This article analyses the experience of “One Country, Two Systems” to flesh out a continuous and divisible understanding of sovereignty. A binary and exclusive concept of sovereignty is too contingent on statehood to describe an international system marked by divided authority. Hong Kong, as a sub-state that legally lacks sovereignty yet has high levels of autonomy and authority over its population, is a unique opportunity to help create a new, more flexible organizing principle for the international system.
The article focuses on “tests”: instances where Hong Kong’s political process and local authority came into conflict with external factors, be they Chinese objectives or engagement with the international system. The tests fall into three categories, which could be seen as the most salient elements of authority: the ability to enforce legislation inside a defined jurisdiction (i.e. territoriality); the ability to define problems, priorities and solutions (i.e. policy autonomy); and the ability to engage with the international system (i.e. foreign engagement and diplomatic recognition). These tests help determine what elements of Hong Kong’s autonomy (and, by extension, any instance of high, but not complete, autonomy in a sub-state) are the most politically salient.
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.content}}
References
Anghie, Antony. Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print.
Article 23 Concern Group. Why the Blue Bill is not Good Enough. Hong Kong: Article 23 Concern Group. 2003. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Barkin, J. Samuel, and Bruce Cronin, “The State and the Nation: Changing Norms and the Rules of Sovereignty in International Relations.” International Organization 48.1 (Winter 1994): 107–30. Print.
Bartmann, Barry. “Political Realities and Legal Anomalies,” in De Facto States: The Quest for Sovereignty. Ed. by Tozun Bahcheli, Barry Bartmann and Henry Srebrnik. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Brierly, J. L. The Law of Nations. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963. Print.
Calica, Aurea. “Hong Kong’s Tsang Disappointed over Government’s Hostage Probe.” The Philippine Star. 14 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Cheung, Tony, et al. “Hong Kong Government Sticks to Rigid Beijing Framework in 2017 Election Proposal.” South China Morning Post. 22 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 May 2017.
Cheung, Simpson. “Leung to Press Demands to Aquino at Apec Summit.” South China Morning Post. 25 Aug. 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Clayton, Cathryn. Sovereignty at the Edge: Macau and the Question of Chineseness. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print.
Hinsley, F. H. Sovereignty. London: C.A. Watts, 1966. Print.
Hong Kong Government Information Center. “2010-11 Policy Address by Chief Executive.” 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2017.
———. “Government Reaffirms its Strict Enforcement of the ‘Zero Quota’ Policy.”28 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
———. “HKSAR Government Issues Statement on Edward Snowden.” 23 June 2013. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Jackson, Robert H. Quasi-States: Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Third World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print.
Kao, Ernest, Raymond Yeung, and Kang-chung Ng. “One Station, Two Systems: How Joint Checkpoint Will Work for Hong Kong–Mainland China Highspeed Rail Line.” South China Morning Post. 26 July 2017. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Krasner, Stephen. “Organized Hypocrisy in Nineteenth-Century East Asia.”International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 1.2 (2001): 173–97. Print.
———. Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. Print.
Lake, David A. “The New Sovereignty in International Relations.” International Studies Review 5.3 (Sep. 2003): 303–23. Print.
Lam, Lana. “Black Alert is More than Just a Travel Warning.” South China Morning Post. 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
———. “Edward Snowden: US Government Has Been Hacking Hong Kong and China for Years.” South China Morning Post. 13 June 2013. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Lee, Ada. “Hong Kong Cancels Visa-free Privileges for Philippine Officials and Diplomats.” South China Morning Post. 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Ngo, Jennifer. “HK-based Journalists from Mainland Label National Education ‘Brainwashing’.” South China Morning Post. 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Nip, Amy. “Government Goes for Faster Formula to Tighten Control of Milk Powder.” South China Morning Post. 2 Feb. 2013. Web. 30 May 2017.
No Kwai-Yan. “Concern for Judicial System after Mainland Experts Say Migrants Verdict Challenges NPC.” South China Morning Post. 8 Feb. 1999. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Ong, Aihwa. Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006. Print.
Robles, Raissa, and Fanny Fung. “Tsang’s Phone Calls Stopped with Aquino’s Aides.” South China Morning Post. 26 Aug. 2010. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
———, and Irene Jay Liu. “Aquino Takes Aim at Tsang’s Letter.” South China Morning Post. 10 Sep. 2010. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Wendt, Alexander. “Anarchy is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics.” International Organization 46.2 (Spring 1992): 391–425. Print.
Yeung, Linda. “Schools Say No to Class Control.” South China Morning Post. 23 July 2012. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
Zhai, Keith. “Beijing Made Decision on Edward Snowden Leaving Hong Kong, Say Analysts.” South China Morning Post. 29 June 2013. Web. 30 Sep. 2017.
PDF(1153 KB)
