【基督教箴言报0326】中国和香港十个关键时刻

lilyma06

China's rocky relationship with Hong Kong: 10 key momentshttp://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/0325/China-s-rocky-relationship-with-Hong-Kong-10-key-moments/Hong-Kong-becomes-a-British-Colony-1842

                                                                                                                                                        A Hong Kong election committee Sunday chose Beijing loyalist Leung Chun-ying to lead the territory amid protests by pro-democracy activists. Fifteen years after Hong Kong’s independence from Britain, a University of Hong Kong survey conducted in December found that a growing number of residents view themselves as Hong Kongers, rather than Chinese. Here are 10 key dates in Hong Kong’s relationship with the mainland.
                        
                                                               

-                                                                                                 Meredith Bennett-Smith, Contributor

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Hong Kong becomes a British Colony - 1842                                                                                                                                
                                                                                       
                                                                                                
The First Opium War between Britain and China’s Qing dynasty ended with the Treaty of Nanking, giving control of Hong Kong to the British to China's chagrin.
Chinese leaders had little choice but to sign the treaty’s 13 articles, or risk devastation at the hands of circling British warships. The agreement included an indemnity compensating for confiscated opium, unpaid merchant debts, and other various costs of the war.
The Chinese also agreed to cede Hong Kong, a small island and former fishing village of several thousand residents, to the British crown in part to provide the Queen’s traders with safe harbor and the authority to trade freely at five “treaty ports.” The Nanking treaty required no real stipulations from the British, aside from the withdrawal of its troops to be completed following the full reparations payment.
Strikes signal Hong Kong's dissatisfaction with British - 1925                                                                                                On the heels of World War I, Chinese nationalism grew stronger and more influential. The Strike-Boycott of 1925-1926 was an indication that the power of such revolutionary nationalists movements was beginning to be felt across the harbor in Hong Kong – and there was little the British could do about it.
On May 30, 1925 the Sikh police operating under the command of Britain opened fire on a crowd of Shanghai demonstrators, killing at least nine.
The situation in the region became even more volatile when troops under foreign command killed more than 50 Chinese protesters in Canton. Union and labor leaders in Canton called for a general strike in southern China, especially in the symbolically imperialist Hong Kong.
In the first two weeks of the strike, more than 50,000 left Hong Kong for the mainland in protest. A run on the banks and aggressive picket lines resulted in an economic standstill, as close to 250,000 more residents streamed across the border. By the time the strike and accompanying boycott ended in 1926, China’s influence over the colony had been clearly reaffirmed.
China's communist revolution turns Hong Kong into haven – 1949                                                                                                The final stage of the Chinese Civil War (1948-1952), which began with the breakdown of peace talks between the communist and nationalist forces, resulted in the communist takeover of Peking, and the changing of its name to Beijing.
In October 1949, Mao Zedong, leader of the People’s Liberation Army, declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong’s population had shrunk to around 600,000 people following a harsh occupation by Japanese forces during World War II, but in 1949 it ballooned due to the influx of refugees fleeing the new government regime.

China declares 'one country two systems' policy – 1984                                                                                                British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher proposed an exchange of British sovereignty in the region for administrative authority. However, in June 1982, communist Chairman Deng Xiaoping rejected Ms. Thatcher’s idea.
Declaring Beijing’s intention to govern Hong Kong under a “one country, two systems,” Mr. Deng said the island would be allowed some degree of autonomy, but there would be no room for further British involvement.
The 1984 Sino-British joint declaration, ratified in front of the United Nations in 1985, was Britain’s official concession of the territory. The two governments also agreed that after the transition in 1997, Hong Kong, which was poised to become the first Special Administrative Region of China, would be ruled by a limited constitution known as the Basic Law for at least 50 years after the transition.
A wave of emigration from Hong Kong followed the announcement.
China rejects Hong Kong reform package as transition looms – 1992                                                                                                Marking the end of an era, Britain’s final governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten announced sweeping reforms to Hong Kong’s political system. These included the previously scheduled ballot election in 1995 to elect 20 members of the Legislative Council, as well as an expansion of voting rights for the process of electing the remaining Council members through indirect voting.
Furious, China objected to all reforms, declaring them a violation of its Basic Law.
On Nov. 30, Chinese officials announced that any and all contracts, agreements and leases – including the construction of Chek Lap Kok airport – signed by the Hong Kong government but not officially approved by China’s leadership would be invalidated beginning July 1, 1997. Beijing followed up with a second directive in December warning that all election results and legislation would be subject to nullification.
Hong Kong and China together again - 1997                                                                                                At midnight on July 1, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng, together with Britain’s Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair, presided over a somber ceremony effectively ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
Loyal Communist Party members, meanwhile, counted down to the takeover in Tianmen Square, cheering as huge television screens ticked down the seconds to midnight. In a symbolic gesture, British flags and crests were replaced with Chinese insignia. But much stayed the same in Hong Kong: English common law remained in place and motorists continued to drive on the left hand side of the road.
Beijing moved quickly to replace the Legislative Council of Hong Kong with the appointed council, and installed Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa.
At his swearing-in ceremony, the handpicked Mr. Tung, a former shipping executive with connections to the mainland, pledged to value Hong Kong’s newfound “empowerment." "We will exercise our powers prudently and responsibly,” he said. “Hong Kong and China are whole again.”
Free trade agreement improves cross-harbor opportunities – 2003                                                                                                Hong Kong had been steadily growing into a major international financial center, as well as an important gateway into China for the West.
However, following a surge in GDP after the Chinese takeover in 1997 and a spurt in 2000, Hong Kong’s economy started to lag and unemployment shot to nearly 8 percent.
The economic ties between the island and the mainland got a boost with the introduction of a mini free trade agreement called the “Closer Economic Partnership Agreement” in 2003. The cozy trade agreement was mutually beneficial and Hong Kong residents seemed to appreciate the preferential access they received in the mainland Chinese market.
Still, a congressional analysis in 2003 of Hong Kong trends expressed concern that the relationship could result in an undermining of the “high degree of autonomy” promised by the Special Administrative Region’s government.
China says no to popular elections in Hong Kong - 2004                                                                                                In a controversial announcement quickly denounced by the governments of both the United States and Britain, Chinese leaders said they would not permit popular elections of the next chief executive for the island in 2007. They also said the general public would not be allowed to select more than half of the available seats in the Legislative Council in elections slated for 2008.
Beijing’s decision seemed to contradict Basic Law, which would allow for such wide enfranchisement; party leaders cite the island’s youthful electoral history as reasoning behind the decision. Democratic advocated groups in Hong Kong promise widespread protests.
After a large July demonstration held on the seventh anniversary of the transition draws hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters, Chief Executive Tung confirmed that according to Basic Law, universal suffrage is a long-term goal.
In September elections, 30 members of the council were directly elected using geographical constituencies, with another 30 elected though functional constituencies, some of which were unopposed races.  

Crackdown on pregnant women heading to Hong Kong - 2007                                                                                                Senior Hong Kong officials had hinted for some time that they would seek to end the trend of Chinese women suspected of coming to Hong Kong to give birth.
Through October of 2006, nearly 13,000 non-resident mothers – the majority Chinese – had given birth on Hong Kong soil, representing a huge jump since 2001.
Women from the mainland had been drawn to the island because of its public health care system, its freedom from China’s “one child” policy, and in the hopes of securing the right to live in Hong Kong – infants born in the territory are granted residency rights.
In January, border officials said they would begin denying Chinese women who are more than six months pregnant entry, unless they had already booked a Hong Kong hospital room. Pregnant women from other countries are not subject to the new regulations.
Calls for democracy in Hong Kong - 2007                                                                                                Following the fifth annual July 1 pro-democracy rally – claimed by organizers to have drawn crowds in the tens of thousands – Beijing-backed candidate Donald Tsang is sworn in as the next Chief Executive.
Mr. Tsang’s victory was no surprise given China’s support, but the fact that he faced a challenger – Alan Leong – was a positive signal for pro-democracy advocates.
On July 11th, the government released its awaited Green Paper on political reform. The paper offered three options for public debate: universal suffrage in 2012, by more gradual steps by 2016, or sometime after 2016. The possibility of more seats in Hong Kong's legislature filled by public elections was also on the table, although some seats were indirectly selected.
Officials reminded Hong Kong that all plans must have the blessing of the Chinese government, and pro-democracy advocates are disappointed by the Green Paper’s proposed timetable.



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