At our October event, Dr Jie Chen reviewed the tumultuous political transformation of Hong Kong after the 1997 handover from Britain to China.  While Deng Xiaoping had pledged “one country, two systems” for the governance of the former British colony, the implementation of the principle was always lopsided. For example, the central government failed to honour the promise of universal  suffrage for both Chief Executive and Legislative Council.  Popular dissatisfaction, particularly manifest in the Umbrella Movement of 2014 and anti-extradition protests in 2019, triggered systematic and brutal crackdowns by the Xi Jinping leadership and led to the imposition of the National Security Law in 2020.

This presentation explains why Beijing’s approach has shifted from a relatively liberal policy towards a vehement existential assault on democratic institutions, civil society and rule of law – celebrated by mainland patriots as the achievement of the “real return” of Hong Kong. The presentation ended with some comments on Hong Kong’s future including the struggle of what remains of the democracy movement.