9 December 1984 to return Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997;
in the joint declaration, China promises to respect Hong Kong's
existing social and economic systems and lifestyle)
National holiday:
Liberation Day, 29 August (1945)
Constitution:
unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice; new Basic
Law approved in March 1990 in preparation for 1997
Legal system:
based on English common law
Suffrage:
direct election 21 years of age; universal for permanent residents
living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years;
indirect election limited to about 100,000 professionals of electoral
college and functional constituencies
Executive branch:
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government:
Governor Chris PATTEN (since 9 July 1992); Chief Secretary Anson CHAN
Fang On-Sang (since 29 November 1993)
cabinet:
Executive Council; appointed by the governor
Legislative branch:
unicameral
Legislative Council:
indirect elections last held 12 September 1991 and direct elections
were held for the first time 15 September 1991 (next to be held in
September 1995 when the number of directly-elected seats increases to
20); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (60 total; 21
indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 18 directly elected,
18 appointed by governor, 3 ex officio members); indirect elections -
number of seats by functional constituency NA; direct elections - UDHK
12, Meeting Point 3, ADPL 1, other 2
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
United Democrats of Hong Kong, Martin LEE, chairman; Democratic
Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, TSANG Yuk-shing, chairman;
Hong Kong Democratic Foundation, Dr. Patrick SHIU Kin-ying, chairman
note:
in April 1994, the United Democrats of Hong Kong and Meeting Point
merged to form the "Democratic Party;" the merger becomes effective in
October 1994
Other political or pressure groups:
Liberal Party, Allen LEE, chairman; Meeting Point, Anthony CHEUNG
Bing-leung, chairman; Association for Democracy and People's
Livelihood, Frederick FUNG Kin Kee, chairman; Liberal Democratic
Federation, HU Fa-kuang, chairman; Federation of Trade Unions
(pro-China), LEE Chark-tim, president; Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade
Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Confederation of Trade Unions
(pro-democracy), LAU Chin-shek, chairman; Hong Kong Gene