However, problems on the mainland also diverted business and entrepreneurs from Shanghai and other cities to the relative safety and stability of the British colonial port of Hong Kong. Nevertheless, Hong Kong was vital to the international economic links that the PRC continued in order to pursue industrialization and support grain imports. In turn, cheap food helped to restrain rises in the cost of living in Hong Kong thus helping to keep wages low during the period of labor-intensive industrialization.
The industrialization of Hong Kong is usually dated from the embargoes of the s. However, as seen above, industry emerged in the nineteenth century and it began to expand in the interwar period. Nevertheless, industrialization accelerated after with the inflow of refugees, entrepreneurs and capital fleeing the civil war on the mainland.
The most prominent example is immigrants from Shanghai who created the cotton spinning industry in the colony. The economic development of Hong Kong is unusual in a variety of respects. First, industrialization was accompanied by increasing numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises SME rather than consolidation. In , 91 percent of manufacturing establishments employed fewer than one hundred workers, a proportion that increased to At the end of , SMEs still amounted to 98 percent of enterprises, providing 60 percent of total private employment.
Second, until the late s, the government did not engage in active industrial planning. This was partly because the government was preoccupied with social spending on housing large flows of immigrants, and partly because of an ideological sympathy for free market forces.
This means that Hong Kong fits outside the usual models of Asian economic development based on state-led industrialization Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan or domination of foreign firms Singapore or large firms with close relations to the state Japan, South Korea.
Low taxes, lax employment laws, absence of government debt, and free trade are all pillars of the Hong Kong experience of economic development. In fact, of course, the reality was very different from the myth of complete laissez-faire.
New industrial towns were built to house immigrants, provide employment and aid industry. The government also pursued an ambitious public education program, creating over , new primary school places between and By , Secondary school provision was expanded in the s, and from the government offered compulsory free education for all children up to the age of The notion that Chinese cannot manage Hong Kong affairs satisfactorily is a leftover from the old colonial mentality.
For more than a century after the Opium War, the Chinese people were looked down upon and humiliated by foreigners. But China's image has changed since the founding of the People's Republic. The modern image of China was not created by the government of the late Qing Dynasty, nor by the northern warlords, nor by Chiang Kai-shek and his son.
It is the People's Republic of China that has changed China's image. All Chinese have at the very least a sense of pride in the Chinese nation, no matter what clothes they wear or what political stand they take. The Chinese in Hong Kong share this sense of national pride. They have the ability to run the affairs of Hong Kong well and they should be confident of that. The prosperity of Hong Kong has been achieved mainly by Hong Kong residents, most of whom are Chinese.
Chinese are no less intelligent than foreigners and are by no means less talented. It is not true that only foreigners can be good administrators. We Chinese are just as capable. The view that the people of Hong Kong lack self-confidence is not really shared by the people of Hong Kong themselves.
The contents of the Sino-British talks have not yet been made public, so many Hong Kong residents do not know the Central Government's policy. Once they become familiar with it, they will have full confidence in it. Our policy on the settlement of the Hong Kong problem was made known by the Premier of the State Council in his report on the work of the government to the Second Session of the Sixth National People's Congress [held in May ], and it was approved by the congress.
That shows how serious we are about it. If at this stage people are still worried about whether they can trust us, having no faith in the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Government, what's the point of talking about anything? We are convinced that the people of Hong Kong are capable of running the affairs of Hong Kong well, and we want to see an end to foreign rule.
The people of Hong Kong themselves will agree to nothing less. Some requirements or qualifications should be established with regard to the administration of Hong Kong affairs by the people of Hong Kong. It must be required that patriots form the main body of administrators, that is, of the future government of the Hong Kong special region.
Of course it should include other Chinese, too, as well as foreigners invited to serve as advisers. What is a patriot? A patriot is one who respects the Chinese nation, sincerely supports the motherland's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong and wishes not to impair Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.
Those who meet these requirements are patriots, whether they believe in capitalism or feudalism or even slavery. We don't demand that they be in favour of China's socialist system; we only ask them to love the motherland and Hong Kong. There are 13 years left until We should start working now to gradually bring about a smooth transition. First, major fluctuations or setbacks must be avoided, and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong must be maintained.
Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Most people know Hong Kong as an international financial hub , business center, shopping paradise, and tourist destination. However, the region's identity crisis and resistance to Beijing's interference are at the heart of the civil unrest in the former British colony. Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong would like the region to remain different from other Chinese cities.
So is Hong Kong a de facto country or is it truly a part of China? As with many things in Hong Kong, the answer is not clear-cut. The relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China is far more complex than most people realize. It involves politics, economics , trade, laws, and, above all, the people. Mainland China and Hong Kong complement each other economically.
However, their political differences remain entrenched. The century-long separation between the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong created gaps that cannot be easily bridged even if the two are officially one country. Before Hong Kong and mainland China can truly unify, they must overcome significant differences.
To understand the root of Hong Kong's separation from the mainland, one must go back to the Opium Wars between Great Britain and China — During these military and trade clashes, China was forced to cede Hong Kong Island and a part of Kowloon to Great Britain in perpetuity. In , Britain negotiated a major land expansion of the Hong Kong colony and signed a year lease with China.
Under the doctrine of "one country, two systems," China allowed the former colony to continue to govern itself and maintain many independent systems for a period of 50 years.
The Basic Law defines the limited autonomy of Hong Kong. Owing to its colonial history, English is one of Hong Kong's official languages.
Officially known as the People's Republic of China, this East Asian country is the world's most populous , with a population of more than 1. China is governed by the Chinese Communist Party, which has jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities, and the SARs of both Hong Kong and Macau.
China built its economy on heavy industry development, ramping up the country's industrial and service output over the years. Of late, consumer demand has driven growth. However, after a tougher , in which the nation was embroiled in a trade war with the United States, the Chinese economy grew at its slowest pace in 28 years. Perhaps the most significant difference between mainland China and Hong Kong is that the mainland is communist and controlled by a single party while Hong Kong has a limited democracy.
Both share the President of China as their chief of state. However, each has its own head of government: The premier is the head of mainland China, while the chief executive is the head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The chief executive is accountable to the Central People's Government. The term of the chief executive is for five years, and any person can serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Despite the separation in systems and rights guaranteed by the Basic Law, the mainland Chinese government does assert itself in local Hong Kong politics. Protesters complained that only those candidates who aligned their interests with China would be allowed to run.
The "Umbrella Protests," as they were known, failed to achieve any concessions from Beijing. Hong Kong also has its own legal and judicial systems including a proprietary police force , district organizations with no political power , and public servants, broadly based on the British common law model.
However, for land tenure and family matters, Hong Kong reverts to the Chinese customary law model. In , Hong Kongers protested against an extradition bill that would have allowed residents to be sent to mainland China.
It was eventually suspended and withdrawn by the chief executive. Critics feared the bill would undermine the region's judicial system. Amnesty International said the bill—if passed—would have extended the power of the mainland authorities to target critics, human rights defenders, journalists, NGO workers, and anyone else in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong defers from mainland China in two primary areas: military defense and international relations. Hong Kong may not maintain its own military; the mainland manages the military defense of Hong Kong. In international diplomacy, Hong Kong has no separate identity from mainland China.
It can also participate in trade-related events and agreements under the name "Hong Kong, China. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may not maintain any separate diplomatic ties with foreign countries. Foreign countries may have consulate offices in Hong Kong, but locate their main Chinese embassies on the mainland.
The citizens of Hong Kong carry a different passport from the citizens of mainland China. Both must obtain permission before visiting the other region.
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