In 1997, when the British handed the territory back to China after 156 years of colonial rule, the Chinese leadership promised that the economic and political freedoms Hong Kong enjoyed would be preserved. The promise was encapsulated in the slogan “one country, two systems.” Over the next two decades, China increased its overt and subtle pressure on Hong Kong. In 2014, Beijing changed the Hong Kong electoral system to allow the Communist Party to screen candidates for the Hong Kong chief executive’s role in advance.
