One China policy is a hard sell for Hong Kong’s youth – China’s latest political and current affairs news

Prior to Xi Jinping’s visit to Hong Kong later this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain to China, a cacophony of rebellious voices has erupted among Hong Kong’s youth. The South China Morning Post reports that on June 26, several young members from radical pan-democratic groups, including famous student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung  黃之鋒, gathered in front of the Golden Bauhinia statue, a gift from the central government to mark the city’s 1997 transfer of sovereignty. Security guards tried to stop them, but the activists managed to swathe the iconic symbol of Hong Kong’s handover in black fabric, which, according to a statement released by the group, “symbolizes the hard-line rule of the authoritarian regime over the past 20 years.”

In addition, Reuters says that there is “scant love for China among Hong Kong youth.” Reporters interviewed 10 Hong Kongers born in 1997: All of them told Reuters that they primarily identify themselves as “Hong Kongers” and are more and more skeptical of the “one-country, two systems” formula because of the mainland’s tightening grip over the city’s autonomy, politics, and freedom of speech.

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