Endurance Of '1 Country, 2 Systems' Status Quo Conditional On Protesters - Hong Kong Chief

Endurance of '1 Country, 2 Systems' Status Quo Conditional on Protesters - Hong Kong Chief

The so-called one country, two systems governing principle, which gives China's special administrative region of Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, can only continue beyond 2047 if it is respected and supported by the city's population, especially the younger generation, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) The so-called one country, two systems governing principle, which gives China's special administrative region of Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, can only continue beyond 2047 if it is respected and supported by the city's population, especially the younger generation, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Thursday.

The London-Beijing handover agreement of 1997 stipulates that upon being returned to China, Hong Kong reserves the right to retain its legal, financial and political systems for 50 years.

"Only if we insist on the implementation of the 'one country, two systems' principle, fully understand and respect it, we will have sufficient reason to believe that it will be further fulfilled, that it will not change after 2047," Lam said during a Legislative Council meeting.

The city's leader added that younger citizens, specifically those born after 1997, should value the principle rather than damage it due to their "misunderstanding."

The statement came as a warning to the anti-government protesters who continue to pour into the streets of the special administrative region. The demonstrations, initially a response to an extradition bill introduced in June, have continued even after the highly unpopular measure was withdrawn in October. In early January, the activists took to the streets in a march organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, demanding an independent investigation into police actions during previous protests, amnesty for the detained protesters and universal suffrage.

Beijing views the situation in Hong Kong as the result of foreign interference in China's domestic affairs and expresses full support for the local authorities' actions.