Hong Kong on borrowed time as China pushes for more control

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In this Thursday, May 28, 2020, photo, a woman uses a smartphone on a ferry in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been living on borrowed time ever since the British made it a colony nearly 180 years ago, and all the more so after Beijing took control in 1997, granting it autonomous status. A national security law approved by China's legislature Thursday is a reminder that the city's special status is in the hands of Communist Party leaders who have spent decades building their own trade and financial centers to take Hong Kong's place. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

hong-kong-china-borrowed-time

BANGKOK (AP) — Hong Kong has been living on borrowed time ever since the British made it a colony nearly 180 years ago. That became especially true after Beijing took control in 1997. China’s passage of a national security law for the city is the latest sign that the 50-year “one country, two systems” arrangement that allowed Hong Kong to keep its own legal, financial and trade regimes is perishable. China’s communist leaders have been preparing for decades to take full control of the glittering capitalist oasis. For them, national security and patriotism trump the civil liberties that brought millions of Hong Kong residents to the streets last year, voicing their own vision of their future.