Hong Kong 25 years on from handover infographic
Graphic shows annual growth rate of Hong Kong’s population since 1990.
GN42902EN

POLITICS

Hong Kong marks 25 years since handover

June 29, 2022 - Twenty-five years ago Hong Kong returned to China after 156 years of British colonial rule, with Beijing pledging wide-ranging freedoms denied to those in mainland China.

Government estimates show hundreds of thousands of people quit Hong Kong in the years that preceded the handover for a new life overseas – many citing fears of a future under Beijing's thumb, according to AFP.

As the territory celebrates the handover’s 25th anniversary on Friday, with citywide posters proclaiming “a new era of stability, prosperity and opportunity”, another exodus is under way.

Under the One Country, Two Systems principle set out with Britain, China agreed that Hong Kong would maintain a high degree of autonomy and independent judicial power and that the city’s leader would be appointed by Beijing on the basis of local elections or consultations.

Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law has helped propel a new wave of emigrants across the world, swelling the diaspora of those who feel dispossessed by Chinese rule, AFP said.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 29/06/2022; STORY: Graphic News
Advertisement