Hong Kong: From Britain to China and Beyond

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People hold China’s national flags in Central district of Hong Kong to mark the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, Thursday, June 29, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Hong Kong Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of Beijing taking control of the former British colony. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

It has been twenty years since Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China.

At midnight on June 30, 1997, the British colonial administration relinquished control of the Asian financial center to Hong Kong’s new rulers, China’s Communist leaders.

With a new “Basic Law” constitution and a framework known as “one country, two systems,” Hong Kongers were promised that they could keep their capitalist way of life, including western-style civil liberties and considerable autonomy, for 50 years.

This timeline gives a brief history of Hong Kong and some major events that shaped it and it’s future.  

 

 

More from Hong Kong’s 20 years: