Thinking About China
Opinion

Hong Kong’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

Hong Kong’s 25th Anniversary Celebration
A man holding a child walks in front of a screen showing a live broadcast of Chinese leader Xi Jinping speaking during a swearing-in ceremony for Hong Kong's new chief executive, John Lee, on July 1, 2022, in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong celebrates the 25th anniversary of its handover from Britain to China on July 1. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
June Teufel Dreyer
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Commentary

As Hong Kong, or perhaps more accurately its government, prepared to celebrate a quarter century as a special autonomous region (SAR) of China and the inauguration of a new chief executive, Beijing’s hand-picked candidate John Lee, the atmosphere was more one of manufactured gaiety than genuine joy.

June Teufel Dreyer
June Teufel Dreyer
Author
June Teufel Dreyer is a professor of politics at the University of Miami, a senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a faculty adviser to the Rumsfeld Foundation, and a former commissioner of the congressionally-mandated U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Her books include studies on China’s ethnic minorities, Sino-Japanese relations, a comprehensive treatment of Chinese government now in its 10th edition, and an edited volume on Taiwan politics.
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