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: