25 years after Tiananmen, is the People's Republic of China losing Hong Kong?

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BY SIMON DENYER June 4 at 1:48 PM

Thousands gather Wednesday at a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chinese crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing. (Cyrus Wong/Associated Press)

HONG KONG — As tens of thousands of people converged on Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Wednesday night for an annual ceremony of remembrance and protest over the events of June 4, 1989, it was natural to wonder whether [the People's Republic of] China wasn’t losing the battle to win over the people of Hong Kong.

Under the terms of the territory’s handover from British rule in 1997, [the People's Republic of] China promised significant autonomy under the “one country, two systems” model. At the time, many here were happy to see the British go, but that sentiment has since gradually eroded.

[The People's Republic of] China has promised the territory universal suffrage and genuine democracy in 2017, when the job of chief executive, the most powerful political role in Hong Kong, next comes up for grabs.

But many here fear that Beijing will fix the contest, to ensure one of its local allies wins. There are also growing concerns that [the People's Republic of] China is gradually diluting Hong Kong’s cherished civil liberties and media freedom, while a massive influx of tourists and immigrants from mainland China [officially the People's Republic of China] has caused growing local resentment.

The resentment undermines any hope Beijing might have of persuading the people of Taiwan [officially the Republic of China] to ever join mainland China [officially the People's Republic of China] under a similar “one country, two systems” model, and it is a constant reminder of a democratic spirit among Chinese people that refuses to go away.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/04/25-years-after-tiananmen-is-china-losing-hong-kong/