Hong Kong: “Business as Usual” Amidst Social Unrest

With the signature of the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, China was forced to forfeit many of its territorial and sovereignty rights and to cede a number of territories, in particular the island of Hong Kong, to the British in perpetuity. However, the final treaty, the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, led China to lease the New Territories to Britain for 99 years. On July 1, 1997, the British presence ended under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984, through the retrocession of the ex-colony to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Joint Declaration stated that Hong Kong would retain political and social autonomy through a “one country, two systems” policy until 2047. During its time as a British colony, HK evolved from a scattered assortment of farming and fishing villages and shantytowns to become a port, a manufacturing centre, and a financial hub, all with a global dimension. However, its democratic nature seems to be fading away as Beijing is determined to tame political defiance in the former British colony. In 2014, Beijing declared that it would wield “comprehensive jurisdiction” over the territory, culminating in the introduction of a sweeping Hong Kong national security law in June 2020. While Hong Kong is historically associated with peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations, pro-democracy rallies have been repressed with increasing violence which has accentuated since the Umbrella Movement of 2014. More recently, there was an upsurge of violence triggered by the 2019/20 “Extradition Bill,” with technology and social media emerging as key supporting tools for protest organisers that led to violent confrontations between the population and the local authorities. Beijing reacted by unleashing a myriad of actions to bring Hong Kong back into order and to impose the communist party’s implacable rule over the territory. As Beijing’s grip stiffens, HK is moving relentlessly towards an authoritarian regime that its legal and democratic system does not seem capable of neutralising. This raises the crucial question of the sustainability of Hong Kong as a key financial centre and trade hub in the future.