The Basic Law stipulated “gradual and orderly progress” in the selection of the Hong Kong chief executive up to 2007 and the election of the Legislative Council up to 2008, with the ultimate aim of universal suffrage. read more
Hong Kong is a pretty small region after all, and its economical importance to China is partially due to its special political identities in the eye of western medias and of general populations that it is, in a manner of speaking, a democratized region of China. read more
Democratic development in Hong Kong has been a major topic since the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997. The one country, two systems principle allows the Hong Kong government to administer all areas of government except foreign relations and (military) defence separately from the national Chinese government. read more
Consequently, Hong Kong’s ultimate Chinese rulers could control the selection outcome. For the 2017 CE election, Beijing pledged to institute universal suffrage, so that all of Hong Kong’s several million voters could express their preferences. It has honored that pledge but only in a narrow sense. read more