Hong Kong independence
Independence of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港獨立) is a political movement that advocates Hong Kong to become an independent sovereign state.[1] After the handover to the People's Republic of China, many Hong Kong people are worried about the ruling of the Communist Party of China. They are also worried about Hong Kong would lose the well-developed economic environment, as well as freedom and democracy after being a special administrative region (SAR). Some of them want the current SAR to become a sovereign state like Singapore. According to recent researches, there is approximately 25-30% Hong Kong people prefer an independent Hong Kong rather than a SAR ruled by PRC.[2]
Background
All territories of Hong Kong were not ceded to Britain at one time. The cessions can be divided to three periods. In 1842, the Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom under the Treaty of Nanking. In 1860, after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island were ceded in perpetuity to Britain under the Convention of Peking. In 1898, under the terms of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Britain obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island and the adjacent northern lands, which became known as the New Territories.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
The ethnic majority of Hong Kong is Han Chinese. Some of them are native but many of them were refugees and migrants from mainland China.[9] Most of them escaped to Hong Kong because of the unrest in mainland, such as the World War II, Civil War, and the ruling of Communists. Many of them recognize themselves as "Chinese people", but in which "Chinese" means the "ethnicity" rather than the "nationality of People's Republic of China".[10] Therefore, some ideas and thoughts of independence rise in Hong Kong. They desire independent governance, instead of either the British or Chinese governance.
In 1946, the United Nations allowed some colonies can be independent and to form their own countries, such as Hong Kong and Singapore. Then the No. 1514 UN Resolution was approved in 1960, the resolution allows that all colonies can be formally independent. In 1972, the permanent UN seat of Republic of China was replaced by the People's Republic of China. After the replacement, PRC proposed the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macau. However the Britain soon opposed against the transfer over Hong Kong. Somehow, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was eventually signed, and Hong Kong finally returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
Reasons
Some main reasons that caused the rise of independent thoughts in Hong Kong are listed below:
- The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 declares that the Britain would return all territories of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
- The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 caused many Hong Kong people to lose the reliability on the PRC governance. It also caused more Hong Kong people to worry about the Communists, eventually led to the mass migration wave in 1989.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
Influence
Although the Independence of Hong Kong movement is not widely supported now, regarding of various researches, there are about 30% Hong Kong people still prefer Hong Kong as an independent sovereign country.
References
- ^ 安平，“港独”暗流涌动网际 与各路分裂势力关系密切，中国新闻网，中新社香港，2005-02-06
- ^ [1]《香港大學民意網站》「香港、台灣、澳門、沖繩民眾文化與國家認同國際比較調查」2007
- ^ Courtauld, Caroline; Holdsworth, May; Vickers, Simon (1997). The Hong Kong Story. Oxford University Press. pp. 38–58. ISBN 9780195903539.
- ^ Hoe, Susanna; Roebuck, Derek (1999). The Taking of Hong Kong: Charles and Clara Elliot in China Waters. Routledge. p. 203. ISBN 9780700711451.
- ^ Wiltshire, Trea (1997). Old Hong Kong. Vol. Volume II: 1901–1945 (5th ed.). FormAsia Books. p. 148. ISBN 9627283134.
{{cite book}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ "History of Hong Kong". Global Times. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ Scott, Ian (1989). Political change and the crisis of legitimacy in Hong Kong. University of Hawaii Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780824812690.
- ^ Byrne, Joseph Patrick (2008). Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues: A-M. ABC-CLIO. p. 499. ISBN 0313341028.
{{cite book}}: External link in|title= - ^ 中国大陆迁入香港的人口研究 李若建 香港中文大學 中國研究大學服務中心 2008/08/30
- ^ 香港人的身份認同 香港觀察 譚衛兒 第一段:若別人問我們是不是中國人,我們不會否認。
- ^ 誰能發動50萬人上街？兼談大遊行對香港政治傳播的衝擊，陳韜文教授、鍾庭耀博士，2003年7月25日
- ^ 反23與反董是7.1遊行的共同目標，陳韜文教授、鍾庭耀博士，2003年7月15日
- ^ 香港人權監察對居權證的意見
- ^ 湯家驊於中央政策組論壇發言稿
- ^ CCPR/C/SR.2351 英文版
- ^ 香港人權監察向人權委員員會說明香港1999年人權狀況
- ^ 香港民主黨向人權委員會說明香港1999年人權狀況