Paradiplomacy and its Constraints in a Quasi-Federal System – A Case Study of Hong Kong SAR and its Implications to Chinese Foreign Policy Wai-shun Wilson CHAN (
[email protected]) Introduction Thank for the Umbrella Movement in 2014, Hong Kong has once again become the focal point of international media. Apart from focusing the tensions among the government, the pro-Beijing camp and the protestors about the pathway and the pace for local democratization, some media reports have linked the movement with the Tiananmen Incident, and serves as a testing case whether “One Country, Two Systems” could be uphold under the new Chinese leadership.1 While most of the academics in Hong Kong tend to evaluate the proposition from changes in domestic politics and the freedom and rights enjoyed by the society, little evaluation is conducted from the perspective of the autonomy enjoyed by Hong Kong in international arena. In fact, both the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the subsequent Basic Law have defined the scope of Hong Kong’s autonomy in conducting external relations ‘with states, regions and relevant international organizations’. It is therefore tempted to suggest that the external autonomy enjoyed by Hong Kong SAR Government serves as the other pillar of “One Country, Two Systems”, giving an unique identity of Hong Kong in global politics which may be different from that possessed by mainland China. Though officially “One Country, Two Systems” practiced in Hong Kong (and Macao) is not recognized by Beijing as a federal arrangement between the Central People’s Government and Hong Kong SAR Government, the internal and external autonomy stipulated in the Basic Law gives Hong Kong similar, to some extent even more, power as a typical federated unit.