Timeline: Hong Kong
A chronology of key events:
1842 - China cedes Hong Kong island to Britain after the First Opium War. Over the decades, thousands of Chinese migrants fleeing domestic upheavals settle in the colony.
 |  High-rise Hong Kong is densely-populated Overall density: 6,420 people per sq km Kwun Tong district has 52,160 people per sq km |
1898 - China leases the New Territories together with 235 islands to Britain for 99 years from 1 July.
1937 - With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Hong Kong becomes a refuge for thousands of mainland Chinese fleeing before the advancing Japanese.
1941 - Japan occupies Hong Kong. Food shortages impel many residents to flee to mainland China. The population drops from 1.6m in 1941 to 650,000 by the end of the Second World War.
1946 - Britain re-establishes civil government. Hundreds of thousands of former residents return, to be joined over next few years by refugees fleeing the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists in China.
1950s - Hong Kong enjoys economic revival based on light industries such as textiles.
1960s - Social discontent and labour disputes become rife among poorly-paid workforce.
1967 - Severe riots break out, mainly instigated by followers of China's Cultural Revolution.
Late 1960s - Living conditions improve and social unrest subsides.
1970s - Hong Kong is established as an "Asian Tiger" - one of the region's economic powerhouses - with a thriving economy based on high-technology industries.
Countdown to handover
|  The last British governor, Chris Patten, ruffled Chinese feathers  |
1982 - Britain and China begin talks on the future of Hong Kong.
1984 - Britain and China sign Joint Declaration on the conditions under which Hong Kong will revert to Chinese rule in 1997. Under the "one country, two systems" formula, Hong Kong will become part of one communist-led country but retain its capitalist economic system and partially democratic political system for 50 years after the handover.
1989 - The massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square leads to calls for the introduction of further democratic safeguards in Hong Kong.
1990 - Beijing formally ratifies Hong Kong's post-handover mini-constitution or Basic Law.
1992 April - Chris Patten becomes last British governor of Hong Kong, with a brief to oversee the colony's handover to China.
1992 October - Chris Patten announces proposals for the democratic reform of Hong Kong's institutions aimed at broadening the voting base in elections. China is outraged that it has not been consulted and threatens to tear up business contracts and overturn the reforms after it has taken control.
1992 December - Hong Kong stock market crashes.
1994 June - After nearly two years of bitter wrangling, Hong Kong's legislature introduces a stripped-down version of Chris Patten's democratic reform package. The new legislation widens the franchise but falls far short of providing for universal suffrage.
1995 - Elections held for new Legislative Council (LegCo).
One country, two systems
|  Post-colonial leader Tung Chee-hwa had a bumpy ride |
1997 July - Hong Kong is handed back to the Chinese authorities after more than 150 years of British control. Tung Chee-hwa, a Shanghai-born former shipping tycoon with no political experience, is hand-picked by Beijing to rule the territory following the takeover.
1998 May - First post-handover elections held.
2001 February - Deputy Chief Executive Anson Chan, a former deputy to Chris Patten and one of the main figures in the Hong Kong administration to oppose Chinese interference in the territory's affairs, resigns under pressure from Beijing and is replaced by Donald Tsang.
2002 June - Trial of 16 members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement arrested during a protest outside Beijing's liaison office in the territory. Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong, despite having been banned in mainland China in 1999, and the trial is seen as a test of the freedoms Beijing guaranteed to respect after the handover. The 16 are found guilty of causing a public obstruction.
2002 September - Tung Chee-hwa's administration releases proposals for controversial new anti-subversion law known as Article 23.
2003 March-April - Both China and Hong Kong are hit by the pneumonia-like Sars virus. Strict quarantine measures are enforced to stop the disease spreading.
2003 June - Hong Kong is declared free of Sars.
Calls for reform
2003 July - A day after a visit to the territory by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, 500,000 people march against Article 23. Two Hong Kong government members resign. The bill is shelved indefinitely.
|  Falun Gong: Banned on mainland but legal in Hong Kong |
2004 April - China rules that its approval must be sought for any changes to Hong Kong's election laws, giving Beijing the right to veto any moves towards more democracy, such as direct elections for the territory's chief executive.
2004 July - Some 200,000 people mark the seventh anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to Chinese rule by taking part in a demonstration protesting Beijing's ruling against electing the next chief executive by universal suffrage.
Britain accuses China of interfering in Hong Kong's constitutional reform process in a manner inconsistent with self-governance guarantees agreed before the handover.
2004 September - Pro-Beijing parties retain their majority in LegCo elections widely seen as a referendum on Hong Kong's aspirations for greater democracy. In the run-up to the poll, human rights groups accuse Beijing of creating a "climate of fear" aimed at skewing the result.
2004 December - Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers public rebuke to Tung Chee-hwa, telling him to improve his administration's performance.
Change of guard
2005 March - Amid mounting criticism of his rule, Tung Chee-hwa resigns, citing failing health. He is succeeded in June by Donald Tsang.
2005 May - Hong Kong's highest court overturns the convictions of eight of the Falun Gong members who were found guilty of causing an obstruction in the territory in 2002.
2005 June - Tens of thousands of people commemorate sixteenth anniversary of crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong is the only part of China where the 1989 events are marked.
2005 September - Pro-democracy members of LegCo make unprecented visit to Chinese mainland. Eleven members of the 25-strong pro-democracy group had been banned from the mainland for 16 years.
2005 December - Pro-democracy legislators block Mr Tsang's plans for limited constitutional reforms, saying they do not go far enough. Mr Tsang said his plans - which would have changed electoral processes without introducing universal suffrage - went as far as Beijing would allow.
2006 March - Pope Benedict XVI elevates Bishop Joseph Zen, the leader of Hong Kong's 300,000 Catholics and an outspoken advocate of democracy, to the post of cardinal. China warns Cardinal Zen to stay out of politics.
2006 July - Tens of thousands of people rally in support of full democracy.
2007 January - New rules aim to restrict the number of pregnant women from mainland China who come to Hong Kong to give birth. Many had been drawn by the prospect of gaining Hong Kong residency rights for their children and evading China's one-child policy.
2007 April - Chief Executive Donald Tsang is appointed to a new five-year term after winning elections in March.
2007 July - Hong Kong marks 10th anniversary of handover to China. New government under Chief Executive Donald Tsang is sworn in. Plans for full democracy unveiled.
2007 December - Beijing says it will allow the people of Hong Kong to directly elect their own leader in 2017 and their legislators by 2020.
Mr Tsang hails this as "a timetable for obtaining universal suffrage", but pro-democracy campaigners express disappointment at the protracted timescale.
2008 September - Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp wins more than a third of seats in legislative elections, retaining a key veto over future bills.
2008 November - Hong Kong's economy falls into recession for the first time in five years amid the global economic slowdown.
2009 June - Tens of thousands of people attend a vigil in Hong Kong on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The territory is the only part of China to mark the anniversary.
中国 | 2009.11.22
香港各界议论政改方案
针对香港特区政府公布的政制改革方案，《苹果日报》署名"卢峰"的文章写道："自从曾特首公开表明上任后要……从根本解决政改死结开始，公 众一直期望他在政改问题上有作为，有突破，为香港政制迈向全面普选定出清晰的路线图，令公众、政党、从政人士可以及早作好准备。……可惜特区政府昨天公布 的咨询文件只集中处理二○一二年的政制安排，只对畸形政制作些微修修补补，不肯提出清楚的政改路线图，甚至不肯明确表示功能组别必须逐步取消。这不但让市 民非常失望及难以接受，也完全违反曾特首自己在竞选时所作出的承诺。"
《苹果日报》的评论接着写道："迈向普选需要很多准备及配套工作，每一步都要走得踏实，都要让市民知道是在朝普选的方向迈进。所以明确的普选路线图 跟时间表同样重要，同样不可或缺。可是特首及特区政府在这方面交了白卷，态度闪避，又不肯承诺把市民争取普选路线图的诉求直接向中央政府反映。这完全是敷 衍卸责的表现。……此外，从具体运作来看，政制发展是一环扣一环的改变，不能也不应斩件式处理，否则只会引发更大的混乱及动荡。换言之，不管是从尊重市民 意见或确保政改平稳畅顺来看，特区政府都有需要为政改定出普选路线图，并积极争取北京同意。偏偏曾特首却甘心坐在鸟笼内，不愿为市民的合理诉求向北京争 取，也不管斩件式政改的不良效果。这怎不让人失望及遗憾呢？"
但亲北京的《大公报》则发表评论认为，香港特区政府的政制改革方案应该获得香港社会的支持。该报的社论写道："值得肯定的是，特区政府对今次政改咨 询的处理，明显比○五年有进步，主要表现在决心更大、诚意更深，也更具有政治智慧。当然，此次咨询如果能够成功，首先在于全国人大常委会○七年十二月二十 九日的'决定'给出了普选时间表，这就令到特区政府在修改二○一二两个产生办法时有了更明确的方向、有了更大的主动性和空间，也更有成功的把握。……因 此，对眼前咨询文件的发表，各方首先应做的第一件事，就是仔细阅读其内容、了解其建议，并仔细体会其中的良苦用心，而不是'闭目塞听'，一不合自己胃口就 嚷著要离场、'反枱'。这不是解决问题之道，更非负责任的做法。"
摘编： 李华 （香港特约记者）
责编： 石涛
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