major cities such as Shanghai, which in 2017 had a GDP of 420 billion USD. This, in addition to the rest of China, makes Hong Kong's 2017 GDP of 340 billion USD insignificant compared with their value of the past. Therefore now that Hong Kong's economic value has decreased so has their power and control over remaining free and democratic. This highlights how China has only upheld its deal with Britain when it was gaining from Hong Kong economically.
The statistic was taken from the VOX video about the border between Hong Kong and China and is linked below.
This being new information to me it adds extra weight to the news of the protests in Hong Kong, which sparked my initial interest. This is as the citizens struggle to maintain control of the laws and freedoms established under the official Handover in 1997. Citizens are concerned for the complete control of Mainland China and are therefore determined resist before 2047 when they become one country, one system.
Sources:
BBC article - Hong Kong protests: China says protesters 'trample rule of law'
vox video - Hong Kong’s huge protests, explained
vox video - China is erasing its border with Hong Kong
This interest began when I got a BBC news alert on my phone about the protests in Hong Kong. I was interested as I had read about the new surveillance system in China. Therefore I was surprised by the protest as I imagined this would be particularly dangerous. The article said 'Hong Kong, a former British colony, is part of China but run under a "one country, two systems" arrangement that guarantees it a level of autonomy. Its citizens enjoy rights not seen on the mainland.' I thought this was really interesting and I had never known Hong Kong was a former British colony or that it was separate from "mainland China". So I decided to do some further research, I learnt that the 'one country, two systems' policy established by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. I also learnt the reasons for the protest stemmed from the fear of loss of the autonomy that the two systems guarantees.
What I found most interesting was how strong the link is between Hong Kong's GDP and their independence from China. In the 1980s Thatcher made a deal Handover with Deng Xiaoping which said Hong Kong would be part of mainland China by 2047 and until then would need to give Hong Kong a certain degree of independence; this entails that the social and economic lifestyle and rights and freedoms would be maintained. These 'liberal western ideals' would be in exchange for Hong Kong's GDP. This is of particular significance as the GDP at the time of the Handover made up almost a fifth of China's economy, therefore giving Hong Kong huge power over China. However, over time Hong Kong has made up less and less of China's economy. Therefore Hong Kong's control over their rights and freedoms and autonomy has shrunk because of their lesser economic value. This is due to the increase in China's other major cities such as Shanghai, which in 2017 had a GDP of 420 billion USD. This, in addition to the rest of China, makes Hong Kong's 2017 GDP of 340 billion USD insignificant compared with their value of the past. Therefore now that Hong Kong's economic value has decreased so has their power and control over remaining free and democratic. This highlights how China has only upheld its deal with Britain when it was gaining from Hong Kong economically.
The statistic was taken from the VOX video about the border between Hong Kong and China and is linked below.
This being new information to me it adds extra weight to the news of the protests in Hong Kong, which sparked my initial interest. This is as the citizens struggle to maintain control of the laws and freedoms established under the official Handover in 1997. Citizens are concerned for the complete control of Mainland China and are therefore determined resist before 2047 when they become one country, one system.
Sources:
BBC article - Hong Kong protests: China says protesters 'trample rule of law'
vox video - Hong Kong’s huge protests, explained
vox video - China is erasing its border with Hong Kong
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