Politics of Hong Kong

Background

On July 1, 1997, the People's Republic of China(PRC) was handed sovereignty
over Hong Kong, ending more than 150 years of British colonial control. Hong
Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the PRC with a high degree
of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs. According to
the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984) and the Hong Kong Basic Law--Hong
Kong's mini-constitution--for 50 years after reversion Hong Kong will retain
its political, economic, and judicial systems and unique way of life and
continue to participate in international agreements and organizations under
the name, "Hong Kong, China".

According to the Basic Law, the Legislative Council consists of directly
elected members and indirectly elected members before 2007. Directly elected
members are elected by general publics, and indirectly elected members are
elected by functional (occupational) constituencies and an Election
Committee. Those who are eligible to vote for the indirectly elected can
also vote for the directly elected, therefore critics regard it as unfair
and not democratic enough.

Under an initial agreement, the last Legislative Council of Hong Kong under
British rule was elected according to the Basic Law and it would become the
first Legislative Council of SAR. Chris Patten, by extending the definition
of functional constituencies, allowed virtually everybody to vote for the
indirectly elected. The PRC government strongly opposed his measure and
instead they appointed a temporary Legislative Council to take over Hong
Kong government on July 1, 1997. The first Legislative Council of HKSAR was
elected in 1998.

Current Situation

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is headed by Chief
Executive Tung Chee Hwa. Mr. Tung assumed office on July 1, 1997, following
his selection by a 400-member committee appointed by Beijing in a four way
race. He was reelected unopposed in 2001. The method of choosing the Chief
Executive after 2007 remains as yet undetermined.

Legislative Council elections were held in May 1998 and again in September
2000. According to The Basic Law, Hong Kong's "Mini-constitution," the
Legislative Council currently has 24 directly elected members and 36
indirectly elected members--30 members elected by functional (occupational)
constituencies and 6 elected by an Election Committee. The next elections in
2004 will increase the number of elected seats to 30 and the number of
functional seats to 30. The method of selecting legislative council seats
after 2007 has yet to be determined.

The 1998 and 2000 elections were praised by pro-Beijing as free, open, and
widely contested, but were criticized by pro-democracy as unfair as some can
cast more than one vote. In both elections, pro-Beijing wins the majority of
indirectly elected positions while pro-democracy and the independents occupy
most directly elected seats.

According to the Basic Law, a government's draft becomes a law if half of
the Legislative members vote for it, but a Legislative member's proposal
could pass only if it receives the majority of directly elected members and
majority of indirectly elected members. As pro-Beijing controls half the
seats, a bill from the government is much easier to pass than a bill from
pro-democracy. As a result, the Legislative Council is seen by some as a
failure in overseeing the government.

Tung has dramatically changed the structure of the government. Overall the
Civil Service maintains its quality and neutrality, operating without
discernible direction from Beijing, but the upper officials are forced to
take the job of bargaining with Legislative Council members.

Right of Abode

According to the Basic Law, all Hongkongers' children are also Hongkongers
and are eligible to live in Hong Kong. This seemingly reasonable statement
caused the first crisis for the continued independence of the judiciary of
Hong Kong.

At first, the highest court in Hong Kong ruled that anybody whose father or
mother is a Hongkonger is a Hongkonger. Therefore, a person with an ancester
living in Hong Kong may be qualified as a Hongkonger! Based on that
conclusion and some questionable data, Hong Kong government calculated that
there might be millions of "Hongkongers" now reside in mainland China! If
those "Hongkongers" come, it would be a disaster for Hong Kong.

Most legal expertises believed the best way is to ask the National People's
Congress to rewrite part of the Basic Law in order to clarify the definition
of "Hongkonger". But before the Basic Law is rewritten, those "Hongkongers"
are real Hongkongers and the government cannot expel them.

Instead, the Hong Kong Government sought interpretation, not rewritten, of
the Basic Law from the National People's Congress. It was a quick solution,
but it threatened the independent of judiciary of Hong Kong by asking a
law-making body to overturn the decision of the highest court. Worst still,
it was the law-making body of mainland China and so the critics argue that
the government destroyed the One Country, Two System.

Althrough in general, Hong Kong's courts remain independent and the rule of
law is respected, but the seed of disbelief is already planted.

Basic Law Article 23

In 2003, Tung's government wants to introduce the Hong Kong Basic Law
Article 23 into the legal code in HKSAR. However, the unlimited power of the
government and introduction of the mainland China's concept of forbidden
organisations deeply troubled many Hongkongers. Fear the loss of both
freedom of speech and the independence of judiciary leads to a mass protest
of 500,000 people on July 1.

After the giant march, some pro-Beijing politicans switch side, most notably
the Liberal Party (Hong Kong). On July 6, Tung Chee Hwa announced that the
second reading of the Law was to be postponed after James Tien of the
Liberal Party announced that he was resigning from the Executive Council and
would have his party members vote for a postponement. As a result, the
government would have insufficient votes to pass the law on July 9 as first scheduled.

Country name:
conventional long form: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Hong Kong
local long form: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu
local short form: Xianggang
abbreviation: HK

Data code: HK

Dependency status: Special administrative region of China

Government type: NA

Administrative divisions: none (special administrative region of China)

Independence: none (special administrative region of China)

National holiday: National Day, 1-2 October; note - 1 July 1997 is
celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Constitution: Basic Law approved in March 1990 by China's National People's
Congress is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents
living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect
election limited to about 100,000 members of functional constituencies and
an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings,
municipal organizations, and central government bodies.

Executive branch:
chief of state: President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao (since
March 2003)
head of government: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997)
cabinet: Executive Council consists of three ex-officio members and 10
appointed members; ex-officio members are: Chief Secretary Donald TSANG
Yam-kuen (since 1 May 2001), Financial Secretary Antony LEUNG (since 1 May
2001), and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since 1 July 1997) elections:
NA
elections: NA

Legislative branch: Unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60 seats; 30
indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 20 elected by popular vote,
and 10 elected by an 800-member election committee; members serve four-year terms)
Elections: last held 25 May 1998 (early elections scheduled to be held in
September 2000)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic
Party 13, Liberal Party 9, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong
Kong 9, Hong Kong Progressive Alliance 5, Frontier Party 3, Citizens Party
1, independents 20

Political parties and leaders:

   * Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (Frederick Fung
     Kin-kee, chairman)
   * Citizens Party (Christine Loh Kung-wai, chairwoman)
   * Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) (Jasper Tsang
     Yok-sing, chairman)
   * Democratic Party (Martin Lee Chu-ming, chairman)
   * Frontier Party (Emily Lau Wai-hing, chairwoman)
   * Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (Ambrose Lau Hon-chuen)
   * Liberal Party (James Tien Pei-chun, chairman)

Note: Political blocs include:

   * Pro-democracy - Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood,
     Citizens Party, Democratic Party, Frontier Party
   * Pro-Beijing - Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, Hong
     Kong Progressive Alliance, Liberal Party

Political pressure groups and leaders:

   * Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (pro-China)
   * Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong
   * Confederation of Trade Unions (pro-democracy) (Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman)
   * Federation of Hong Kong Industries
   * Federation of Trade Unions (pro-China) (Lee Chark-tim, president)
   * Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in
     China (Szeto Wah, chairman)
   * Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan)
   * Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
   * Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (CHEUNG Man-kwong, president)
   * Liberal Democratic Federation (Hu Fa-kuang, chairman)