Anthony Kwan/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images By Xueying Chang, CNN Updated at 1448 GMT (2248 HKT) July 1, 2022 The Chinese national flag and Hong Kong regional flags decorate a public residence building to mark the city’s 25th anniversary. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sat at a long table with Chinese Prime Minister Zhao Jiang in Beijing. They signed large red paper with black pens and shook hands. The crowd behind them applauded. Nearly 13 years later, at midnight on July 1, 1997, the Hong Kong colonial flag carried by the Union Jack was lowered for the last time, marking the surrender of the city from British to Chinese rule – and its new status as a “special administration”. area “under a framework known as” one country, two systems. “ In the 25 years that followed, the Pearl of the East faced two economic crises, the SARS epidemic, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the political turmoil culminating in a sweeping national security law that changed the city’s social and political landscape. – raising questions about whether a 50-year promise of limited autonomy will be kept. In the middle of the 2047 deadline, we go back to the roots of the former British colony – and where it goes next.
