The New Hong Kong Society (Chinese: 新香港學社) was a political organisation existed in the early 1980s in the background of Sino-British negotiation over Hong Kong's sovereignty after 1997. It was one of the first groups to accept Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong and the idea of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong through democratic means. The society comprised mainly young graduates who recently graduated in the 1980s and offered a detailed plan to implement the idea of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong in early 1983 and had discussion with the officials of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. [1]
Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the ethnic Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language.
The Sino–British Joint Declaration is an international bilateral treaty signed between the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom on 19 December 1984 in Beijing. The Declaration stipulates the sovereign and administrative arrangement over Hong Kong after 1 July 1997, when the lease of the New Territories was set to expire according to the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory.
Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, GBM, JP is a Hong Kong politician. He is the founding member of the largest pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) from 1992 to 2003 and the 2nd President of the Legislative Council from 2008 to 2016.
The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one of the three major pro-democracy groups along with the Meeting Point and the Hong Kong Affairs Society in the 1980s.
Yeung Sum, SBS, JP is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He served several terms as a Legislative Councillor and was the second chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong. He is a lecturer in at the University of Hong Kong.
Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2008. Nicknamed the "Father of Democracy" in Hong Kong, he is recognised as one of the most prominent advocates for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong and China.
The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions is a pro-Beijing labour and political group established in 1948 in Hong Kong. It is the largest labour group in Hong Kong with over 410,000 members in 251 affiliates and associated trade unions. Presided by Ng Chau-pei and chaired by Wong Kwok, it currently commands five seats in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and 30 District Councillors.
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, commonly known as the handover of Hong Kong, was the transformation of control over the United Kingdom's then colony of Hong Kong, pursuant to which it ceased to be a British Dependent Territory and became instead a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997. The returned territory comprised Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, which were respectively ceded to Britain in 1842 and 1860, as well as the New Territories, which were leased for 99 years from 1898. The transfer was arranged to coincide with the expiration of this lease on the previous day, 30 June 1997.
The 1990s in Hong Kong marked a transitional period and the last decade of colonial Hong Kong.
Sir Sze-yuen Chung, was a Hong Kong politician who served as a Senior Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils during the 1970s and 1980s in the colonial period and the first Non-official Convenor of the Executive Council in the SAR period. For his seniority in the Hong Kong political arena, he was nicknamed the "Great Sir" and "Godfather of Hong Kong politics".
Lee Cheuk-yan is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2016, when he lost his seat. He represented the Kowloon West and the Manufacturing constituencies briefly in 1995 and had been representing the New Territories West constituency from 1998 to 2016. He is a trade union leader and General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, as well as former chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.
The pro-democracy camp or pan-democracy camp refers to a political alignment that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic Law under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework.
The Hong Kong Civic Association is one of the longest-existing political organisations in Hong Kong. Established in 1954 by a group of teachers, professionals and businessmen, the Civic Association was one of the two semi-political parties to participate in the Urban Council elections since the 1950s, alongside Reform Club of Hong Kong. They were the only two organisations closest to the opposition parties dominated in the post-war colonial period before the expansion of the franchise in the 1980s.
Hong Kong independence is a movement that advocates Hong Kong becoming an independent sovereign state. Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) which enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the People's Republic of China (PRC), guaranteed under Article 2 of Hong Kong Basic Law as ratified under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Since the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the PRC in 1997, some Hongkongers have been concerned about Beijing's growing encroachment on the territory's freedoms and the failure of the Hong Kong government to deliver "genuine democracy".
Meeting Point was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hong Kong prospect in 1983. It was one of the earliest groups in Hong Kong that favoured Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong but wanted a free, democratic and autonomous Hong Kong.
The Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre is a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong, holding one seat in the Legislative Council from 1995 to 1997, and since 1998. It was founded in 1985, with its roots in the New Youth Study Society founded in 1979. Politically it is identified as belonging to the pan-democracy camp. The sole member representing the NWSC in the Legislative Council is Leung Yiu-chung. It also holds two seats in the Kwai Tsing District Council.
The Hong Kong Affairs Society (Chinese:太平山學會) was a middle class and professionals oriented political organisation formed in 1984 for the discussion for the Hong Kong prospect and political constitution after the handover to China with about 20 members led by Huang Chen-ya, Man Sai-cheong and liberal lawyer Albert Ho and grew to about 120 in 1987. It was established as a group of political commentary but increasingly involved in subsequent municipal and district boards elections. In the 1980s it was one of the three major pro-democracy groups. In October 1986, the Society joined the Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government which consisted of about 190 organizations, putting forward to proposal of direct election in the Hong Kong legislative election, 1988 but was rejected. The leader Albert Ho later on joined the newly established United Democrats of Hong Kong in 1990.
Man Sai-cheong, was a member of the member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1991–95), Urban Council of Hong Kong (1986–95) and Eastern District Board (1988–94).
The Hong Kong People's Association was a middle-class and professional oriented political organisation formed on 18 November 1984. Along with the Association for Democracy and Justice, it was established in response to the signage of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and then British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe's visit in April 1984.
The Association for Democracy and Justice was a short-lived liberal political organisation in Hong Kong during the mid-1980s as the predecessor of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL).
Liberalism has a long tradition in Hong Kong as an economic philosophy and has become a major political trend since the 1980s, often represented the pro-democracy camp, apart from conservatism which often constitutes the pro-Beijing camp.
In Hong Kong, localism is a political movement centered on the preservation of the city's autonomy and local culture. The Hong Kong localist movement encompasses a variety of groups with different goals, but all of them oppose the perceived growing encroachment of the Chinese central government on the city's management of its own political, economic, and social affairs. Issues of concern to localist groups include land use and development, cultural and heritage conservation on the left, parallel trading and the increasing number of mainland immigrants and tourists on the right. On the autonomy of Hong Kong, many of them advocate the Hong Kong people's right to self-determination, while milder elements advocate for greater autonomy while remaining part of China, and the most radical call for return to British rule or full independence as a sovereign state. Certain right-wing localist groups also advocate for a more aggressive and militant approach in defending popular interests.