LDP Party_khem Veasna_League for Democracy Party_Do not Believe on 10 things
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LDP Party_khem Veasna_League for Democracy Party_Do not Believe on 10 things - Video
Do you speak democracy? Arab countries in transition get first election glossary
Subscribe to France 24 now: http://bit.ly/France24Subscribe THE INTERVIEW : Philippa Neave has worked as a consultant for the UN, helping to organise what were often the first democratic elections...
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Do you speak democracy? Arab countries in transition get first election glossary - Video
Turmel: Gathafi #39;s Green Book: #2/5 How direct democracy could work
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Turmel: Gathafi's Green Book: #2/5 How direct democracy could work - Video
Introduction
Hong Kong is a special region of the People's Republic of China (PRC) with certain political and economic freedoms based on the notion of "one country, two systems." The former British colony is a global financial capital that has thrived off its proximity to China, but in recent years many in Hong Kong have become frustrated by growing economic disparities in the city and weary of delays in democratic reform.
Democracy activists in Hong Kong rally against the 1997 handover to China and the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown every year, but protests in the fall of 2014 reached record levels. Experts say that Beijing views these demonstrations as a direct challenge to its legitimacy, and fears a political compromise could have dangerous implications for other regions like Taiwan or Tibet.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China that is largely free to manage its own affairs based on "one country, two systems," a national unification policy developed by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. The concept was intended to facilitate the reintegration of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao with sovereign China while preserving their unique political and economic systems. After more than a century and a half of colonial rule, the British government returned Hong Kong in 1997. (Qing Dynasty leaders ceded the territory to the British Crown in 1842 after China's defeat in the First Opium War.) Portugal returned Macao in 1999, and Taiwan remains independent.
Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's constitutional document, safeguards the city's "capitalist system and way of life" and grants it "a high degree of autonomy," including executive, legislative, and independent judicial powers for fifty years (until 2047). Chinese Communist Party officials do not preside over Hong Kong as they do in mainland provinces and municipalities, but Beijing still exerts considerable, although indirect, influence through loyalists that dominate the regions political sphere.
Freedom of the press, expression, assembly, and religion are protected rights. Hong Kong is allowed to forge external relations in certain areasincluding trade, communications, tourism, and culturebut Beijing maintains control over the region's diplomacy and defense.
Map
A metropolis of more than seven million people, Hong Kong is a global financial and shipping center that has thrived off its proximity to the world's second-largest economy, ranking first in the world in trade as a percentage of GDP. Relatively low taxes, a highly developed financial system, light regulation, and other capitalist features make Hong Kong one of the world's most attractive markets and set it apart from mainland financial hubs like Shanghai. (Beijing unveiled the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in September 2013 to test some free market reforms, but it has disappointed investors thus far.) Hong Kong continues to take top spots in global economic competitiveness reports, ranking third in the World Bank's 2015 Doing Business report. Most of the worlds major banks and multinational firms maintain regional headquarters in the city.
Though Hong Kong's economic power has diminished relative to the mainlandits GDP has fallen from 16 percent of China's after the handover in 1997 to just 3 percent in 2014but commercial ties remain extremely tight. Hong Kong is China's second largest trading partner (after the United States), accounting for close to 10 percent of Chinas total trade. The city is also China's largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and a place where Chinese firms raise vast amounts of offshore capitalnearly eight hundred mainland enterprises list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Meanwhile, Hong Kong relies heavily on the mainland. China accounted for just over half of the city's total trade in 2013, and was also the top source of FDI in Hong Kong.
Beijing's reluctance to allow Hong Kong to develop into a full-fledged democracy with free and fair elections is a perennial bone of contention. Experts say a source of the problem is ambiguity in the Basic Law, which Beijing continues to reinterpret. The document states that Hong Kong's chief executive "shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government," and that "the ultimate aim is the selection of the chief executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures." The nature and timing of electoral reform are unclear.
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Democracy in Hong Kong
HONG KONG: The founders of Hong Kongs pro-democracy Occupy movement surrendered to police Wednesday in a symbolic move, as they try to take the protests off the streets after more than two months of rallies punctuated by violence. Dozens of supporters, carrying yellow umbrellas which have become a symbol of the movement and shouting I want true democracy without fear!, surrounded the trio as they turned themselves in at a central police station. However Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming quickly emerged from the station, saying they had not been arrested despite admitting participating in unauthorized assembly. We have not been arrested so we are allowed to leave with no restriction on our liberty, said Tai. He told AFP there were political considerations behind their swift release to avoid crowds flocking to the protest zones, but said it was inevitable they would eventually be arrested. I dont think the matter will be resolved on this occasion, later we may be arrested, even prosecuted for more serious offenses, Tai added. The three had been joined by 82-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, a prominent pro-democracy supporter, who also gave himself up. About 40 other supporters waiting outside the police station also queued up to fill out forms turning themselves in. This is for the fortune of the next generation, said secondary school teacher April Fan, 55. Police said Wednesday afternoon that 24 people had so far surrendered. They were explicitly told by the interviewing officers that illegal occupation of public places was an unlawful act and they should stop such act immediately, a statement said. Police will conduct follow-up investigations based on the information provided. The founders surrender and their call to end the road blockades followed violent clashes between protesters and police outside the government headquarters late Sunday which left dozens injured. Tai said the Occupy movement would now take a different approach to promoting democracy, including through education and a new social charter. Protesters began blocking three major intersections in late September to demand free leadership elections in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. One has since been cleared by police. China insists that candidates for the 2017 leadership vote must be vetted by a loyalist committee, which demonstrators say will ensure the election of a pro-Beijing stooge. China refuses to budge despite the student-led protests and Hong Kongs current leader Leung Chun-ying has also taken a tougher line since Sundays violence. On Wednesday he rejected a call made by three students on hunger strike, for the constitutional reform process to be re-launched. Leungs office said in a statement there was no legal way to restart the process. Expressing views on constitutional reform through illegal and confrontational means is bound to be futile, it added.
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HK Occupy protest leaders turn themselves in to police