One Country Two Systems policy – Free PDF Download

WHAT IS ONE COUNTRY TWO SYSTEMS POLICY?

• Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, both are former colonies of Britain & Portuguese respectively.
• This policy means they can have different economic and political systems from that of mainland China.
• While being part of the People’s Republic of China.

ORIGIN OF POLICY

• The policy was originally proposed by Deng Xiaoping shortly after he took the reins of the country in the late 1970s.
• Deng’s plan was to unify China under the One Country Two Systems policy.
• But hardly anything moved for next 10 years.

HONG KONG STORY

• The British had taken control of Hong Kong in 1842 after the First Opium War.
• In 1898, the British government and the Qing dynasty of China signed the Second Convention of Peking.
• This allowed the British to take control of the islands surrounding Hong Kong, known as New Territories, on lease for 99 years.
• London promised Peking that the islands would be retuned to China after the expiry of the lease, in 1997.

MACAU STORY

• Macau, on the other side, had been ruled by the Portuguese from 1557.
• They started withdrawing troops in the mid-1970s.

INITIATION OF TALKS

• In the 1980s, Deng’s China initiated talks with both Britain and Portugal for the transfer of the two territories.
• In talks, Beijing promised to respect the region’s autonomy under the One Country Two Systems proposal.

SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION

• On December 19, 1984, China and the U.K. signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing.
• This set the terms for the autonomy and the legal, economic and governmental systems for Hong Kong post 1997.

JOINT DECLARATION B/W CHINA AND PORTUGAL

• Similarly, on March 26, 1987, China and Portugal signed the Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau.
• In this China made similar promises for the region of Macau after it was handed over to Beijing.

CHINESE CONTROL

• Hong Kong returned to Chinese control on July 1, 1997.
• Macau’s sovereignty was transferred on December 20, 1999.
• Both regions became Special Administrative Regions of China.
• The regions would have their own currencies, economic and legal systems.
• But defence and diplomacy would be decided by Beijing.

FUTURE HONG KONG & MACAU

• Their mini-Constitutions would remain valid for 50 years — Till 2047 for Hong Kong and 2049 for Macau.
• It is unclear what will happen after this term.

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