Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement and Beijing's Failure to Honor the Basic Law

Abstract

Over the past few months Hong Kong has been deeply embedded in political change and protests. These debates and confrontations in Hong Kong have had a particular constitutional character grounded in disputes over interpretation of the Hong Kong Basic Law’s constitutional text. Recent actions initiated by Beijing have, in the public eye, called into question solemn commitments made to Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” model promised in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. A series of reports and decisions issued this past year have been the source of public discontent. This paper will consider these causes and suggest avenues to a solution going forward.