It is hard for the authorities to meet anti-extradition protesters’ demand for democracy, but there must be a public accounting of the saga. Hong Kong faces its biggest crisis in 22 years, but no official has assumed responsibility.

With the end of the year approaching, foreign correspondents in Beijing again have to seek an extension of their journalists' visa. Some American reporters are by no means certain they will be renewed.

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has been in the news because of the expulsion of Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun from its ranks. It is often referred to as China's top advisory body.

Proverbs reflect the wisdom of a people, as passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes they can be traced to an individual who is not as well known as the words he or she coined.

Even if student activists don't get Beijing to withdraw its decision on universal suffrage, they have already done a remarkable thing by putting Hong Kong back on the map.

For well over a decade, Hong Kong society has been torn by the lure of democracy or, as the Basic Law puts it, universal suffrage. The August 31 decision by the NPC is likely to indefinitely prolong dissension within the community.

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, in his press conference last week, surprisingly acknowledged there is a problem with Hong Kong’s political system – one constructed according to the Basic Law.

In traditional China, aggrieved people from around the country could seek justice by travelling to the capital and lodging a petition. In today's China, the system continues, with the State Bureau for Letters and Calls being responsible for dealing with petitioners.

The controversy over whether pan-democrats are patriotic and hence qualified to become candidates in the chief executive election in 2017 turns on different definitions of patriotism.

At long last, a Chinese leader has acknowledged the Basic Law's stipulation that the method of selecting the chief executive shall be specified "in the light of the actual situation" in Hong Kong.

The latest British six-monthly report on Hong Kong was released at a sensitive time. It came weeks after China's white paper on "one country, two systems" and on the same day as the disclosure that reports on electoral reform were to be made public this week.

Expansion is not in the Chinese DNA", Premier Li Keqiang declared during his visit to Britain, apparently in an attempt to allay fears driven by China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, "nor can we accept the logic that a strong country is bound to become hegemonic."

In the late 1970s, Britain presented China with a problem: what to do about Hong Kong since the British lease on the New Territories, which accounted for more than 90 per cent of the colony, would expire in 1997.

Twenty-five years ago, the world was shocked. Tanks rumbled through the streets of Beijing and shots were fired at students and other civilians who had gathered to protest against inflation and corruption. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed.