What are Special Administrative Regions?

As some of you might know, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China.

SARs are territories that fall within the sovereignty of China, but are still separate. To date, there are only two SARs: Macau and Hong Kong. Both of these regions were returned to China in the late 1990's by the Portugese and British, respectively.

However, their return marked a problem for China. Mainly over how to administer these territories, which had been separate from China for over 100 years. Proposed by Deng Xiao Ping (邓小平) in 1982, a new article was added to the Constitution of the PROC, allowing "the state... [to] establish speical administrative regions when necessary." 

Under this new provision, the new territories were allowed a wide berth of autonomy. These new SARs could have their own government, monetary and financial systems, languages, sports teams, educational systems, and external relations. By allowing Hong Kong to exercise independence, many fears were eased and the transition from Britain to China flowed a lot smoother. Many things have stayed the same, but there have been changes.

Militarily, Hong Kong cannot have its own army. Its defense is provided by the People's Liberation Army, which is garrisoned within Hong Kong. That being said, laws prevent the PLA from interfering with local affairs, and PLA soldiers must abide by regional laws. The only times that PLA soldiers can be used for civilian and local matters is in times of crisis and only if Hong Kong requests help. However, the PLA runs many businesses in HK, despite a law drafted in 1996, prohibiting such acts. Loopholes in the law allow the PLA to push profits into the military and hold land in Hong Kong worth billions of dollars. 

Government wise, the Chief Executive (no longer called Governor) is appointed by a committee of 1200  business and professional leaders. The court system was also reformed. The Supreme Court was replaced by the High Court, which has more jurisdiction than its predecessor. 

Socially, many holidays changed. Holidays traditionally celebrated by the British, such as Queen's Day, was replaced by the Chinese holidays. At the same time, older holidays like Double Ten Day were also replaced. 

Those are just a few of the facts of SARs and how they relate to Hong Kong. I'm afraid I can't go into as much detail as I like for SARs would probably merit their own research project. If you wish to find out more, the internet is a great place to start. Also, I am sure that this is not the last time you will hear of SARs in relation to Hong Kong from me, so keep following!

Till next time,
Victor