Beijing's policy towards Hong Kong and the prospects for democratisation in the SAR

Abstract

Five days after the Tiananmen Square massacre, Deng Xiaoping indicated that this "counter-revolutionary turmoil" was bound to happen because of trends in the da qihou (literally, the larger climate; figuratively, major domestic and global developments((1)). To understand the intriguing changes that have taken place in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) ten years after 1 July 1997, it is instructive to assess changes in not only Hong Kong itself but also Beijing-Hong Kong relations. China's precipitous rise to within striking distance of attaining "quasi-superpower" status also has to be taken into account.