<The deceased Mainland Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said to British Foreign Minister Geoffrey Howe in 1984, "On the Hong Kong issue, we have to first introduce a promise that its capitalist system and way of living will remain unchanged for 50 years after 1997" (Deng Xiaoping commenting on Hong Kong, published by Joint Publishing CO., November 1993, page 9).
<Article 2 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China stipulates, "The National People's Congress authorizes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative, and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication, in accordance with the provisions of this Law" (Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, April 1992, page 3).
<Four years after the transfer of Hong Kong jurisdiction, have Mainland authorities really kept their promises? Have they tried to preserve Hong Kong's liberty, human rights, and independent judiciary?
<This document lists in chronological order 143 controversies that have arisen in media since July 1997.
Controversies Totaling 143
（1997.7-2002.12）
| No. | Time | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 4, 1997 | China Central Television (CCTV) with exclusive coverage. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa meets with PLA Major-General Liu Zhenwu at the former British governor's residence on July 4, 1997. No Hong Kong media is informed of the event. CCTV airs the exclusive coverage of the meeting during the evening news the next day. | July 11, 1997 United Daily News |
| 2 | July 9, 1997 | CCTV enjoys special treatment. SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa calls on the PLA garrison troops in Hong Kong on July 9. Reporters find that CCTV's news crew and some journalists dressed in uniform enjoy special offer to cover news in off-limits areas for the press. | July 11, 1997 United Daily News |
| 3 | July 10, 1997 | Deportation of illegal immigrant children. Provisional Legislature adopts an immigration bill through three readings, allowing the deportation of illegal immigrant children born of Hong Kong citizens in Mainland China claiming right of abode in the HKSAR. The provisions apply retroactively on July 1. Thousands of children who stay in Hong Kong illegally waiting for right of abode must all be deported back to Mainland China and may return to Hong Kong through the process of Mainland Chinese laws. | July 11, 1997 United Daily News |
| 4 | July 9, 1997 | Chief Executive Office imposes restrictions on the press. Hong Kong Journalists Association writes to Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa to complain that his office imposes much more stringent limitations on news coverage than the former British government and allows the Mainland media preemptive coverage. The association accuses the office of infringing on press freedom and the operation of the media in Hong Kong. | July 10, 1997 Min Pao |
| 5 | July 15, 1997 | Provisional Legislature freezes labor rights laws. Provisional Legislature passes the "Legislative Provisions (suspension of operation) Bill of 1997," which suspends labor laws giving workers right of collective bargaining, allowing unions to fund political activities, and preventing anti-union discrimination. The Legislative Council also suspends the Bill of Rights Law. | July 16, 1997 Express News |
| 6 | Aug. 15, 1997 | One association, one vote for functional constituencies. Draft bill on the first legislative elections is gazetted by the HKSAR government. In the first SAR Legislative Council, nine functional constituencies are added and voted by organizations, not individuals. Thus, the electorate is reduced from 1.05 million to about 40,000, a 97% drop. | Aug. 16, 1997 Express News |
| 7 | Aug. 21, 1997 | Legislative Council Bill violates Basic Law. Article 38 of the Legislative Council Bill states that nominated candidates must swear allegiance to the SAR government, which is inconsistent with the regulations that legislators should swear allegiance only when they assume office positions. SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa is accused of neglecting the separation of the executive and legislative branches. | Aug. 22, 1997 Express News |
| 8 | Aug. 29, 1997 | Hong Kong suspends APO membership. SAR government announces that Hong Kong suspends its membership in the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) on July 1, 1997 because the ROC participates in the APO under the name "Republic of China." | Aug. 29, 1997 Hong Kong Economic Journal |
| 9 | Sept. 21, 1997 | ROC officials unable to attend the World Bank/IMF annual meeting. Paul Chiu, Minister of Finance of the Republic of China, and former Central Bank Governor Sheu Yuan-Dong are unable to obtain visas for Hong Kong to attend the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Meeting. The two express dissatisfaction and cancel their trips. | Sept. 21, 1997 Apple Daily |
| 10 | Sept. 28, 1997 | Legislative Council Bill is adopted. Provisional Legislature passes the Legislative Council Bill by a vote of 29-9 with 11 abstentions. The nine opposing votes and the 11 abstentions are cast to oppose the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance for enlarging the qualifications of functional electorates. | Sept. 29, 1997 Hong Kong Economic Journal |
| 11 | Oct. 10, 1997 | <Police dismantle ROC flags at national day celebration. SAR police remove ROC flags from streets during the October 10 celebration, the first celebration after Hong Kong's transfer of jurisdiction to Mainland sovereignty. <No law to support the SAR's taking down of ROC flags. Spokesperson of the SAR government and the police fail to explain which law is cited to outlaw the public display of ROC flags in Hong Kong. <SAR Chief Executive states that public display of ROC flags violates the "one country" principle. SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa states that public display of ROC flags violates the ne country?principle. He states that he does not consult Mainland authorities before hand and that the decision to take down the flags is his own. |
Oct. 11, 1997 Hong Kong Daily News Oct. 12, 1997 Min Pao |
| 12 | Oct. 19, 1997 | Film distributors refuse to buy movies about the Dalai Lama. Hong Kong film distributors decide not to purchase three movies about the Dalai Lama and Tibet. | Oct. 20, 1997 United Daily News |
| 13 | Oct. 29, 1997 | Provisional Legislature abolishes laws related to labor rights. Provisional Legislature approves the revocation of two labor laws and revises another that is closely related to labor rights. Members of the April Fifth Group stage protests outside the legislature building and clash with policemen. | Oct. 30, 1997 Hong Kong Economic Journal |
| 14 | Dec. 19, 1997 | Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions is accused of lack of representation. SAR Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa appoints members to the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions. Human rights groups criticize the appointees lack representation of the people, and are unfamiliar with the holdings of demonstrations and protests, which may affect the civil rights of the people of Hong Kong. | Dec. 20, 1997 Apple Daily |
| 15 | Dec. 25, 1997 | Human Rights Watch publishes 10 major events of the year in Hong Kong
related to human rights as follows. The Human Rights Watch report includes
the following negative developments: <The SAR government refuses to establish an independent organization to investigate abuses of power by the police. <The SAR government disapproves of demonstrations and assemblies on the grounds of national security. <Legislative progress on equal rights has been slow. <A Taiwanese veteran is wrongly repatriated back to Mainland China and has disappeared. |
Dec. 26, 1997 Apple Daily |
| 16 | Jan. 16, 1998 | SAR government suggests repealing the Bill of Rights Law. SAR government announces in its gazette that it suggests the repeal of legislation that has given the Bill of Rights Law overriding status in jurisprudence. The Law should only be applied to government and public entities, not individuals. | Jan. 17, 1998 Express News |
| 17 | Feb. 25, 1998 | <Provisional Legislature abolishes Lau Chin-Shek's revision bill on the
Bill of Rights Law. The Provisional Legislature adopts a law to revoke revisions proposed by
former legislator Lau Chin-Shek. Lau says he will protest to the United
Nations that the SAR government violates human rights. <Democratic Party strongly condemns the Provisional Legislature. The Democratic Party condemns the Provisional Legislature for ruining democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in the Special Administrative Region. |
Feb. 26, 1998 Shin Pao |
| 18 | March 1, 1998 | Increased surveillance on political demonstrations after 1997.Leung Kwok-Hung, member of the April-Fifth Group, states that the police escalates the monitoring of political demonstrations after 1997, including phone tapping and tailing protesters. | March 2, 1998 Apple Daily |
| 19 | March 4, 1998 | Xu Simin accuses PTHK of publicly opposing SAR policies. Xu Simin, a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, criticizes the Hong Kong government-funded Radio Television Hong Kong for airing shows critical of Hong Kong policies while claiming to be editorially independent. Xu demands Tung Chee-Hwa to deal with it. | March 5, 1998 Hong Kong Economic Daily |