After Occupy, Beijing to pay more heed to 'two systems', but stress 'one country'

Beijing will pay more respect to the "two systems" element of the post-handover formula for Hong Kong while also stressing its "one country" aspect in the wake of the Occupy protests, a source familiar with the central government's thinking says.

Beijing would make "appropriate adjustments" in its policy towards the city, said the mainland official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Noting that young people formed the backbone of the protests, the official said Beijing wanted to improve Hong Kong youngsters' understanding of the nation's history and development.

Pro-establishment figures have recently called for Chinese history to become a compulsory subject in schools for the first time since 2001.

"The central government is now attaching more importance to the Hong Kong question and will make appropriate adjustments in its policy towards the city," the official said.

"We need to stress more on 'one country' while paying more respect to the differences between 'two systems'," the official said, of the "one country, two systems" formula, without giving details of how this might be done.