But the Chinese government warned against any promotion of independence, threatening

to impose punishment.

Today, animosity between Mainland Chinese citizens and Hong Kong citizens has led to

outright violence and protests.

So we wanted to know, what exactly is the nature of this unique and complicated relationship?

Well, The officially named Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic

of China is not an independent country, but modern day Hong Kong was actually born out

the fall of the British Empire.

From about the mid-1800s Hong Kong was a British occupied colony, stemming from the spoils

of the Treaty of Nanking after the First Opium War.

But in 1997, following years of Sino-British negotiations, the British left Hong Kong,

ceding it to China, but under a new form of autonomy called “one country, two systems”.

Essentially, this was a compromise between Hong Kong wanting to be fully autonomous and

sovereign, and China wanting to exert control of the neighboring territory.

Although the two are indeed one country - The People’s Republic of China - Hong Kong is

relatively autonomous.

It has its own government, with independent executive, judicial, and legislative branches,

and pretty much everything else a sovereign country could have: a legal system, law enforcement,

immigration policy, even its own currency - the Hong Kong dollar, also called a “Hongky”.

But the autonomous region is wholly dependent on China for its military, which has a specific

Hong Kong military division, and in return, Hong Kong cedes a level of control to the

Chinese government.

This relatively vague level of control has been uneasy for many Hong Kong residents,

who are culturally and politically separate from Mainland China, and the two groups have

repeatedly clashed over their differences.

A 2014 survey found that more than three times the number of residents considered themselves

to be purely Hongkongers, as opposed to purely Chinese.

A growing stereotype against people from Mainland China is that they are rude or impolite, while

those from the Mainland see Hong Kong residents as spoiled and ungrateful.

Many in Hong Kong believe that the Mainland has undue influence within the region.

One example led to widespread protests in 2014, when China’s Communist Party attempted

to implement reforms that would effectively pre-screen candidates in Hong Kong’s elections.

As many as 100,000 protesters marched in the streets of Hong Kong, and the reforms were

eventually rejected the following year.

A poll from 2016 found that roughly 17% of Hongkongers support independence by 2050,

although among those aged 15-24, roughly 40% supported independence.

Mainland China and Hong Kong have different histories, cultures, and demographics, yet

they also hold strong trade and travel relationships.

This crossover has been ripe for cultural clashes, but the real distaste between the

two is political.

What each side owes the other, and how much control China seeks to exert on Hong Kong

are delicate issues with no clear answers.

As they struggle to find a middle ground, there is no question that more disagreements

and protests hang on the horizon.

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