1 Country, 2 Systems and 20 Years

At midnight on July 1, 1997, a red banner slowly rose over the banks of Victoria Harbor. Hong Kong was now back under China's authority after more than 150 years under British rule. Nearly 20 years later, the moment lives on in the minds of many. The transfer ceremony came to symbolize the official end of China's so-called "century of humiliation," which began with the Sino-British opium wars and put the country under the thumb of successive Western and Japanese imperial forces. Overnight, the freewheeling capitalist playground of Hong Kong came under the control of an emerging socialist superpower. The "One Country, Two Systems" agreement under which China promised to preserve Hong Kong's economic and cultural conventions was to be honored for 50 years, until 2047. Now, on the eve of the turnover's 20th anniversary, Hong Kong has reached a decisive moment in its relations with Beijing....