- Title: Timeline of Hong Kong's politics, on six month mark of anti-government protests
- Date: 9th December 2019
- Summary: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Kowloon peninsula was turned into a battleground in mid-November, when protesters barricaded themselves in and clashed with riot police in a hail of petrol bombs, water cannon and tear gas. About 1,100 people were arrested during the weeks-long standoff, some while trying to escape. Police only ended their cordon, re-opened surrounding roads and handed back control of the campus to the University on November 29. HONG KONG, CHINA (RECENT - NOVEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS SHIELDING THEMSELVES WITH UMBRELLAS AND THROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS RETREATING AS MORE TEAR GAS FIRED POLICE TROOPER SHOOTING AT PROTESTERS WITH AIR GUN BULLETS HITTING THE FLOOR AND PROTESTERS RETREATING Hong Kong's democrats romped to a landslide and symbolic majority in district council elections after residents turned out in record numbers on November 24 to vote following six months of anti-government protests in the embattled city. The elections were seen by many as a proxy vote on the performance of Carrie Lam's administration. The voting ended with no major disruptions in a day that saw massive, though orderly, queues form outside voting centres. HONG KONG, CHINA (RECENT - NOVEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) VOTERS QUEUING OUTSIDE POLLING STATION VOTERS QUEUING IN FRONT OF SIGN READING (English and Chinese) "POLLING STATION FOR DISTRICT COUNCIL ORDINARY ELECTIONS" VOTERS ENTERING POLLING STATION OFFICIALS FROM HONG KONG ELECTORAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION, OPENING A BALLOT BOX VARIOUS OF PRO-DEMOCRACY CANDIDATE KELVIN LAM (WEARING SASH WITH THE NUMBER 1 AROUND HIS NECK) CHEERING, POSING FOR PHOTOS AND CHANTING TOGETHER WITH BARRED DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST JOSHUA WONG
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2019 04:29
- Keywords: China Hong Kong Occupy Sino-British Joint Declaration Umbrella anniversary extradition handover one country protests two systems
- Location: HONG KONG / SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE / BEIJING, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG / SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE / BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA00VB99TOW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: December 19th marks the 35th anniversary of the signing of an agreement by China and Britain over Hong Kong, which laid the blueprint over how the city would be ruled after its return to China in 1997.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed on December 19, 1984 by then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, laid out how Britain would end its century-and-a-half long rule over Hong Kong. It also guarantees the city's rights and freedoms under the "two systems" formula.
Under Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, Hong Kong was guaranteed its freedoms for "at least 50 years" after 1997.
This year, Hong Kong has been rocked by six months of sometimes violent unrest in the biggest challenge to Chinese stability since the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The protesters' demands include universal suffrage, an investigation into alleged police brutality and an end to Beijing's perceived efforts to undermine democratic freedoms promised when the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997.
China denies interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and says it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula enshrined at the handover and guaranteeing the territory a high degree of autonomy. Beijing blames foreign countries including the United States for inciting unrest.
(Production: Phyllis Xu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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