Covering the issues about political, economic, social, education and more, this book examines how critical the government is when handling challenges from past to current. With fresh perspectives and unique angles of criticism, the author provides us the clearest look at the government of today.
In 2007, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region held its first-ever contested election for Chief Executive, selected by 800 members of an Election Committee drawn from roughly 7% of the population. The outcome was a foregone conclusion, but the process allowed a pro-democracy legislator to obtain enough nominations to contest the election. The office of Chief Executive is as unique as the system used to fill the office, distinct from colonial governors and other leaders a Chinese provinces and municipalities. The head of the HKSAR enjoys greater autonomous powers, such as powers to nominate principal officials for Chinese appointment, pardon offenders and appoint judges. Despite its many anti-democratic features, the Election Committee has generated behavior typically associated with elections in leading capitalist democracies and has also gained prominence on the mainland as the vehicle for returning Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress. This book reviews the history and development of the Election Committee (and its predecessor), discusses its ties to legislative assemblies in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and reflects on the future of the system.
This book captures the essence of Hong Kong's development in the past two decades from 1997 to 2017. It is broken into four parts — economics, society, politics and culture.Hong Kong's role remains as a gateway for global trading houses, businessmen, investors and traders. Hong Kong continues to be an open economy and has stuck to free trade policies, as one of the former four successful 'tiger economies' in East Asia. In the political and international relations realm, this book examines Hong Kong's relations with China, other major powers and the world at large. It also covers domestic developments, including legal developments. Other chapters in the book examine cultural developments in Hong Kong from specific case studies of iconic animation character to trans-boundary popularity of Hong Kong popular culture in China.With contributions from Alvin CAMBA, Henry CHAN, Yoshihisa GODO, Wing Lok HUNG, Sean KING, Tuan Yuen KONG, Tai Wei LIM, Carol MA, Samantha MA, Parama SINHA PALIT, Zhengqi PAN, SIM Japanese Culture and Gaming Society, Hiroshi TAKAHASHI, Ghim Yeow TAN, Katherine TSENG, Elim WONG, Kai Keat YEO and Chun Wang YEUNG, this book provides a snapshot of Hong Kong in the past twenty years and is a fascinating read.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is located on the southeastern coast of China, and the Macao SAR can be found off of China's southern coast. Both regions have recently been released from European colonial rule: Hong Kong from British control in 1997 and Macao from Portugal in 1999. As SARs, Hong Kong and Macao retain a high degree of autonomy, and they control all issues except those of state (e.g. diplomatic relations and national defense). The A to Z of the Hong Kong SAR and the Macao SAR includes maps, photographs, a list of acronyms, a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, and events as well as political, economic and social background. However, unlike the rest of the series, all these sections are presented in duplicate: one for Hong Kong and one for Macao. The authoritative analysis and informative data presented clearly elucidate the unique situation of these two territories.