Legal Reactions to the Occupy Movement and their Impact on Hong Kong's Autonomy (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Chinese / China, grade: 1,7, University of Cologne (Ostasiatisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: In this master thesis, we will present the different legal responses that have been made in reaction to the Occupy movement in the form of lawsuits, Basic Law Interpretation, and new legislation. These reactions to the Occupy movement are an opportunity for us to measure the degree of autonomy that the PRC is ready to give to the HKSAR and its level of involvement in certain issues. Similarly, such a sensitive matter concerning Chinese sovereignty as well as the politics of democracy make it a very lively and up-to-date debate.

First, we will present Hong Kong's history before and after the handover. Second, we will lay out its autonomous status as a Special Administrative Region of the PCR, the foundation principle of the "One country, two systems" and the differences between Mainland and Hong Kong legal systems. Third, the Occupy movement, its background, and purpose will be explained. Fourth, the legal reactions to the Occupy movement will be listed and analyzed and finally, they will be put into legal perspective in order to find out if these reactions actually represent a threat to the HKSAR's autonomy.

The objective of this paper is to determinate if the legal interference of the PRC has an effective influence on the autonomy of the HKSAR and if so, how this influence is visible through legal reactions over the Occupy movement.