Hong Kong : ThroughlineLast week, the Chinese government made the latest and perhaps the most serious move yet to crack down on Hong Kong's semi-autonomy. It's just the latest such effort by Beijing in the decades-long tensions between China and Hong Kong and it seems to take advantage of the quarantine calm that has subdued months of protests. But when did these tensions begin and what have Hong Kongers been fighting for?
A young student protester in Tiananmen Square wears a sign which reads: "I love life, I need food, but I'd rather die without democracy." On June 3, 1989, Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping ordered a crackdown and unknown numbers of demonstrators and bystanders were killed.
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On July 1st, 1997, the official handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China was recognized with a ceremony. The event marked the end of 156 years of British colonial rule over the territory.
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Flags mark the border between Chinese and British territory on the railway bridge in Kowloon, 1910.
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Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a meeting leading up to the Sino-British Joint Declaration at The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, September 26, 1984.
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View of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor, 1880.
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View of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor, Aug. 28, 2019.
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Last week, the Chinese government made the latest and perhaps the most serious move yet to crack down on Hong Kong's semi-autonomy. It's just the latest such effort by Beijing in the decades-long tensions between China and Hong Kong and it seems to take advantage of the quarantine calm that has subdued months of protests. But when did these tensions begin and what have Hong Kongers been fighting for?
This week, how Hong Kong became one of the most important, and most contested, cities in the world.
