My Take | From handover to takeover – Hong Kong’s fate
- Contrary to the orthodox democratic interpretation, post-1997 Hong Kong has been experiencing a common historical pattern of reform, revolution and restoration, whose outcome remains unknown and undecided
For much of Hong Kong’s post-handover period, there had been a gradual expansion of the electoral franchise, culminating with Beijing’s offer of a “one person, one vote” reform blueprint in the summer of 2014, which was subsequently rejected by pan-democratic lawmakers.
This was followed by periods of turmoil, from the Occupy protests of 2014 and the “fishball revolution” of 2016 to unprecedented violent unrest in 2019.
Things quietened down last year, partly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but mostly because of the introduction of the draconian national security law.
Now, though, we are about to enter a new political phase in which the constitutional order will be upended and overhauled. Many have seen this as a regression, a deliberate reversal by Beijing of all the democratic gains made since 1997.
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Hong Kong to teach new national security law in classrooms
This is a common view among many Hong Kong people and overseas, and is by no means invalid.