Hong Kong marks 25th handover anniversary

Hong Kong's new Chief Executive John Lee walks with China's President Xi Jinping following Xi's speech after a ceremony to inaugurate the city's new leader and government in Hong Kong on July 1.

During his speech to mark the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the city “must be governed by patriots.”

Some context: Last year, China’s government passed a new law that drastically restricted the right of Hong Kongers to stand for election and reshape the city’s legislature.

The stated goal of the changes was to ensure that only “patriots” govern Hong Kong, a definition which Chinese officials have made clear requires not only loyalty to the country, but loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

The law expanded Hong Kong’s legislature from 70 to 90 seats, reducing the overall percentage of democratically elected officials. Forty of those are now chosen by a newly empowered, mostly government-appointed Election Committee.

Those hoping to stand for those seats must secure nominations from each of the five sectors of the Election Committee, something which may be impossible for all but a handful of opposition candidates.

Public officials must also swear loyalty oaths and embrace Beijing’s rule over the city.

Supporters pose with Chinese and Hong Kong flags at the Convention Avenue, on the 25th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong on July 1.

John Lee has a vision for the city he’s preparing to lead — and its future is tied to mainland China.

The new Hong Kong Chief Executive laid out the goals of his administration during his inauguration speech on Friday, emphasizing the city’s development as an economic and technological hub. Hong Kong’s proximity to the mainland lends it an advantage, he said — access to the mainland market, as well as the ability to act as “a conduit between China and the rest of the world.”

On sending Hong Kongers across the border: “The government will have policies and blueprints for the youth, and we will encourage them to embrace the opportunities available in the Greater Bay Area,” he said, referring to a region connecting Hong Kong, Macao, and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

On education: Lee also said his new government would focus on youth development, and would “optimize education so that schoolchildren will understand China, and understand the rest of the world.”

Throughout his campaign, he vowed to introduce “national identity” education — a controversial proposal that had been introduced by previous administrations, only to be foiled by protests and public pushback, much to Beijing’s frustration. 

On unifying the public: He also vowed to “solve social issues,” and to “create solidarity between the government and the Hong Kong society so we can build a better future” — though did not offer any more details on how he planned to do so.

The protest movements of the past decade — most notably in 2014 and 2019 — have revealed and deepened fissures running through society, and for some, deeply damaged public trust in the Hong Kong government and police force.

Former Chief Executive Carrie Lam had also promised to address these divides during her 2017 inauguration address — to little success, with public trust in the authorities dropping to historic lows during her tenure, according to some polls.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, center right, exchange signed copies of the Hong Kong handover agreement to China in Beijing on December 19, 1984.

The two leaders sat several feet apart at a long table covered in green silk. Between them, a tiny twin flagpole bore the standards of the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China.

The crowd behind applauded as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed large red-bound documents with black fountain pens and then shook hands.

With that, on December 19, 1984, the end of more than 150 years of British rule over Hong Kong was sealed and a timeline put in place for China to assume sovereignty over the city on July 1, 1997.

How Hong Kong became a British colony: Following the defeat of the Qing Empire in the first and second opium wars (in 1842 and 1860 respectively), the territories of Hong Kong and Kowloon were ceded to the UK. In 1898, London agreed to lease what became known as the New Territories from the Qing, drastically expanding the amount of land it governed.

Eventually the Qing Empire — and its successors, the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – gave up claims for Hong Kong and Kowloon. But the lease for the New Territories was set to expire on 30 June 1997, raising uncertainty as to what would happen to the rest of the land once the lease was up.

How Hong Kong was handed to China: In 1982, Thatcher visited Beijing, becoming the first UK Prime Minister to enter Communist China, and formally established negotiations on the future of Hong Kong.

London had initially hoped to keep a British administration in the city beyond 1997, thus maintaining significant control even if China held legal sovereignty, according to secret discussions among Thatcher’s cabinet — but Beijing rejected this proposal.

By the time of Thatcher’s visit, the future legality of Hong Kong was starting to come into place, with Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping introducing the idea of “One Country, Two Systems” — promising that the city would retain its limited democratic freedoms, while under Beijing’s sovereign control.

Read more here.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, left, and Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Carrie Lam attend the ceremony of administering the oath for a five-year term in office at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong on July 1, 2017.

The last time Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong to mark the city’s handover to China was on July 1, 2017 — the 20th anniversary — when he gave a stern warning to the public amid rising political tensions.

That visit was Xi’s first to the city since he took power in 2013, and came as some Hong Kongers feared Beijing was increasingly encroaching on their autonomy and freedoms.

Xi’s visit came less than three years after the Umbrella Movement paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days in late 2014. The pro-democracy protests left deep rifts in Hong Kong society — and galvanized a new generation of young politicians and activists, many of whom played central roles in the 2019 political crisis before being jailed in the ensuing crackdown.

Take a look back at Xi’s 2017 visit here.

In his inauguration speech Friday, Hong Kong’s new leader John Lee claimed the city is just as free and advanced as it has always been — and vowed to continue its development, with a focus on greater integration with mainland China.

The Basic Law, Hong Kong’s de facto constitution, “protects the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people, protects the independence of the judiciary,” he said, adding that the city’s judicial system was “the envy of many European and American countries.”

He also addressed recent sweeping changes to the city’s electoral laws, which gave the government greater vetting powers, dramatically lessening the public’s ability to vote directly for candidates, and only allowed government-screened “patriots” — those loyal to Beijing and its ruling Communist Party — to stand.

Some context: Since the introduction of a national security law in 2020, the government has cracked down on the city’s pro-democracy groups and opposition figures, raising fears that the city’s judiciary and political system could face similar repression.

In March, two British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, with one writing in a statement that “the judges of the Supreme Court cannot continue to sit in Hong Kong without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom, and freedom of expression.”

Continuing to sit on the court would “risk legitimising oppression,” the judge wrote.

Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly asserted that the city’s freedoms and judicial independence remain intact. Shortly after the two judges resigned, then-Chief Executive Carrie Lam accused the British government of “political manipulation,” adding that all judges were “free from political interference.”

Since coming to power, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has waged an ideological war against the influence of “Western values” such as constitutional democracy, press freedom, judicial independence and universal human rights — notions that have long been cherished in Hong Kong and formed an integral part of its identity.

The city’s pursuit of full democracy, namely ultimately electing its leader by universal suffrage — a goal written into its mini-constitution, the Basic Law — is especially viewed with suspicion by Beijing, which is worried that a freely elected leader could pose a challenge to its authority.

Umbrella Movement: In 2014, thousands of young protesters occupied key roads in the city’s financial center to demand “true universal suffrage” — rejecting a proposal by China’s parliament to have the candidates vetted in advance by a pro-Beijing committee.

The peaceful protests, known as the “Umbrella Movement,” ended after 79 days, with none of their demands met.

Since then, Beijing has sought to exert more control over Hong Kong. During his first visit to the city as China’s leader in 2017, Xi warned that any efforts to “challenge the power” of the central government were “absolutely impermissible.”

Running out of time: Beijing’s tightening grip only intensified discontent in the city, especially among its younger generation — many of whom fear they are running out of time to fight for democracy before the 2047 deadline for how long things would be nominally allowed to stay the same in the semi-autonomous city.

Some tried to push for change by joining the city’s legislature, but that failed too under increasing pressure from Beijing. A slew of pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified over an oath-taking controversy, while other candidates were barred from standing for office.

2019 protests: Long-running tensions eventually erupted in 2019. Over that summer, peaceful marches against a proposed bill that would allow the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China soon snowballed into sometimes violent anti-Beijing protests, plunging the city into months of social unrest and its most tumultuous period since the handover.

National security law: On June 30, 2020, Beijing bypassed Hong Kong’s legislature to impose a national security law on the city, which critics say, has been used to crush the its opposition movement, overhaul its electoral system, silence its outspoken media and cripple its once-vibrant civil society. The Hong Kong government has repeatedly defended the law, saying it has restored order to the city following the 2019 protests.

Read the full analysis here.

Hong Kong's new Chief Executive John Lee leaves the podium after giving a speech following a swearing-in ceremony in Hong Kong on Friday, July 1.

In his inauguration speech on Friday, Hong Kong’s new leader John Lee addressed the political and economic upheaval of the past few years — and declared the city had “overcome” all challenges.

Hong Kong’s biggest protests: It was a reference to the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a pro-democracy demonstration that saw protesters occupy parts of the city for 79 days — and the 2019 anti-government protests that formed the biggest political crisis in the city’s history.

“Because of the backing of the central government, the uniqueness of ‘one country, two systems,’ and the self reliance of the Hong Kong people, every time Hong Kong has overcome the challenge and started again, and moved up to a higher level,” Lee said.

He thanked the central Chinese government and the city for “their trust in me,” promising to uphold “one country, two systems” — the framework established in 1997, which gave Hong Kong limited democratic freedoms and autonomy while remaining under Chinese sovereignty.

Some context: Handover negotiations between British and Chinese leaders had included a proviso that “Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and lifestyle shall remain unchanged for 50 years,” which would be maintained by the “one country, two systems” model.

But in recent years, public fears have grown that the 50-year deadline has arrived early. The 2019 political crisis was shortly followed by a sweeping national security law introduced by Beijing, and a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy opposition groups.

Ever since Hong Kong was handed back to Chinese rule, 2047 has loomed — the deadline for how long things would be nominally allowed to stay the same in the semi-autonomous city.

The United Kingdom had leased most of the land in modern Hong Kong from China in 1898, with the 99-year lease expiring in 1997 — prompting negotiations which eventually led to the city being handed over to Chinese control.

No Hong Kong residents were party to the discussions, nor were they consulted about the final decision, which had a profound effect on their futures and freedoms.

The 50-year count: The agreement, signed by British and Chinese leaders in 1984, included a proviso that “Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and lifestyle shall remain unchanged for 50 years.”

This would be achieved by a principle called “one country, two systems,” suggested by China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Under this model, Hong Kong would be under Beijing’s sovereignty, while retaining its limited democratic freedoms.

China and Hong Kong’s transformation: In the decades since, as China emerged as a superpower, the Communist Party showed no sign of lessening its grip, with political repression only increasing under leader Xi Jinping.

For many years, Hong Kong enjoyed protected freedoms of speech, assembly, and press, drawing multinational companies into the city and a reputation as China’s “gateway to the West.” It was the only place on Chinese soil allowed to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, or to openly hold pro-democracy protests and demand greater electoral reforms.

But in recent years, public fears have grown that the 50-year deadline has arrived early, as the city faced political upheaval, the introduction of a sweeping national security law by Beijing, and a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy opposition groups.

Read more here.

China’s state media has made a clear effort to put all eyes on Hong Kong on Friday and its “promising future” as part of the “motherland.”

State broadcaster CCTV launched special live coverage of the 25th anniversary celebrations and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the city on Thursday and Friday.

Online, a 25th anniversary banner was splashed across the homepage of Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and Xi’s activities dominated the website of state news agency Xinhua, while stories about the anniversary topped the heavily moderated “hot search” list on China’s microblogging site Weibo.

Headlines and editorials across online news platforms pointed to the “enthusiastic responses” from Hong Kongers to Xi’s “heart-warming remarks” in his speech on Thursday afternoon or highlighted the “shared destinies” of Hong Kong and the mainland.

A People’s Daily editorial highlighted Xi’s reference in his Thursday speech to the “challenges” Hong Kong withstood over the past 25 years, and, like Xi, stressed the success of the “one country, two systems” framework that governs the city in ensuring Hong Kong’s well-being. 

Some context: Critics say that system, by which Hong Kong was guaranteed a “high level of autonomy” for 50 years post-handover, has already been critically undermined by Beijing’s broad crackdown on civil society and the imposition of a sweeping national security law. 

The transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule 25 years ago was a point of significant national pride in the mainland, and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests of 2019 were met with vitriol in the mainland’s increasingly nationalistic public arena, even as coverage of those events was highly censored.  

John Lee began his tenure as Hong Kong leader on Friday by opening an account on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

Lee is the first Hong Kong leader to have opened a Weibo account — an unmistakable signal for greater integration between Hong Kong and mainland China.

The hashtag “John Lee opened a Weibo account” has so far been viewed more than 40 million times.