Hong Kong S Governance Under Chinese Sovereignty

As a hybrid regime, Hong Kong has been governed by a state-business alliance since the colonial era. However, since the handover in 1997, the transformation of Hong Kong’s political and socio-economic environment has eroded the conditions that supported a viable state-business alliance. This state-business alliance, which was once a solution for Hong Kong’s governance, has now become a political burden, rather than a political asset, to the post-colonial Hong Kong state. This book presents a critical re-examination of the post-1997 governance crisis in Hong Kong under the Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang administrations. It shows that the state-business alliance has failed to function as an organizational machinery for supporting the post-colonial state, and has also served to generate new governance problems. Drawing upon contemporary theories on hybrid regimes and state capacity, this book looks beyond the existing opposition-centered explanations of Hong Kong’s governance crisis. By establishing the causal relationship between the failure of the state-business alliance and the governance crisis facing the post-colonial state, Brian C. H. Fong broadens our understanding of the governance problems and political confrontations in post-colonial Hong Kong. In turn, he posits that although the state-business alliance worked effectively for the colonial state in the past, it is now a major problem for the post-colonial state, and suggests that Hong Kong needs a realignment of a new governing coalition. Hong Kong’s Governance under Chinese Sovereignty will enrich and broaden the existing literature on Hong Kong’s public governance whilst casting new light on the territory’s political developments. As such, it will be welcomed by students and scholars interested in Chinese politics, Hong Kong politics, and governance.

This book examines the government of Hong Kong since its handover to China in 1997, arguing that Hong Kong has been poorly governed and that this is what lies behind regular mass protests since 2003. It considers the different aspects of these government problems, and assesses prospects for the future.

This paperback reader provides the student and general reader with easy access to the major issues of the Hong Kong transition crisis. Contributors include both editors, as well as Frank Ching, Berry F. Hsu, Reginald Yin-wang Kwok, Peter Kwong, Julian Y.M. Leung, Ronald Skeldon, Alvin Y. So, Yun-wing Sung, and James T.H. Tang - the majority of whom live and work in Hong Kong and experience the transition firsthand, personally and professionally.

Analyses how China's socialist legal principles are incorporated into the Basic Law, and examines the conflicts in the drafting process between maintaining China's control and achieving genuine democracy and autonomy..

Kevin Lane discusses the tension existed between China's traditional claim to sovereignty over Hong Kong. He believes that on historical track record China has the capacity for flexibility on Hong Kong that would enable arrangements about its future to work successfully.

Is China always defensive about its sovereignty issues? Does China see sovereignty essentially as 'absolute,' 'Victorian,' or 'Westphalian?' Sow Keat Tok suggests that Beijing has a more nuanced and flexible policy towards 'sovereignty' than previously assumed. By comparing China's changing policy towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, the author relates the role of previous conceptions of the world order in China's conception of modern 'sovereignty', thereby uncovers Beijing's deepest concern when dealing with its sovereignty issues.

Hong Kong has undergone sweeping transformation since its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. This is a multidisciplinary assessment of the new regime and key issues, challenges, crises and opportunities confronting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Examining developments following Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, this book argues that genuine autonomy from the central government in Beijing is impossible without a democratic system in Hong Kong.