Hong Kong–Mainland conflict

Tensions between people from Hong Kong and mainland China have developed since the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China in 1997, and in particular since the late 2000s and early 2010s. Various factors have contributed to the development of such tensions: these include a difference between the popular interpretation in Hong Kong of the "One country, two systems" constitutional principle as against the Chinese government's official interpretation; policies of the Hong Kong and central governments to encourage mainland visitors to Hong Kong; and changing economic environments in Hong Kong and mainland China. Increasingly, these tensions have resulted in a rising sentiment in Hong Kong of hostility to "mainlanders" and resentment at a perceived trend towards assimilation and interference from the mainland and the central government, and at the same time a rising sentiment in mainland China of bewilderment and resentment at assertions that Hong Kong is, and should remain, different from the mainland in terms of political system, culture and language.

The sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The terms agreed between the governments for the transfer included a series of guarantees for the maintenance of Hong Kong's differing economic, political and legal systems after the transfer, and the further development of Hong Kong's political system with a goal of democratic government. These guarantees were set out in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and enshrined in the semi-constitutional Basic Law of Hong Kong. Initially, many Hong Kongers were enthusiastic about Hong Kong's return to China. However, tension has arisen between Hong Kong residents and the mainland, and in particular the central government, since 1997, and especially in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The Hong Kong government has implemented some controversial policies, for instance, the Individual Visit Scheme and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. China (2011) argues that since the Hong Kong government failed to force through the legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, Beijing's relatively hands-off approach to Hong Kong changed dramatically. The PRC's strategy became aimed at trying to dissolve the city-state boundary of Hong Kong in the name of economic rejuvenation and ostensibly to strengthen socio-economic ties with the mainland. The central government has adopted increasingly strong rhetoric perceived to be attacking Hong Kong's political and legal systems, such as releasing a report in 2014 that asserts that Hong Kong's judiciary should be subordinate to, and not independent of, the government. The Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration guarantee the development of Hong Kong's electoral system towards universal suffrage, but the electoral system offered to Hong Kong by the central government in 2014-2015 was widely perceived as falling short of genuinely democratic.

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