Twenty years of Hong Kong and Macao under Chinese rule: being absorbed under ‘one country, two systems’

Abstract

This paper examines the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ (1C2S) in the two former Western colonies, Hong Kong and Macao, as a policy innovation in managing inter-governmental relations of a large, diverse country like China. 1C2S embodies internal tensions because the Hong Kong and Chinese governments have multiple and often incompatible goals. After 20 years, these two special administrative regions (SARs) of China are gradually being absorbed.

Keywords:

• Chinese inter-governmental relations
• Hong Kong
• Macao
• one country
• two systems (1C2S)
• special administrative regions (SARs)

Acknowledgement

The work described in this paper was substantially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CUHK 447613).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wilson Wong

Wilson Wong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.

Hanyu Xiao

Hanyu Xiao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian and Policy Studies, the Education University of Hong Kong, China.