Absorption into a Leninist polity : a study of the interpretations by the National People's Congress of the Basic Law in post-handover Hong Kong

The late Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Deng Xiaoping made a pledge to Hong Kong, that from the handover of sovereignty, there would be "fifty years unchanged." This was embodied in the formula of "one country, two systems;" Notwithstanding, Hong Kong has experienced remarkable changes in all realms since the handover in 1997. Various perspectives or conceptual frameworks have been suggested by academics to grapple with the dynamics of these changes. The main impetus certainly comes from the central government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing, which assumed the sovereignty of Hong Kong after the British withdrawal. More than 15 years after the reversion to the PRC, mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) remain two distinctive societies and polities.' Despite the one country, some have even argued that the tensions between "wo systems'' have been growing.