You Must Have One Country Before You Have One Country, Two Systems
December 5, 2014
Written by Don Rodgers. The People’s Republic of China officially views Taiwan as a “sacred and inseparable part of China’s territory.” Yet, Taiwan is currently a de facto independent country with its own territory, economy, democratic government, and military. This obviously causes the leaders in Beijing no small degree of heartburn. To make matters more …
Hong Kong, Taiwan and the End of the “One Country, Two Systems” Dream
December 4, 2014
Written by Alex Calvo. The ideological foundations of China’s 1911 Revolution and previous attempts to overthrow the Qing rested, among other things, on three pillars: modernization, recovery of full sovereignty, and setting up a modern nation-state. All of these were connected to a great extent, historically and ideologically, to Hong Kong and Taiwan. When the …
Occupy Central and the marginalization of pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong
December 3, 2014
Written by Ng Hoi Yu. The Occupy Central Movement (OCM), also known as the Umbrella Revolution, broke out in Hong Kong on 28 September. It was triggered by the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) on arrangements for the 2017 Chief Executive election, which requires all candidates to be vetted by …
The Mixing of Well and River Water: Hong Kong under the “One Country, Two Systems”
December 2, 2014
Written by Jennifer Eagleton. The concept of “One Country, Two Systems” (一國兩制) was originally devised with Taiwan in mind and was subsequently repurposed for Hong Kong, so that Hong Kong could maintain its capitalist system while the socialist s
Assessing the “Umbrella Movement” in Hong Kong
December 1, 2014
Written by Michael C. Davis. As the occupy protests reach the end of their second month and protesters face a choice between withdrawing voluntarily from protest areas or court-ordered clearance, an assessment is in order. Some protesters and their critics have readily concluded that the protesters have accomplished nothing, because their formal demands for the …
Examining the One Country, Two Systems model
November 30, 2014
The One Country, Two Systems (OCTS) model was initially proposed by Beijing as a unification arrangement for Taiwan. Despite failing to gain much traction in cross-Strait relations, Chinese leaders periodically reiterate the formula in the context of discussing Taiwan. For their part, Taiwanese leaders and society alike have always strongly rejected the idea and when …
What Beijing Has to Understand
November 16, 2014
Written by Joseph Cheng. The decision taken by the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee at the end of August 2014 triggered the current protests in Hong Kong. The decision allows no room for a democratic electoral system. The pro-Beijing elites will capture a majority of seats in the Nomination Committee, and this absolute majority …
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