title: Diplomatic triumph or poisoned chalice: the 1984 Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's prospects for democracy
Creators: name: Wolf, Stefan
Publisher: name: :none
Year: 2020

description: Diese Masterarbeit hat zum Ziel, die Demokratiebewegung in Hong Kong aus einer sozial-historischen Perspektive darzustellen sowie ihre Hintergründe herauszuarbeiten, um ihren Ver-lauf letztendlich verstehen zu können. Dabei wird sowohl auf die Bedeutung der britischen Ko-lonialzeit und dessen Erbes eingegangen, sowie auf die neuesten demokratischen Entwicklun-gen seit der Rückgabe Hong Kongs an China nach 1997. Der Identität der Hongkonger, Pekings Haltung zur Demokratisierung der Sonderverwaltungszone sowie der Rolle von Hong Kongs Wirtschaftselite auf diese Entwicklungen wird ein besonderes Augenmerk gewidmet. Letztend-lich soll der Werdegang, der zu den massiven Unruhen in den Jahren 2019/2020 geführt hat, erklärt werden und eine Aussicht auf die Zukunft der Demokratisierung Hong Kongs gegeben werden.
description: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region saw in 2019 the fiercest and longest protests since its handover back to China in 1997. The background was a perception that the Hong Kong government, which is more accountable to Beijing than its own citizens, was trying to clamp down on the civil liberties, which the territory enjoys since its time as a British colony. Calls for upholding the autonomy of Hong Kong, laid down in the city’s Basic Law, and the demand for universal suffrage – also promised by said law – where eventually crushed in 2020 with the im-plementation of The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. When zooming out to survey the larger picture, one has to inevitably ask oneself why the peo-ple of Hong Kong clamour for universal suffrage and a democratic reform of their political sys-tem. Upon the realisation that such was stipulated in the city’s quasi-constitution, the Basic Law, the next question must be why these promises have not been realized so far. The aim of this thesis is to look at exactly this question and even further beyond. The democratisation of Hong Kong mirrors a many-sided prism, where facets such as economy, the city’s judiciary and its history play a role among many others. This thesis takes a mainly historical approach with a look at the legacy of Hong Kong’s former colonial ruler, Britain, and spanning all the way to modern day developments. The effort is to show, how today’s unfolding events have been influenced by the actions and missed opportunities of the past, and to deduct what future the most recent developments hold. Other main actors identified within the scope of this analysis are therefore the Hong Kong identity – sharing certain similarities with the rest of China on the one hand, yet totally unique on the other; the attitude of the Chinese Communist Party towards Hong Kong – a consistent presence in Hong Kong’s affairs since colonial times; and the role of the Hong Kong elite – a business community which had always played a part in the city’s political development. The interactions between these three have led to many hitherto unexpected results, however certain historical parallels become visible at a closer inspection.