Hong Kong’s Freedoms: What China Promised and How It’s Cracking Down

Lindsay Maizland writes a backgrounder for the Council on Foreign Relations on receding democracy in Hong Kong amidst a crackdown by Beijing. Despite assurances at the handover in 1997 that Hong Kong would be granted political autonomy for 50 years, recent years have seen significant restrictions on fundamental democratic rights and freedoms. The backgrounder gives an overview of Hong Kong's path from 1997 to now, including key protest movements along the way and answering such questions as if Hong Kong was ever democratic, how Beijing has eroded freedoms in Hong Kong, and the significance of the recent 2020 national security law that many have dubbed the "end of Hong Kong".

Read the full backgrounder at the Council on Foreign Relations here.