The Asian Racing Federation (ARF) is a regional federation comprising 29 national horse racing authorities and racing-related organisations from across Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East.
The ARF is formally linked with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). Australia, Hong Kong and Japan have permanent seats representing the ARF on the Executive Council of the IFHA, and the ARF also nominates one of two rotational positions on the IFHA Executive Council.
Established in 1960 as the Asian Racing Conference (ARC), the ARF was formally established as a permanent organisation in at the 28th ARC in 2001.
The Executive Council meets four times annually and is chaired by Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges GBS JP.
The ARF has a central Secretariat that is based in Hong Kong.
The politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by its quasi-constitutional document, the Hong Kong Basic Law, its own legislature, the Chief Executive as the head of government and of the Special Administrative Region and of a politically constrained multi-party presidential system. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is led by the Chief Executive, the head of government.
Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is exclusively in charge of its internal affairs, whilst the central government of China is responsible for its foreign affairs and defence. As a separate customs territory, Hong Kong maintains and develops relations with foreign states and regions, and plays an active role in such international organisations as World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in its own right under the name of Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong participates in 16 projects of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1983, an international treaty lodged at the United Nations. This government replaced the former British Hong Kong Government (1842–1997). The Chief Executive and the principal officials are appointed by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Government Secretariat is headed by the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, who is the most senior principal official of the Government. The Chief Secretary and the other secretaries jointly oversee the administration of Hong Kong, give advice to the Chief Executive as members of the Executive Council, and are accountable for their actions and policies to the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) was founded in 1884 and is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong. In 1960, it was granted a royal charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (英皇御准香港賽馬會). The institution reverted to its original name in 1996 due to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Membership of the club is by nomination and election.
James Tien Pei-chun, GBS, OBE, JP is the former chairman and Leader of the Liberal Party (LP) and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco). Originally an entrepreneur, he was also a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong (Exco), member of Central and Western and Kwai Tsing District Council and Hong Kong member to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states that "the Chief Executive shall be elected by a broadly representative Election Committee in accordance with this Law and appointed by the Central People's Government ." It is formed and performs its selection function once every five years, even in the event of a CE not completing their term. The membership of the Election Committee was expanded to 1,500 under the massive overhaul of the electoral system in 2021. The Election Committee has been criticised for its "small-circle" electoral basis and its composition favouring pro-Beijing and business interests.
The Hong Kong Housing Society or Housing Society for short, is the second largest public housing provider in Hong Kong. The Society housed around 130,000 residents as of 2020. The Housing Society has been a dedicated housing provider in constantly identifying the housing needs of different sectors of the community and developing housing options attuned to their needs. Since its inception, a total of over 73,000 units have been built under different housing schemes, including Rental Estate, Rural Public Housing, Urban Improvement Scheme, Flat-for-Sale Scheme, Sandwich Class Housing Scheme, Full Market Value Development, Urban Renewal Project, Senior Citizen Residences Scheme, The Tanner Hill and Subsidised Sale Flats project.
Sports in Hong Kong are a significant part of its culture. Due to British influence going as far back as the late 19th century, Hong Kong had an earlier introduction to Western athletics compared to other Asia regions.
The International Dragon Boat Federation is the international governing body for the sport of dragon boat racing. IDBF was founded in Hong Kong on June 24, 1991 by Australia, China, Taiwan, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States. IDBF currently has 75 member countries or territories and is supported by five continental federations.
The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf Rankings, FIFA World Rankings for soccer and IRB Rugby World Rankings. The Longines Rankings are based on the rating earned by horses running worldwide from North and South America, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Asia through to Australia and New Zealand.
The Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ), (HKCAA) is a statutory body established under the HKCAAVQ Ordinance which came into effect on 1 October 2007.
The 2004–05 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings is the 2004–05 edition of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings. It is an assessment of racehorses which was issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in August 2005. It includes horses aged three or older which raced or were trained during 2004–05 in countries where the flat racing year runs from August 1 to July 31. These countries are generally in the Southern Hemisphere, although some areas covered, such as Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, are actually north of the equator.
The 2005–06 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings is the 2005–06 edition of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings. It is an assessment of racehorses which was issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in August 2006. It includes horses aged three or older which raced or were trained during 2005–06 in countries where the flat racing year runs from August 1 to July 31. These countries are generally in the Southern Hemisphere, although some areas covered, such as Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, are actually north of the equator.
The British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) is the UK governing body for dragon boat racing as a sport and recreation, recognised by the UK Sports Council and a member of the Sport Alliance, Water Recreation Division.
The 2014 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, sponsored by Longines was the 2014 edition of the World's Best Racehorse Rankings. It was an assessment of Thoroughbred racehorses issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in January 2015. It included horses aged three or older which competed in flat races during 2014. It was open to all horses irrespective of where they raced or were trained.
Brave Chan Yung, BBS, JP is a Hong Kong pro-Beijing politician. He is the vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and chairman of the New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS). He has been the Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress since 2013, and since 2022 he became a member of the Legislative Council, representing the HKSAR Members of NPC and CPPCC, Representatives of National Organisations constituency.
Conservatism has deep roots in Hong Kong politics and society. Today, as a political trend, it is often reflected in but not limited to the current pro-Beijing camp, one of the two major political forces in Hong Kong, as opposed to liberalism, a dominant feature of the pro-democracy camp. It has also become a political view taken by some localist political parties.
Chan Wing-kee, is a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He is the current member of the standing committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He had also been Hong Kong deputy of the National People's Congress and chairman of Asia Television Limited.
The 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes were initiated by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 11 March 2021 to "amend electoral rules and improve the electoral system" of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for its Chief Executive (CE) and the Legislative Council (LegCo), in order to ensure a system in which only "patriots", according to the Chinese definition, govern Hong Kong. The reforms have been widely criticized for their negative impact on the democratic representation in the Hong Kong legislature.
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