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Hong Kong

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區; Simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国香港特别行政区 pronunciation), is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is located on the southeastern coast of China. Hong Kong (also known as Hongkong, which was common in older texts) has one of the world's most liberal economies and is a major international centre of finance and trade. A former British colony now administered by the PRC under the "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong is constitutionally entitled to a relatively high degree of autonomy; for example, it retains its own legal system, currency, customs, treaty negotiating rights, such as air traffic and aircraft landing rights, and immigration laws. Hong Kong even maintains its own road rules, with traffic continuing to drive on the left. Only national defence and diplomatic relations are responsibilities of the central government in Beijing. Despite Hong Kong's reversion from British to Chinese rule, the region's English name remains "Hong Kong" (the pronunciation in the local Cantonese language), and not, as some sources suggest, Xianggang (the Mandarin Chinese equivalent).

History

Even though Hong Kong has been occupied since the Neolithic Age, the area now known as Hong Kong only began to attract the attention of China and the rest of the world in the 19th century when it was ceded to Britain after the Opium Wars. Hong Kong was first visited by a European in 1513, the Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares. Álvares began trading with the Chinese, and the Portuguese continued to make periodic trade stops at various locations up and down the coast. Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island were ceded to the British in 1860 under the Convention of Peking after the Second Opium War. Various adjacent lands, known as the New Territories (including New Kowloon and Lantau Island), were then leased by Britain for 99 years, beginning on 1 July 1898 and ending on 30 June 1997. Hong Kong became a crown colony in 1843. For the first twenty years there was little contact between the European and Chinese communities. The first specially recruited Hong Kong civil servants to be taught Cantonese were recruited in 1862, markedly improving relations. Cantonese with the raising of the Union Flag and the Flag of the Republic of China.]] Tea, silk, and other Asian luxury goods were introduced in Europe by the Portuguese, and by the mid-18th century, these items were in high demand, particularly tea. The British, challenging China's near monopoly on the tea industry, invaded China, winning the First Opium War in 1841. During the war, Hong Kong Island was first occupied by the British, and was formally ceded by the Qing Dynasty of China in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking. Hong Kong entered a dark age during the Japanese Occupation of World War II, which lasted for three years and eight months. Many Hong Kong people were executed by the Japanese army during the war. The Japanese subsequently surrendered on 15 August 1945. The port was quickly re-opened and welcomed a mass migration of Chinese refugees in 1949 from the civil war and the new Communist government in China. Hong Kong had been a trade port ever since the British occupation, but its position as an entrepot declined greatly after the United Nations ordered a trade embargo against the People's Republic of China as a result of the Korean War. In response, a textile industry was established, taking advantage of the new pool of workers from China who were willing to work for almost any wage. During this period, the economy grew extremely rapidly. Towards the 1970s, Hong Kong began to move away from the textile industry and develop its financial and banking economy. This led to even greater growth, and Hong Kong quickly became one of the wealthiest territories in the world. Its position as an entrepot was restrengthened since the Open Door Policy was adopted in the PRC in the late 1970s under Deng Xiaoping. In the 1980s, with the lease on the New Territories running out, the British government of Margaret Thatcher decided to negotiate the question of the sovereignty of Hong Kong. Although the British would have been legally required to transfer only the New Territories to the PRC, Whitehall decided that maintaining a rump colony would not be worthwhile - the majority of Hong Kong's land was in the New Territories, and failure to return the entire colony would doubtless have generated political friction between the UK and PRC. Pursuant to an agreement known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed by the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom on 19 December 1984, the whole territory of Hong Kong under British colonial rule became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC on 1 July 1997. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping, the socialist economic system in mainland China would not be practised in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and life-style would remain unchanged for 50 years, or until 2047. Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except diplomatic affairs and national defence. Hong Kong was transferred to the PRC at the stroke of midnight on 1 July 1997, with the last governor, Chris Patten leaving on the royal yacht. The handover coincided with the large scale collapse of land values in Hong Kong, greatly damaging the bubble economy, as part of the Asian financial crisis. The land values fell in some areas by over half, and the Hang Seng Index fell by over 1,500 points on 28 October, losing 22.8 % of its value in a week. Exacerbating the region's economic problems, Hong Kong was hit badly by the SARS virus in the summer of 2003, especially in the effect that it had on travel to and from Hong Kong. On 1 July the same year, half a million people marched in the largest protest rally ever aimed at the government of Hong Kong, voicing concerns about a proposed anti-subversion bill that would have eroded freedom of the press, of religion and of association arising from Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, as well as dissatisfaction with the poor state of the economy. Regina Ip, then Secretary for Security, and Anthony Leung, then Financial Secretary, were forced to leave office in 2003 under public pressure. On 10 March 2005, Tung Chee Hwa submitted his resignation as chief executive of Hong Kong. Donald Tsang, the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, served as Acting Chief Executive until 25 May, when he, too, resigned from his post to take part in the campaign for the new Chief Executive election. Following an interim government headed by Henry Tang, Tsang was eventually elected as Chief Executive.

Politics and government

Henry Tang.]] Henry Tang, and other protesters demand release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Public Order Ordinance requires police permission to hold a demonstration of more than 30 participants.]] The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is headed by its Chief Executive, the head of government. This office is currently held by Donald Tsang, who was elected on 16 June 2005. Tsang had held the post of Chief Secretary for Administration prior. Donald Tsang assumed his post on 24 June 2005 in Beijing, China; he will finish the remaining portion of Tung Chee Hwa's last term which ends on 30 June 2007, according to the interpretation of Annex I and Article 46 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The election of a new Chief Executive by the 800-member Election Committee was expected to be held on 10 July 2005. On 16 June 2005, Donald Tsang was acclaimed the winner, as the only candidate securing the required 100 nominations from members of the election committee. Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive, assumed office on 1 July 1997, following his election by a 400-member electoral college. For the second five-year term of the Chief Executive which began in July 2002, Tung was the only nominated candidate and therefore acclaimed. The PRC set up a Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) just before the handover, and moved to Hong Kong to have its meetings after the handover. It reverted some laws passed by the original Legislative Council, which was formed by means of universal suffrage. The PLC passed some of its own laws, such as the Public Order Ordinance , which required permission from police to hold a demonstration where the number of people who participates exceeds 30. Legislative Council elections were held on 24 May 1998, 10 September 2000, and again on 12 September 2004, with the next election scheduled for 2008. According to the Basic Law, Hong Kong's "mini-constitution", the present third term of the Legislative Council has 30 seats directly elected from geographical constituencies, and 30 seats elected from functional constituencies. The 1998, 2000 and 2004 Legislative Council elections were seen as free, open, and widely contested, despite discontent among mainly 'pro-democratic' politicians, who contended that the functional constituency elections and the Election Committee elections (for 1998 and 2000) were undemocratic, as they consider that the electorate for these seats is too narrow. The civil service of Hong Kong maintains its quality and neutrality, operating without discernible direction from Beijing. Many government and administrative operations are located in Central on Hong Kong Island near the historical location of Victoria City, the site of the original British settlements. The Right of abode issue sparked debates in 1999, while the controversy over Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 was the focus of politics in Hong Kong between 2002 and 2003, culminating in a peaceful mass demonstration (over 500,000 demonstrators) on 1 July 2003, after which the government still tried to pass the law to the Legislative Council. But one of the major pro-government parties refused to vote for passing the bill. Thus the government found that the bill could not be passed. So it shelved the drafted law brought forth by Article 23. The focus of controversies shifted to the issue of universal suffrage towards the end of 2003 and in 2004, which was the slogan of another peaceful mass demonstration on 1 July 2004. On 24 September 2005, twenty-five Hong Kong pro-democracy Legco members, some of whom were previously labelled as traitors by Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and barred from entering the mainland, crossed the border into the southern province of Guangdong, following an unprecedented invitation by the PRC . The invitation was generally regarded as one of the greatest goodwill gestures from the PRC to the Hong Kong democrats since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. On 4 December 2005, a demonstration was organised by the Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy lawmakers to express concerns about the lack of a working timetable that will allow for universal suffrage in the 2007 and 2008 elections for the Chief Executive and the Legistlative Council respectively. The turnout was reported to be 63,000 by the police, and at least 250,000 by the organisers.

Legal system and judiciary

pro-democracy.]] In contrast to mainland China's civil law system, Hong Kong continues to follow the common law tradition established by British colonial rule. Article 84 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong allows Hong Kong's courts to refer to decisions (precedents) rendered by courts of foreign jurisdictions and to invite foreign judges to participate in proceedings of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal. Structurally, Hong Kong's court system consists of the Court of Final Appeal which replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the High Court, which is made up of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, and the District Court, which includes the Family Court. Other adjudicative bodies include the Lands Tribunal, the Magistrates' Courts, the Juvenile Court, the Coroner's Court, the Labour Tribunal, the Small Claims Tribunal, and the Obscene Articles Tribunal, which is responsible for classifying non-video pornography to be circulated in Hong Kong. Justices of the Court of Final Appeal are appointed by Hong Kong's Chief Executive. The Basic Law of Hong Kong is subject to interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and this power has been invoked three times: the right of abode issue, an interpretation regarding post-2008 election procedures, and an interpretation regarding the length of the term of the Chief Executive. As in England, lawyers in Hong Kong are classified as barristers and solicitors, where one can choose to practice as either one but not both (but it is possible to switch from one to the other). The vast majority of lawyers are solicitors who are licensed and regulated by the Law Society of Hong Kong. Barristers, on the other hand, are licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Bar Association. Only barristers are allowed to appear in the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court. Just as the common law system is maintained, so are British courtroom customs such as the wearing of robes and wigs by both judges and lawyers.

Geography

lawyers Hong Kong consists of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The Kowloon Peninsula is attached to the New Territories in the north, and the New Territories are in turn connected to mainland China across the Sham Chun River (Shenzhen River). In total, Hong Kong has 236 islands in the South China Sea, of which Lantau is the largest. Hong Kong Island itself is the second largest and also the most populated. Ap Lei Chau is the most densely populated island in the world. The name "Hong Kong", literally meaning "fragrant harbour", is derived from the area around present-day Aberdeen and Wong Chuk Hang on Hong Kong Island, where fragrant trees were once abundant and exported from. The body of water between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula is Victoria Harbour, one of the deepest maritime ports in the world. The landscape of Hong Kong is fairly hilly to mountainous with steep slopes. The highest point in the territory is Tai Mo Shan, at a height of 958 metres. Lowlands exist in the northwestern part of the New Territories. Hong Kong is 60 km to the east of Macau on the opposite side of the Pearl River estuary. Hong Kong has a land border with the Chinese city of Shenzhen to the north. Of the territory's 1,102 km² and nearly 7 million residents, less than 25% of it is developed and most live and work in high-rise building. The remaining land is remarkably green and reserved as country parks and nature reserves. Hong Kong's climate is subtropical and prone to monsoons. It is cool and dry in the wintertime which lasts from around January to March, and is hot, humid and rainy from spring through summer. It is warm, sunny, and dry in autumn. Hong Kong occasionally has typhoons. The ecology of Hong Kong is mostly affected by the results of climatic changes. Hong Kong's climate is seasonal due to alternating wind direction between winter and summer. Hong Kong has been geologically stable for millions of years. However, flora and fauna in Hong Kong are altered by climatic change, sea level alternation and human impact. The highest recorded temperature in Hong Kong is 40 degrees Celsius while the lowest recorded temperature is 0 degrees. The average temperature in the coldest month, February, is 16 degrees while the average temperature in the hottest month, July, is 28 degrees. Hong Kong's climate is subtropical but half of the year is temperate. The territory is situated south of the Tropic of Cancer which is equatable to Hawaii in latitude. In winter, strong and cold winds generate from the north and cool the city; in the summer, the wind's direction reverses and brings the warm and humid air in from the south. This climate can support a tropical rainforest.

Administrative divisions

tropical rainforest Hong Kong consists of 18 administrative districts:
# Islands # Kwai Tsing (Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi) # North # Sai Kung # Sha Tin # Tai Po # Tsuen Wan # Tuen Mun # Yuen Long # Kowloon City # Kwun Tong # Sham Shui Po # Wong Tai Sin # Yau Tsim Mong (Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok) # Central and Western # Eastern # Southern # Wan Chai

Economy

Wan Chai houses offices and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.]] Hong Kong Stock Exchange 1997 after the real estate bubble economy collapsed, severely damaging the economy.]] Hong Kong has one of the least restricted economies in world and is basically duty-free. It is the world's 10th largest trading entity and 11th largest banking centre. The dominant presence of international trade is reflected in the number of consulates located in the territory: As of June 2005, Hong Kong had 107 consulates and consulates-general, more than any other city in the world. Even New York City, host of the United Nations, only has 93 consulates. The objective of Hong Kong's monetary policy is to maintain currency stability. Given the highly externally oriented nature of the economy, this objective was further defined as a stable external value for the Hong Kong dollar in terms of a linked exchange rate against the US dollar at the rate of HK$7.80 to one United States dollar until 2005, when it was allowed to trade within a band of HK$7.75-$7.85. Hong Kong has limited natural resources, and most food and raw materials must be imported. In fact, imports and exports (including re-exports) exceed the GDP of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has extensive trade and investment ties with the People's Republic of China which existed even before the handover on 1 July 1997. These ties and its autonomous status enable it to be the middleman between the Republic of China on Taiwan and the mainland. Flights, investment, and trade from Taiwan go through Hong Kong to get to the mainland. The service sector represented 86.5 % of the GDP in 2001. The territory, with a highly sophisticated banking sector and good communication links, hosts the Asian headquarters of many multinational corporations. At USD 24,080 in 2004, the nominal per capita GDP of Hong Kong is somewhat lower than that of the four big economies of western Europe. However, it would be ranked 11th in terms of per capita GDP (PPP) in the world (USD 32,292), which is even higher than Japan (USD 31,384), making Hong Kong one of the richest territorial regions in Asia. Growth averaged a strong 8.9% per annum in real terms in the 1970s and 7.2% p.a. in the 1980s. As the economy shifted to services (manufacturing currently accounts for just 4% of GDP), growth slowed to 2.7% p.a. in the 1990s, including a 5.3% decline in 1998, due to the Asian financial crisis' impact on demand in the region. Growth since 2000 has averaged 5.2% p.a. amid strong deflation. The economy rebounded rapidly, growing by 10 % in 2000. A world-wide global downturn and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak reduced economic growth to 2.3 % in 2002. Thereafter, a boom in tourism from the mainland because of China's easing of travel restrictions, a return of consumer confidence, and a solid rise in exports resulted in the resumption of strong growth in late 2003 and 2004, with growth averaging 6.5% in the first half of 2005. To further increase economic co-operation between Hong Kong and the mainland, the Individual Visit Scheme was started on 28 July 2003, which allows travellers from some cities in mainland China to visit Hong Kong without an accompanying tour group. As a result, the tourism industry in Hong Kong is booming due to an exponential increase in the number of visitors from mainland China. The upsurge is also boosted by the recent opening of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. A revival in both external and domestic demand led to a strong upswing in growth in 2004, surging to 8.2 % for the year. The domestic sector completely shrugged off its earlier sluggishness, and the general weakness of the Hong Kong dollar, when included with the still modest cost and price pressures in Hong Kong, has resulted in a strengthening in Hong Kong's external price competitiveness. In addition, Hong Kong's 68-month-long deflationary spiral, the longest and highest deflation according to Guinness World Records, ended in mid-2004, with consumer price inflation hovering at near zero levels. Along with Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, ROC, Hong Kong's fast-paced industrialisation earned it a place as one of the four original East Asian Tigers.

Demographics

East Asian Tigerss intersperse throughout the pavement.]] The population of Hong Kong increased markedly during the 1990s, reaching 6.94 million in 2005. About 96 % of Hong Kong's population is Chinese, the majority of which are Cantonese. Groups such as the Hakka and Teochew are also substantial. Used in government matters, Cantonese is spoken by most of the local Chinese population at home and in the office, although English is also widely understood and spoken by more than one-third of the population. Since the Handover, a new group of immigrants from mainland China have increased the ethnic diversity of the Chinese population in the territory. The remaining 4 % of the population is composed of non-Chinese, who form a highly visible group, despite their small numbers. Among these is a significant South Asian population, which includes some of Hong Kong's wealthiest families. Some Nepalis residing in Hong Kong are Gurkhas, who chose to stay after their service to Britain, and their descendants. More than 15,000 Vietnamese, who came to Hong Kong as refugees, have become permanent residents, with the majority of whom surviving on casual work. Around 140,000 Filipinos work in Hong Kong as housekeepers, often known locally as amahs, or feiyungs, with other such workers coming from Thailand and Indonesia. On Sundays and public holidays, thousands of these workers, the majority of whom are women, gather in Central to socialise. There are also a number of Europeans, North Americans, Japanese, and Koreans, largely working in Hong Kong's financial sector. The top three sources of migration to Hong Kong are the Philippines (132,770), Indonesia (95,460), and the United States (31,330). Hong Kong is the fifth largest metropolitan area of the PRC by population. Considered as a dependency, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated countries/dependencies in the world, with an overall density of more than 6,200 people per km². Hong Kong has a fertility rate of .94 children per woman , one of the lowest in the world, and far below the 2.1 children per woman required to maintain an even population level. However, population is continuously growing due to immigration of about 45,000 people per year from mainland China. Despite the population density, Hong Kong was reported to be one of the greenest cities in Asia. The majority of people live in flats in high-rise buildings. The rest of the open spaces are often covered with parks, woods and shrubs. About 60 % of the land is designated as Country Parks and Nature Reserves. Hiking and camping are popular outdoor activities in Hong Kong's hilly country parks. The irregular and long coastline of Hong Kong also provides many bays and fine beaches for its inhabitants. Environmental concern and awareness is growing, however, as Hong Kong also ranks as one of the most (air-)polluted cities in the world. Estimates are that 70-80% of the city's air pollution comes from other parts of the Pearl River Delta.

Education

Pearl River Delta.]] A former British colony, Hong Kong's education system is based upon that of the United Kingdom, and in particular, the system used in England. In Hong Kong, there is a non-compulsory three-year kindergarten, which is followed by a compulsory six-year primary education, three-year junior secondary education, and a non-compulsory two-year senior secondary education leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations and a two-year matriculation course leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examinations. There are also tertiary institutions offering various bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, other higher diplomas, and associate degree courses. In general, three types of comprehensive schools exist in Hong Kong. There are government schools, which are relatively rare, and subsidised schools (government-aided schools, grant schools), run by charitable (often Christian, but Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic and Confucian as well) organisations with government funding, to which most students go. Most private schools are run by Christian organisations as well; admissions are based more on academic merit than on financial resources. Outside this system are the schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) and private international schools, which provide an alternative to the high-pressured mainstream education in exchange for much higher tuition fees.

Culture

international school to the floating restaurant.]] Hong Kong is often described as a city where East meets West. This is reflected in all aspects of the culture, but especially in its shopping, nightlife, and dining. A popular destination for shoppers from around the world, Hong Kong has everything to offer from the latest European fashion to traditional Chinese wares. Malls, department stores, and designer boutiques offer an amazing contrast to the bustling open-air Stanley Market and Jade Market shopping areas. Every district in Hong Kong has old-fashioned stores that sell Chinese herbal medicine. The largest concentration of these shops is along Bonham Strand and Bonham Strand West in Sheung Wan, where all types of pills, plants, and dried animals are for sale. Hong Kong has an active nightlife centred around two major entertainment districts, Lan Kwai Fong (Central) and Wanchai. Both areas are frequented by expats and locals alike. For a more quiet evening, a trip to Victoria Peak offers a spectacular view of the city. There is also a promenade along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, which is popular among young Chinese couples. Shopping, a form of entertainment for the people of Hong Kong, is even done at nightime as evident in the Temple Street Night Market. The city's cosmopolitan flavour can also be seen in the wide variety of cuisines available. While different varieties of Chinese selections, especially seafood, are most popular, there also many European, American, Japanese, Korean, and other restaurants. Ethnic dishes served in cha chaan teng and dai pai dong are also popular. The people of Hong Kong take their food seriously and many top chefs make their way to the city to show off their talents to these discriminating diners. The world famous Hong Kong International Dragonboat Festival, now known as the Circus Capital Stanley Dragon Boat Championships, is a celebration of community that is televised globally.

Religion

celebration]] Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of religious freedom, a right enshrined and protected through its constitutional document, the Basic Law. The majority of Hong Kong's population practices ancestor worship due to the strong Confucian influence. A sizable Christian community of around 500,000 exists, forming about 10% of the total population; roughly equally divided between Catholics and Protestants. There are also followers of Buddism or Taoism. There are also estimated 70,000 Muslims, between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews, and a few Hindus; Sikhs and Bahá'ís are also represented. Apart from offering religious instructions, many major religious bodies have established schools and provided social welfare facilities. Hong Kong's religious beliefs are tied to the region's early role as a fishing community. Tin Hau, the protector of seafarers, has been honoured with several temples throughout Hong Kong for at least 300 years. Hung Shing, another protector of seafarers, has also been honoured for centuries. Hong Kongers, especially elder generations, go to Taoist or Buddhist temples to appease the deities and, usually, to ask for compassion or good fortune. Gifts of food, and in particular fruit, are presented, and incense and paper offerings are burnt in respect. With the transfer of Hong Kong to the PRC, there was significant concerns over religious freedom in Hong Kong. So far, this has proved mostly unfounded - despite the banning of the Falun Gong sect by Beijing in 1999, adherents are still free to practice in Hong Kong. Similarly, the Catholic Church is free to appoint its own bishops in Hong Kong, unlike on mainland China, where the only approved 'Catholic' institution is the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which bishops and priests are appointed by Beijing (though there is also an unofficial and illegal part of the Catholic church that maintains contact with the Vatican). A significant issue in the normalisation of ties between the PRC and the Vatican is Beijing's insistence that the Vatican drops its diplomatic ties with the ROC. Although freedom of religion remains true in Hong Kong, it remains a volatile issue for many, as any threat will have lasting implications for the perceived freedoms in Hong Kong.

Architecture

ROC Due to the creative destruction so endemic to Hong Kong over the past 50 years, few historical buildings remain in Hong Kong. Instead the city has become a centre for modern architecture, especially in and around Central. The tall business buildings of Central comprise the skyline along the coast of the Victoria Harbour, which is one of Hong Kong's famous tourist attractions. In Kowloon, which once included the anarchistic settlement called the Kowloon Walled City, strict height restrictions were in force until Kai Tak Airport closed in 1998, but these restrictions have now been lifted, and several new skyscrapers in Kowloon are being planned. Hong Kong's best-known building is arguably Ieoh Ming Pei's Bank of China Tower, completed in 1990 (Foster's HSBC Headquarters is another contender). The building attracted heated controversy from the start, as its sharp angles were said to cast negative feng shui energy into the heart of Hong Kong. The two white aerials on top on the building were deemed inauspicious as two sticks of incense are burned for the dead. Predating the Bank of China Tower, there is the HSBC Headquarters Building, finished in 1985. This building is featured on many of Hong Kong's banknotes. It was built on the site of Hong Kong's first skyscraper, which was finished in 1935 and was the subject of a bitter heritage conservation struggle in the late 1970s. One of the largest construction projects in Hong Kong and the world was the new Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok near Lantau, a huge land reclamation project linked to the centre of Hong Kong by the Lantau Link, which features three new major bridges: the world's sixth largest suspension bridge, Tsing Ma, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge carrying both road and railway traffic, Kap Shui Mun, and the world's first major 4-span cable-stayed bridge, Ting Kau.

Transport

Ting Kau Ting Kau at Wan Chai Pier bus terminus.]] Hong Kong has a highly developed and sophisticated transport network, encompassing both public and private transport. The Octopus card stored value smart card payment system can be used to pay for fares on almost all railways, buses and ferries in Hong Kong. Most parking meters in Hong Kong only accept payment by Octopus card, and Octopus card payment can be made at various carparks. Hong Kong Island is dominated by steep, hilly terrain, which required the development of unusual methods of transport up and down the slopes. In Central and Western district there is an extensive system of escalators and moving sidewalks, including the longest outdoor covered elevator system in the world, the Mid-levels Escalator. Hong Kong has several different modes of public rail transport. The two metro systems for the city are the MTR and KCR (KCR also operates a light rail system in northwest New Territories), which are operated by the MTR Corporation Limited and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation respectively. The tramway system covers a large area and is the only tram system in the world run exclusively with double deckers. Five separate companies operate franchised public bus services in Hong Kong. Double-decker buses were introduced to Hong Kong in 1949. They are now used almost exclusively in Hong Kong just as in London and Singapore. However, single-decker buses remain in use for routes with lower demand or roads with lower carrying capacity and are used exclusively in South Lantau. Most normal franchised bus routes in Hong Kong operate until midnight. Public light buses run the length and breadth of Hong Kong, through areas where standard bus lines cannot reach or do not reach as frequently, quickly, or directly. Taxis are also widely used throughout Hong Kong. 99% of taxis in Hong Kong run on liquefied petroleum gas, the rest are still diesel operated. Most ferry services are provided by licensed ferry operators, which serve outlying islands, new towns, and inner-Victoria Harbour. The two routes operated by the Star Ferry, operating for over 100 years, are franchised. Additionally, 78 "kai-to" ferries are licensed to serve remote coastal settlements. Hong Kong has one active international airport, known as Hong Kong International Airport located at Chek Lap Kok. This replaced the famous airport of the same name at Kai Tak in 1998. After dreadful delays in the cargo systems in the first few months, the airport now serves as a transport hub for Southeast Asia, and as the hub for Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair, Air Hong Kong and Hong Kong Express. Additionally, both Hong Kong International Airport and Cathay Pacific Airways have been voted best in the world, in the airport and airline criteria respectively, by Skytrax from 2001 to 2005. Hong Kong International Airport serves more than 36 million passengers in the year 2004. Access to the airport includes 'Airport Buses' or 'Airbuses', These services connect the airport to the rest of Hong Kong. The Airport Express zooms passengers to Central on Hong Kong Island in just 23 minutes. Recent opening of Sunny Bay Station of the MTR allows easy access to the Disneyland Resort.

Military

MTR entering Hong Kong for the first time in 1997.]] The PRC Central People's Government (CPG) assumed sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997 and stationed a garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to manage its defence affairs. Although the garrison has no military significance, the stationing of the PLA troops in the region is a significant symbol of the PRC government's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong. According the Basic Law, military forces stationed in Hong Kong shall not interfere with local affairs; Hong Kong government shall remain responsible for the maintenance of public order. The Hong Kong Garrison, composed of ground, naval, and air forces, is under the command of the Chinese Central Military Commission. The garrison subsequently opened the barracks on Stonecutters Island and Chek Chu to the public to promote understanding and trust between the troops and residents. Under British rule, ethnic Chinese Hongkongers were allowed to join the British defence forces. However, since the handover in 1997, they were no longer allowed to join the PLA.

International rankings


- A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: [http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,4,1,116 Globalization Index 2005], not ranked out of 62 countries
- Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal: [http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/ 2005] Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 1st out of 155 countries, for 11 years in a row.
- IMD International: [http://www01.imd.ch/wcy/ World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005], ranked 2nd out of 60 economies (countries and regions)
- Reporters without borders: [http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=11715 Third annual worldwide press freedom index (2004)], ranked 34th out of 167 countries
- Save the Children: [http://www.savethechildren.org/mothers/report_2005/ State of the World's Mothers 2005], not ranked out of 110 countries
- Skyline: [http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/sr/], ranked 1st out of all cities of the world
- The Economist: [http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3372495&d=2005 The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005], ranked 18th out of 111 countries
- Transparency International: [http://www.t

Traditional Chinese character

Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese characters. It is the set of characters that first appeared during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and has been used since the 5th century during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It is called traditional as opposed to the other form - the simplified Chinese characters, created or standardised by the government of the People's Republic of China (mainland China) starting from the 1950s. Traditional Chinese is text written with Traditional Chinese characters. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and some overseas Chinese communities; especially those originating from the aforementioned countries or who emigrated before the widepspread adoption of simplified characters in the People's Republic of China. In contrast, simplified characters are used in Mainland China, Singapore, and in some overseas Chinese communities; especially those from aforementioned countries who emigrated after the widespread adoption of simplified Chinese characters.

Controversy over name

Among Chinese people, traditional Chinese characters are referred to by several different names, each with different implications. The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) officially calls traditional Chinese characters standard characters or orthodox characters (Traditional Chinese: 正體字; Simplified Chinese: 正体字; pinyin: zhèngtǐzì), which implies that traditional characters are the full and correct forms of the characters. In contrast, users of simplified characters call them complex characters (Traditional Chinese: 繁體字; Simplified Chinese: 繁体字; pinyin: fántǐzì), or, informally, old characters (老字; pinyin: lǎozì), with the implication that traditional Chinese characters have been replaced and are obsolete. Traditional character users argue that traditional characters cannot be called "complex" as they were never made more complex; the characters were preserved the way they were. Conversely supporters of simplified Chinese characters object strongly to the description of these characters as "standard," since they view the new simplified characters as the contemporary standard. They also point out that traditional characters are not truly traditional as Chinese characters have changed significantly over time. Curiously, although the character which is generally translated as "complex" is itself comprised of numerous, if not complex strokes, the character has not undergone simplification; this is perhaps intentional as it demonstrates the relative complexity of the Traditional characters in contrast to the Simplified versions. Additionally, while "complex" bears somewhat of a negative connotation in English, the Chinese character per se does not imply anything to the extent that it might be construed as "complex" or "troublesome"; rather, the meaning is rather vague and remains neutral unless coupled with other characters. Some older people refer to traditional characters as proper characters (正字; pinyin: zhèngzì) and simplified characters as simplified-stroke characters (Traditional Chinese: 簡筆字; Simplified Chinese: 简笔字; pinyin: jiǎnbǐzì) or reduced-stroke characters (Traditional Chinese: 減筆字; Simplified Chinese: 减笔字; pinyin: jiǎnbǐzì) (simplified- and reduced- are actually homonyms in Mandarin Chinese, both pronounced jiǎn).

Printed text

When printing text, people in Mainland China and Singapore mainly use the simplified system, which was developed by the People's Republic of China government in the 1950s. However, the PRC also prints material intended to be read outside of Mainland China using traditional characters. In handwritten text, most people use informal, sometimes personal simplifications. In most cases, an alternative character (異體字) would be used in place of one with more strokes, such as 体 for 體. Contrary to popular belief, most of these are still part of the set of traditional chinese characters, but informally and confusingly called simplified form (簡寫). Though not standard, these are usually accepted outside schools, and some are extremely widespread, notably the tai (台) in Taiwan as opposed to the standard character (臺).

Computer character encoding

In the past, Traditional Chinese was most often rendered using the Big5 character encoding scheme, a character encoding scheme that favors Traditional Chinese. Unicode, however, has become increasingly popular as a way to render Traditional Chinese. Unicode gives equal weight to both simplified and traditional Chinese characters and does not favor either over the other. There are various IMEs (Input Method Editors) available to input Chinese characters.

Usage in other languages

Traditional characters are also used in Korean Hanja, and moderately simplified traditional characters are used in modern Japanese Kanji.

See also


- Kaishu
- Chinese character Category:Chinese language Category:Logographic writing systems ko:번체자 ja:字体

Simplified Chinese character

Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. The other set is Traditional Chinese characters. Simplified Chinese characters are the Chinese characters officially simplified by the government of the People's Republic of China in an attempt to promote literacy. This character set is used for most Chinese-language printing in Mainland China and Singapore whereas traditional characters are used in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. Simplified characters are gradually gaining popularity among many overseas Chinese communities as more mainland Chinese are emigrating from their homeland.

Origins and history

Mainland China

Although associated with the People's Republic of China (PRC), character simplification predates 1949. Cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed (they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC), though early attempts at simplification actually resulted in more characters being added to the lexicon). In the 1930s and 1940s, discussions on character simplification took place within the Kuomintang government, and a large number of Chinese intellectuals and writers have long maintained that character simplification would help boost literacy in China. In many world languages, literacy has been promoted as a justification for spelling reforms. The People's Republic of China issued its first round of official character simplifications in two documents, the first in 1956 and the second in 1964. In the 1950s and 1960s, while confusion about simplified characters was still rampant, an elusive set of transitional characters (which basically mixed simplified parts with yet-to-be simplified parts of characters together) appeared briefly, then disappeared. Within the PRC, character simplification became associated with the leftists of the Cultural Revolution, culminating in a second round of character simplifications (known as erjian 二简, or "Second round simplified characters", which were promulgated in 1977. It was poorly received, and in 1986 the authorities retracted the second round completely, at the same time making six revisions to the first round of simplified characters (including the restoration of three characters that had been simplified in the First Round: 叠, 覆, 像). Although no longer recognized officially, second round characters do occasionally occur in handwritten signs, as many people learned second round simplified characters in school. Simplification initiatives have been aimed at eradicating the ideographic system and establishing Hanyu Pinyin as the official written system of the PRC, but the reform never gained quite as much popularity as the leftists had hoped. After the retraction of the second round of simplification, the PRC has stated that it wishes to keep Chinese orthography stable and does not appear to plan any further reforms in the future nor restore any characters that have already been simplified. People unfamiliar with how the PRC deals with simplified versus traditional characters erroneously claim that the PRC permits only simplified characters and has "banned" traditional characters. Although the PRC does view Traditional characters in domestic published material in the same way as errors or misprints, the Law of the People's Republic of China on National Language and Common Characters explains that traditional characters are not banned altogether on mainland China; instead, their usage is relegated to certain aspects and purposes. In Mainland China, traditional characters are used mainly for ceremonies, cultural purposes (e.g. calligraphy), decoration, and commercial purposes such as shopfront displays and advertisements, though the latter is technically discouraged. The PRC also tends to print material intended for Taiwanese, people in Hong Kong and Macao, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, the PRC prints versions of the People's Daily in traditional characters and both the People's Daily and Xinhua websites have versions in traditional characters using Big5 encoding. Other examples include milk from a mainland company which is for distribution in Hong Kong, for example, has traditional characters printed on it instead of simplified. Also, as part of the one country, two systems model, the PRC has not attempted to convert Hong Kong or Macau into using simplified characters.

Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of simplified characters as Mainland China. The first round, consisting of 498 Simplified characters from 502 Traditional characters, was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969. The second round, consisting of 2287 Simplified characters, was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the Mainland China system; those were removed in the final round in 1976. Singapore has also followed Mainland China in the six revisions to its set of Simplified characters in 1986. Malaysia promulgated a set of Simplified characters in 1981, which were also completely identical to the simplified characters used in Mainland China.

Method of simplification

Simplified Chinese characters were developed in one of 5 or so ways, here we list : #By reducing the number of brush strokes of a character, either by logical revision or by importing ancient, simpler variants or obscure forms. (e.g. 葉 maps to 叶; 萬 maps to 万)¹ #Combining several complicated characters into one, simpler character (a process known as "Character Conflation"). (e.g. 隻, a measure word for certain animals) and 衹 (variant form of "only") conflate to 只, a previously existing character. Note that the traditional character 只 merely replaces these two lesser used characters in Simplified. #Giving a new meaning to a traditional character with small number of strokes. [E.g. 丰(beauty) becomes used as 豐 (richly) and 余 (I) becomes used as 餘 (remain)]. This is especially common when the character with fewer strokes is very rare or is no longer used. Note that in the case of the simplification of 餘 into 余, confusion may be raised when classical Chinese texts are printed in simplified characters, as 余 is used as the first-person pronoun in classical Chinese. For example, a phrase like 獨餘余一人(only I am left alone) will become 独余余一人 when simplified. ¹In rare instances, simplified characters actually became one or two strokes more complex than their traditional counterparts due to logical revision. An example of this is 搾 mapping to the previously existing variant form 榨. Note that the "hand" radical on the left (扌), with three strokes, is replaced with the "tree" radical (木), with four strokes. However, one of the primary goals of the character simplification is to reduce the number of strokes if possible. Historically, characters which represented an object often appeared instead as a character for an abstract idea, while the original meaning was re-formed by making the idea even more concrete. An example of this is 然 which originally had the meaning "to burn", but its meaning changed to the prepositional "thus" while "to burn" gained the additional semantic unit of 火—燃.

Distribution and use

Mainland China and Singapore generally use simplified characters. They appear very sparingly in printed text produced in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities, although they are becoming more prevalent as China opens to the world. Conversely, the Mainland is seeing an increase in the use of traditional forms, where they are found aesthetically appealing and often used on signs and in logos. For persons learning Chinese as a foreign language, instruction varies greatly: most universities on the west coast of the United States teach the Traditional character set, most likely due to the large population of Chinese-Americans who continue to use the Traditional forms. (The largest Mandarin Chinese Program in North America, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, switched to Simplified at least a decade ago, even though the majority of ethnic Chinese at that time were Traditional users.) In places where a particular set is not locally entrenched—for example, Europe, and some of the east coast of the US—instruction is swinging towards Simplified, as the economic importance of the Mainland increases, and also because of the availability of cheap high-quality textbooks printed in Mainland China. For overseas Chinese going to Chinese school, which character set is used depends very much on which school one attends. Not surprisingly, parents will generally enroll their children in schools that teach the script they themselves use. Descendants of Hong Kong people and people who emigrated before the simplification will therefore generally be taught Traditional (and in Cantonese), whereas children whose parents are of more recent Mainland origin will probably be taught Simplified. In all areas, most handwritten text will include informal character simplifications, and some characters (such as the "Tai" in Taiwan: traditional 臺 simplified 台) have informal simplified forms that appear more commonly than the official forms, even in print. In December 2004, Beijing's educational authorities [http://beijing.qianlong.com/3825/2004/12/08/118@2411471.htm threw back a proposal] from a Beijing CPPCC political conference member. The proposal would have called for elementary schools to teach traditional Chinese characters in addition to the simplified ones, but to use simplified characters exclusively. The conference member pointed out that most mainland Chinese -- especially the youth of today -- have difficulties with traditional Chinese; rather than discouraging it, the characters should be taught so that they can understand them; this is especially important in dealing with non-mainland communities such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau where traditional Chinese is used. The proposal would also make it easier for Chinese on the mainland to read older text before simplification. The educational authorities slammed the recommendation, saying that it did not fit in with the "requirements as set out by the law". The authorities also claimed that the proposal could potentially complicate the curricula by adding excess content. Despite this, junior school dictionaries published in mainland China are on sale in bookshops showing both simplified and their traditional counterparts. Some traditional character publications other than dictionaries are published on mainland China, for domestic consumption. Moreover, it is possible for residents in Guangdong to receive Chinese language television in Cantonese from Hong Kong (though the politically sensitive issues in news and other current affairs programs may be censored). The use of traditional form characters is flourishing in Hong Kong, and through such encounters, mainlanders are exposed to the use of traditional characters in television subtitling.

Pros, Cons, and Problems

The effect of Simplified Characters on the language remains controversial decades after their introduction:

Pros


- Proponents praise the simplification because they believe it allows less educated people to read. Literacy rates since simplification have risen steadily in rural and urban areas. Opponents argue that the literacy rates of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan compare favorably, so simplification seems not to correlate with the improvement. Some have suggested that the greater etymological coherence of the traditional set might even pose an advantage when learning how to write.
- Fewer strokes gives a less cluttered appearance, preventing an overflow of useless information and thus making reading and writing easier and faster. Opponents claim that the simplifications make distinct characters more similar to each other in appearance, giving the "shape recognition" mechanism of the reading part of the brain less unique clues. Note, however, that some might say the same about traditional characters.
- Simplified characters are easier to view, for example on web pages. See the comparisons between simplified and traditional characters above.

Cons


- Opponents complain that by merging many characters into one and hence offering new meanings to a traditional character, simplified characters jeopardise the study of ancient literature by creating a discontinuity between modern texts and literary texts. However, proponents argue that the amount of spoken and written deviation from Classical Chinese and the modern vernacular is a greater factor, and has already brought about incompatibility with ancient texts. They also claim that the discontinuity brought about by the sporadic merger of characters is minimal.
- Some opponents have complained about the sheer difficulties posed by having two concurrent writing systems. Translating an entire document written using simplified characters to traditional characters, or vice versa, is not a trivial task. For human translators, simplified Chinese characters can look vastly different from their traditional counterparts to the extent that the two have no signs of simplification and instead appear completely irrelevant to each other. Proponents claim that this poses no problem to anyone who has had some reading experience with both systems. For computer automated translation, one simplified character may equate to many traditional characters, and vice versa. Some knowledge of the context of the word usage is required for correct mapping; but it has been difficult for computers to work with word usage perfectly. As a result, direct computer mapping from simplified to traditional is not trivial and requires sophisticated programming. (This line of reasoning is used both by traditional Chinese advocates opposed to simplification, and simplified Chinese advocates opposed to the continued use of traditional characters.)
- As computers are increasingly used to write text, the speed advantage of writing fewer strokes becomes less relevant.

Problems


- Character simplification merged some characters that do not have the same pronunciations in Standard Mandarin. For example, 尽 is a merger of 儘 jǐn and 盡 jìn; 只 is a merger of 隻 zhī and 祇 zhǐ; 发 is a merger of 發 fā and 髮 fà. Other characters that were merged are pronounced identically in Standard Mandarin, but not in other varieties of Chinese, such as 松, a merger of 松 and 鬆, which are pronounced identically in Standard Mandarin but differently in Cantonese.
- The Chinese characters used in modern Japanese have also undergone simplification, but generally to a lesser extent than with Simplified Chinese. Reconciling these different character sets in Unicode became part of the controversial process of Han unification. Not surprisingly, some of the Chinese characters used in Japan are neither 'traditional' nor 'simplified'. In this case, these characters cannot be found in Traditional/Simplified Chinese dictionaries.
- In Hong Kong, a majority of secondary school students are fond of writing in simplified Chinese characters, particularly in examinations, for the sake of the 'quickness' of writing. However, this is generally frowned upon, as there are teachers who believe that Simplified Chinese is an "inferior" system of writing, designed for uneducated people (which bears some truth). Also, some teachers admit that quite a few simplified Chinese characters were derived illogically.
- In addition to those practical considerations, many minds link simplified characters with the idea of communism and traditional characters with anticommunism. This often hampers rational debate about the relative merits of the two systems.
- Teachers of international students often recommend learning both systems. Their experience is that students who start with Traditional characters understand Simplified forms without much difficulty, while students who begin with Simplified characters tend to have more trouble when they encounter Traditional forms.

Computer encoding

In computer text applications, the GB encoding scheme most often renders simplified Chinese, while Big5 most often renders traditional characters. Although neither encoding has an explicit connection with a specific character set, the lack of a one-to-one mapping between the simplified and traditional sets established a de facto linkage. Since simplified Chinese conflated many characters into one and since the initial version of GB, known as GB 2312-80 contained only one code point for each character, it is impossible to use GB 2312-80 to map to the bigger set of traditional characters. However, it is theoretically possible to use Big5 code to map to the smaller set of simplified character glyphs, however there is little market for such a product. Newer and alternative forms of GB have support for traditional characters. In particular, mainland authorities have now established GB 18030 as the official encoding standard for use in all mainland software publications. The encoding contains all of the characters of Unicode 3.0. Since Big-5 and GB characters are both included in Unicode, the GB 18030 encoding contains both simplified and traditional characters, including characters found in Japanese and Korean encodings. Unicode deals with the issue of simplified and traditional characters as part of the project of Han unification by including code points for each. This was rendered necessary by the fact that the linkage between simplified characters and traditional characters is not one-to-one. While this means that a Unicode system can display both simplified and traditional characters, it also means that different localization files are needed for each type.

See also


- Chinese character
- Stroke order

External links


- http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/hanzi/index.html
- [http://www.cjk.org/cjk/c2c/c2cbasis.htm The Pitfalls and Complexities of Chinese to Chinese Conversion]
- [http://xahlee.org/lojban/simplified_chars.html a list of non-trivial Simplified Chars (and their traditional form)] Category:Chinese language Category:Logographic writing systems ko:간체자 ms:Tulisan Cina Mudah ja:簡体字

Special Administrative Region

:This article deals with the Special Administrative Regions set up by the People's Republic of China. For the historic special administrative region set up by the Republic of China when it administered the mainland, view this article. Not to be confused with Special Economic Zone. : For the administrative division of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, go here. A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk6piːt6 hɐŋ4tsɪŋ3kʰɵy1/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeūi) is a political subdivision of the People's Republic of China. The PRC at present has two SARs, Hong Kong and Macau; each has a Chief Executive as head of government.

Current situation

Background

Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China authorizes the National People's Congress to create special administrative regions and to create a Basic Law which provides those regions with a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system and a capitalist economy under the principle of "one country, two systems" proposed by Deng Xiaoping.

High degree of autonomy

Currently, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for all issues except acts of state like diplomatic relations and national defence: consequently, they have their own judiciaries and courts of final appeal, immigration policies, currencies and extradition processes. The pre-existing legal systems, namely common law in Hong Kong and Portuguese law in Macau, are preserved except consequential to establishment of courts of final appeal. With listed exceptions, national laws applying in the mainland do not apply in an SAR. These listed exceptions must involve diplomacy, national defence or something beyond the scope of the SAR's autonomy.

Suffrage in the National People's Congress

Like other administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau are represented in the National People's Congress, although suffrage is not well-defined and is not open to the general public. Interestingly their representation is not prescribed in the constitution of the PRC, unlike provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the military do. Before they became Special Administrative Regions, they had representation in the NPC through Guangdong Province, but had no representation to the legislature of the United Kingdom and Portugal. (Macau residents who are holders of Portuguese passports can vote in Portugal.)

External affairs

Special Administrative Regions are empowered to contract a wide range of agreements with other countries and territories such as mutual abolition of visa requirement, mutual legal aid, extradition, handling of double taxation and others. In diplomatic talks involving an SAR, the SAR concerned may send officials to be part of the delegation.

Defence and military

The People's Liberation Army is garrisoned in both the SARs. The garrison and its members must obey all SAR laws as well as national laws applicable to them. They do not participate in the governance of the SAR but the SAR may send for them in times of emergency such as natural disasters. According to the basic laws, defence is the responsibility of the Central People's Government. There is no law providing for enrolment of Hong Kong and Macau residents in the forces during ordinary times, and no Hong Kong and Macau residents are currently enroled.

Immigration and nationality

Each of the SARs issue passports on its own, only to its permanent residents who are concurrently nationals of the PRC, that is, PRC nationals satisfying one of the following conditions:
- born in the SAR;
- born anywhere while either parent was a permanent resident of the SAR;
- resided continuously for seven or more years in the SAR. Apart from affording the holder consular protection by the People's Republic of China, these passports also specify that the holder has right of abode in the issuing SAR. The National People's Congress has also put each SAR in charge of administering the PRC's Nationality Law in its respective realms, namely naturalisation, renunciation and restoration of PRC nationality and issuance of proof of nationality.

Offer to Taiwan

The People's Republic of China has offered Taiwan a similar status to that of a SAR if it accepts PRC sovereignty; however the Republic of China government on Taiwan refuses to accept the offer, and most polls indicate that only around 10 per cent of the electorate on the island support it. Unlike Hong Kong and Macau, the proposed Taiwan SAR would keep its own armed forces rather than receive a garrison. The promise of a high-degree of autonomy, as afforded to Hong Kong and Macau, among other things, is enshrined in the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China enacted in 2005. Proposal for Taiwan as a SAR: [http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/taiwan/10-4.htm]

See also


- Political divisions of China
- Special Economic Zone
- Chief Executive of Hong Kong
- Chief Executive of Macau
- Foreign relations of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Basic Law
- Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office
- Legal system of Hong Kong
- Legal system of Macau
- Macau Basic Law Category:Hong Kong law category:Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China Category:Special territories Category:Government of Hong Kong Category:Macau Category:Politics of Macau category:Politics of Hong Kong category:Law of the People's Republic of China ja:特別行政区

Free market

A free market is a market where all exchanges are made without coercion; all trades are voluntary. A free market may be said to exist for exchange of a single pair of commodities (for example, money being freely exchanged for bananas at a mutually agreed upon ratio), or the term may be used to refer to an entire economy. Since no national economy in existence fully manifests the ideal of a free market as theorized by economists and ethicists, the term free market economy is used for a nation state's economy that approximates the ideal by virtue of having a government that engages in little or no interventionist economic regulation. If such a government intervenes in private affairs, it only does so to stop coercion that may take place among market participants. As this protection must be funded, such a government taxes only the extent necessary to perform this function. This state of affairs is also known as laissez-faire. In economics and political economy, this is the polar opposite of a command economy all goods and services are produced, and distributed, and priced under government control. Whether the marketplace should or is free is also disputed; many assert that government intervention is necessary to remedy market failure that is held be an inevitable result of absolute adherence to free market principles. Internationally, free markets are advocated by proponents of economic liberalism; in Europe this is usually simply called liberalism. In the United States, support for free market economic structures is a key tenet of U.S. conservatism and libertarianism. Since the 1970s, promotion of a global free-market economy, deregulation and privatisation, is often described as neoliberalism. The term free market economy is sometimes used to describe some economies that exist today, but pro-market groups would only accept that description if the government practices laissez-faire policies, rather than state intervention in the economy. An economy that contains significant economic interventionism by government, while still retaining some characteristics found in a free market, is often called a mixed economy. Since the emergence of a distinct economic system in the Soviet Union, the free market is usually contrasted to a command economy and a centrally planned economy. However, early proponents of a market economy in 18th-century Europe contrasted it with the mediaeval, early-modern, and mercantalist economies which preceded it. For social philosophy, a free market is a system for allocating goods within a society: supply and demand within the market determine who gets what, and what is produced. A free market does not require the existence of competition, however it does require the competition is not being prevented by coercion. Hence, in the lack of coercive barriers it is generally understood that competition flourishes in a free market environment. It often connotates the presence of the profit motive, although neither a profit motive or profit itself necessary for a free market;. All modern free markets are understood to include entrepreneurs, both individuals and businesses. Typically, a modern free market economy would include other features, such as a stock exchange and a financial services sector, but they do not define it.

Origins

Some theories assume that a free market is a natural form of social organization, and that a free market will arise in any society where it is not obstructed. The consensus among economic historians is that the free market economy is a specific historic phenomenon, and that it emerged in late mediaeval and early-modern Europe. Some economic historians see elements of the free market in the economic systems of Classical Antiquity, and in some non-western societies. By the 19th century the market certainly had organized political support, in the form of laissez-faire liberalism. However, it is not clear if the support preceded the emergence of the market, or followed it. Some historians see it as the result of the success of early liberal ideology, combined with the specific interests of the entrepreneur. In Marxist theory, the ideology simply expresses the underlying long-term transition from feudalism to capitalism. Note that the views on this issue - emergence or implementation - do not necessarily correspond to pro-market and anti-market positions. Libertarians would dispute that the market was enforced through government policy, since that has a connotation of repression, and Marxists agree with them, for different reasons.

Theory

The law of supply and demand predominates in the idealized free market, influencing prices toward an equilibrium that balances the demands for the products against the supplies. At these equilibrium prices, the market distributes the products to the purchasers according to each purchaser's use (or utility) for each product and within the relative limits of each buyer's purchasing power. The necessary components for the functioning of an idealized free market include the complete absence of artificial price pressures from taxes, subsidies, tariffs, or government regulation (other than protection from coercion and theft), and no government-granted monopolies (usually classified as coercive monopoly by free market advocates) like the United States Post Office, Amtrak, arguably patents, etc. This equilibrating behaviour of free markets makes certain assumptions about their agents, for instance that they act independently. Some models in econophysics have shown that when agents are allowed to interact locally in a free market (ie. their decisions depend not only on utility and purchasing power, but also on their peers' decisions), prices can become unstable and diverge from the equilibrium, often in an abrupt manner. The behaviour of the free market is thus said to be non-linear (a pair of agents bargaining for a purchase will agree on a different price than 100 identical pairs of agents doing the identical purchase). Speculation bubbles and the type of herd behaviour often observed in stock markets are quoted as real life examples of non-equilibrium price trends. Free-market advocates, especially Austrian school followers, often dismiss this endogenous theory, and blame external influences, such as weather, commodity prices, technological developments, and government meddling on non-equilibrium prices. The distribution of purchasing power in an economy depends to a large extent on social class, labor and financial markets, but also on other , lesser factors such as family relationships, inheritance, gifts and so on. Many theories describing the operation of a free market focus primarily on the markets for consumer products, and their description of the labor market or financial markets tends to be more complicated and controversial. The free market can be seen as facilitating a form of decision-making through what is known as dollar voting, where a purchase of a product is tantamount to casting a vote for a producer to continue producing that product. The effect of economic freedom on society's and individuals' wealth remains a subject of controversy. Kenneth Arrow and Gerard Debreu have shown that under certain idealized conditions, a system of free trade leads to Pareto efficiency. Many advocates of free makets, most notably Milton Friedman, have also argued that there is a direct relationship between economic growth and economic freedom, though this assertion is much harder to prove both theoretically and empirically. Joshua Epstein and Robert Axtell have attempted to predict the properties of free markets in an agent-based computer simulation called sugarscape. They came to the conclusion that, again under idealized conditions, free markets lead to a Pareto distribution of wealth.

Practice

While the free-market is an idealized abstraction, it is useful in understanding real markets whether artificially created and regulated by governments or non-governmental agencies, or phenomena such as the black market and the underground economy, which can be remarkably robust in persisting despite attempts to suppress these markets.

The degree of market freedom

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, tried to identify the key factors which allow to measure the degree of freedom of economy of a particular country. In 1986 they introduced Index of Economic Freedom, which is based on some fifty variables. This and other similar indices do not define a free market, but measure the degree to which a modern economy is free, meaning in most cases free of state intervention. The variables are divided into the following major groups:
- Trade policy,
- Fiscal burden of government,
- Government intervention in the economy,
- Monetary policy,
- Capital flows and foreign investment,
- Banking and finance,
- Wages and prices,
- Property rights,
- Regulation, and
- Informal market activity. Each group is assigned a numerical value between 1 and 5; IEF is the arithmetical mean of the values, rounded to the hundredth. Initially, countries which were traditionally considered capitalistic received high ratings, but the method improved over time. Today one can see a vivid correlation between EOF value and country's GDP. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/downloads/economicFreedomandPerCapita.gif

Ideology and ethics

Support for the free market as an ordering principle of society is above all associated with liberalism, especially during the 19th century. In Europe, the term 'liberalism' retains its connotation as the ideology of the free market, but in American usage it came to be associated with government intervention, and acquired a pejorative meaning for supporters of the free market. Later ideological developments, such as minarchism and libertarianism also support the free market, and insist on its pure form. Although the Western world shares a generally similar form of economy, usage in the United States is to refer to this as capitalism, while in Europe 'free market' is the preferred neutral term. Marxism, communism, and socialism are usually seen as the main ideological opponents of the free market. Modern liberalism (American usage), and in Europe social democracy, seek only to mitigate what they see as the problems of an unrestrained free market, and accept its existence as such. To most right-wing libertarians, there is simply no free market yet, given the degree of state intervention in even the most 'capitalist' of countries. From their perspective, those who say they favor a "free market" are speaking in a relative, rather than an absolute, sense -- meaning (in libertarian terms) they wish that coercion be kept to the minimum that is necessary to maximize economic freedom (such necessary coercion would be taxation, for example) and to maximize market efficiency by lowering trade barriers, making the tax system neutral in its influence on important decisions such as how to raise capital, e.g., eliminating the double tax on dividends so that equity financing is not at a disadvantage vis'a'vis debt financing. However, there are some such as anarcho-capitalists who would not even allow for taxation and governments, instead preferring protectors of economic freedom in the form of private contractors. The ethical justification of free markets takes two forms. One appeals to the intrinsic moral superiority of autonomy and freedom (in the market), see deontology. The other is a form of consequentialism - a belief that decentralised planning by a multitude of individuals making free economic decisions produces better results in regard to a more organized, efficient, and productive economy, than does a centrally-planned economy where a central agency decides what is produced, and allocates goods by non-price mechanisms. An older version of this argument is the metaphor of the Invisible Hand, familiar from the work of Adam Smith, although it is older. In Smith's time there were no centrally planned economies to serve as a comparison, he was simply arguing that the market benefits the common good. Modern theories of self-organization say the internal organization of a system can increase automatically without being guided or managed by an outside source. When applied to the market, as an ethical justification, they are appealing primarily to its intrinsic value as a self-organising entity. Intense admiration for these abilities of the market became a characteristic of some pro-market argument in the 1990's, especially among those who saw the internet as a form of perfect market.

See also


- Economics
- Adam Smith
- Capitalism
- History of theory of capitalism
- Political Economy
- Karl Marx
- Economic liberalism
- Liberalism
- Market economy
- Neoliberalism
- Neoconservatism in the United States
- Austrian School
- Anarcho-capitalism
- Free-market anarchism
- Friedrich Hayek
- Game theory
- Heritage Foundation
- LIEO
- Libertarianism
- Milton Friedman
- Minarchism
- Ludwig von Mises
- Negative liberty
- Night watchman state
- Nash equilibrium
- School of Salamanca
- Self-organization
- Underground economy
- Voluntaryism
- Open Source Initiative
- Non-profit organization

Contrast


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