Hong Kong was occupied by the British army and then subsequently acquired by United Kingdom as a colony as a result of the Opium Wars in the mid-nineteenth century. Hong Kong was remained a British colony until 1997, when control was officially handed over to Republic of China.
Because it was a British colony for longer time, citizens of Hong Kong were quite different from China. It had a democratic system of local government, free press, and a culture that was deeply influenced by United Kingdom. Many residents of Hong Kong were fearful of the PRC’s intentions for the city.
Therefore, China has assured Hong Kong that it will be allowed to retain its self-governing democratic system for at least fifty years, and it is currently considered as Special Administrative Region and it does not has the same laws or restrictions as the rest of the China.
Till 1997, Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom. After 1997, there is as agreement between China and United Kingdom that Hong Kong will have its own currency (the Hong Kong dollar), legal system and parliamentary system for fifty years. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is a part of China. But, for all practical purposes, Hong Kong is actually little separate country to China.
Hong Kong has a wholly separate legal system to China. The Chinese currency is not accepted in Hong Kong similarly Hong Kong dollar is not legal tender in China. Citizens of Hong Kong have their own separate passports (HKSAR passport).
Tourist of Hong Kong who already have visa of Hong Kong, will have to apply for a visa to China separately for visiting China. Similarly citizen of China also require permits to visit Hong Kong. Hong Kong and China has a border too. China maintains a sort of quasi embassy in Hong Kong via the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs.
The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese (Cantonese) and English, where as China has Mandarin as official languages.
Election in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has a type of democracy but it does not have universal suffrage like other democratic countries.
Hong Kong has its own mini parliament in the form of LEGCO (Legislative Council). Representatives in LEGCO are either elected by direct election or by Electoral College.
The resident in Hong Kong who live for more than seven years, are eligible to vote in direct elections, but elect only 1/3 members of the council directly. The remaining 2/3 members are elected by a 20,000 strong functional constituency which are made up of businessmen and professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers etc. These groups form into broad parties formed through mutual interests mostly business related.
The Chief Executive is directly answerable to China. The Chief Executive is elected by 800 members drawn from the functional constituency, so there are no direct elections.
The residents of Hong Konger are very concerned about direct election.
Hong Kong Vs China
The sharp contrast in system and culture between Hong Kong and the mainland has caused a fair amount of tension in the years since the handover in 1997. There are significant differences in political culture and systems of government of Hong Kong with remaining China, so the tension between residents of Hong Kong and mainland China will remain for some time to come.
