Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
Line 124:
Hong Kong became a colony of the [[British Empire]] after the [[First Opium War]](1839–42). The [[Hong Kong Island]] was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by [[Kowloon Peninsula]] in 1860 and then the [[New Territories]] was put under lease in 1898. It was [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong|occupied by Japan]] during the [[Pacific War]] (1941–45), after which the British resumed control until 1997, when [[Transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong|China resumed sovereignty]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong|date=19 December 1984|quote=The Government of the People's Republic of China declares that to recover the Hong Kong area (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, hereinafter referred to as Hong Kong) is the common aspiration of the entire Chinese people, and that it has decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong with effect from 1 July 1997.|url=http://www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/jd2.htm|publisher=Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, Hong Kong Government|postscript=<!--None-->|accessdate=4 October 2010}}</ref><ref name=otd>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/1/newsid_2656000/2656973.stm|title=On This Day: 1997: Hong Kong handed over to Chinese control|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=9 September 2008|date=1 July 1997}}</ref> The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of [[positive non-interventionism]] during the colonial era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnbc.com/id/32970596?slide=14|title=The World's Most Competitive Financial Centers|publisher=[[CNBC]]|accessdate=30 October 2009 }}</ref> The time period greatly influenced the current [[culture of Hong Kong]], often described as "East meets West",<ref name="cnntravel"/> and the [[Education in Hong Kong|educational system]], which used to loosely follow the system in [[England]]<ref name="HKUChan"/>until reforms implemented in 2009.<ref name=nss>{{cite web|url=http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeID=2063&langno=1 |title=Programme Highlights|work=Hong Kong Government|accessdate=20 October 2010}}</ref>
Under the principle of "[[one country, two systems]]", Hong Kong has a different political system from [[mainland China]].<ref>{{cite book|last=So|first=Dudley L.|last2=Lin|first2=Nan|last3=Poston|year=2001|title=The Chinese Triangle of Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing]]|pages=13–29|isbn=0-313-30869-1}}</ref> Hong Kong's [[independent judiciary]] functions under the [[common law]]framework.<ref name="BasicLawC4S4">{{cite web|url=http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/chapter_4.html#section_4|title=Basic Law, Chapter IV, Section 4|publisher=Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee|accessdate=10 November 2009}}</ref><ref name="RusellP">{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Peter H.|first2=David M.|last2=O'Brien|title=Judicial Independence in the Age of Democracy: Critical Perspectives from around the World|year=2001|publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]]|isbn=978-0-8139-2016-0|page=306}}</ref> [[Hong Kong Basic Law]], its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign relations and military defence, governs its[[Politics of Hong Kong|political system]].<ref name="BasicLawC2"/><ref name="Ghai">{{cite book|last=Ghai|first=Yash P.|title=Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States|year=2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-78642-3|pages=92–97}}</ref> Although it has a burgeoning [[multi-party system]], a small-circle electorate controls half of its [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|legislature]]. The head of the government, the [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]], is chosen by an [[Election Committee]] of 400 to 1,200 members, a situation that will be in effect during the first 20 years of Chinese rule.<ref>{{cite web|title=Decision of the National People's Congress on the Method for the Formation of the First Government and the First Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|url=http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/attached_4.html|accessdate=21 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Amendment to Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region|url=http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/Amendment_to_AnnexI.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Rioni">{{cite book|last=Rioni|first=S. G.|title=Hong Kong in Focus: Political and Economic Issues|year=2002|publisher=[[Nova Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-59033-237-5|pages=9–10}}</ref>
Hong Kong is a [[Global city|world city]]. It is one of the Alpha+ cities and it usually be considered as the fifth most important city in the world, after [[New York City]],[[London]], [[Paris]] and [[Tokyo]]. Also, a Time Magazine article in 2008 coined the phrase "Nylonkong", which referred to New York City, London and Hong Kong, that these three cities form a global network that facilitates the global economy. As one of the world's leading international [[financial centre]]s, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, [[Hong Kong dollar]], is the [[Foreign exchange market#Trading characteristics|eighth most traded currency in the world]].<ref name="bis.org">{{cite journal|url=http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfxf10t.pdf|title=Triennial Central Bank Survey: Report on global foreign exchange market activity in 2010|date=December 2010|work=Monetary and Economic Department|page=12|publisher=[[Bank for International Settlements]]|accessdate=15 October 2011}}</ref> The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern [[Architecture of Hong Kong|architecture]] and the world's most vertical city.<ref name="timeout"/><ref name="skyscraper"/> Hong Kong has one of the [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|highest per capita income]]s in the world.<ref name="imf2">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2013/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=44&pr.y=20&sy=2013&ey=2013&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=532&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=
| |||