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C H A P T E R T W O REPRESENTATION AN D DEMOCRATIZATION As฀Chapte r฀On e฀ha s฀demonstrated,฀Hon g฀Kon g฀wa s฀founde d฀a s฀a฀Crow n฀ Colony฀with฀a฀political฀system฀that฀was฀authoritarian฀rather฀than฀democratic.฀ Established฀primarily฀a s฀a฀trading฀post฀and฀a฀naval฀station,฀Hong฀Kon g฀was฀ not฀intended฀by฀its฀founding฀fathers฀to฀develop฀into฀a฀miniature฀of฀democratic฀ Britain,฀the฀metropolitan฀country.฀However,฀this฀was฀not฀on฀its฀own฀sufficien t฀ to฀preven t฀Hon g฀Kon g฀fro m฀developin g฀democrac y฀i f฀thi s฀ha d฀bee n฀th e฀ wish฀o f฀a ฀majorit y฀o f฀it s฀people .฀T o฀pu t฀thi s฀i n฀perspective ,฀on e฀mus t฀ understand฀th e฀histor y฀o f฀th e฀evolution฀o f฀th e฀moder n฀Britis h฀Empir e฀int o฀ the฀Commonwealth .฀ Starting฀i n฀th e฀nineteent h฀century ,฀variou s฀Britis h฀colonie s฀developed ,฀ representative฀governmen t฀with฀th e฀blessings฀of฀Britain .฀This฀trend฀wa s฀se t฀ by฀the฀settlement฀colonies฀in฀British฀North฀America฀(Canada)฀and฀Australia.฀ They฀first฀introduced฀elective฀elements฀into฀their฀colonial฀legislatures .฀Onc e฀ elected฀member s฀i n฀a฀colonial฀legislatur e฀achieve d฀a ฀majority฀the y฀woul d฀ be฀allowe d฀t o฀for m฀a ฀responsibl e฀governmen t฀wit h฀certai n฀power s฀—฀ particularly฀ove r฀defence฀and฀foreign฀polic y฀—฀stil l฀reserve d฀to฀the฀Crown.฀ The฀grantin g฀o f฀dominio n฀statu s฀t o฀th e฀self-governin g฀part s฀o f฀th e฀Britis h฀ Empire฀(Australia,฀Canada,฀South฀Africa฀and฀Ne w฀Zealand )฀i n฀the฀Imperia l฀ Conference฀of฀1907฀was฀an฀important฀landmark฀in฀this฀evolution.฀The฀exact฀ meaning฀o f฀bein g฀a ฀dominio n฀was ,฀however ,฀no t฀define d฀unti l฀192 6฀b y฀ Arthur฀Balfour,฀and฀was฀not฀formally฀adopted฀until฀the฀Statute฀of฀Westminster฀ was฀passe d฀i n฀1931 .฀Dominion s฀ha d฀b y฀the n฀becom e฀'autonomou s฀ communities฀within฀the฀British฀Empire,฀equal฀in฀status,฀in฀no฀way฀subordinat e฀ to฀on e฀anothe r฀i n฀an y฀aspec t฀of฀thei r฀domesti c฀o r฀externa l฀affairs ,฀thoug h฀ united฀b y฀a ฀commo n฀allegianc e฀t o฀th e฀Crow n฀an d฀freel y฀associate d฀a s฀ members฀of฀the฀British฀Commonwealth฀of฀Nations'.1 ฀This฀change,฀still฀limite d฀ only฀t o฀th e฀former฀settlemen t฀colonies,฀was฀a n฀importan t฀reflectio n฀o f฀th e฀ 58฀ Government฀and฀Politics฀ empire's฀flexibilit y฀t o฀adjus t฀t o฀th e฀changin g฀world .฀After฀th e฀en d฀o f฀th e฀ Second฀Worl d฀War ,฀Indi a฀an d฀Pakista n฀becam e฀th e฀firs t฀Britis h฀imperia l฀ possessions฀(as฀distinct฀from฀settlement฀colonies)฀to฀achieve฀dominion฀status,฀ and฀then฀ful l฀independenc e฀wit h฀a ฀democratic฀syste m฀of฀government.฀Th e฀ door฀wa s฀thus฀opened฀for฀non-settlemen t฀colonie s฀to฀follow฀suit ,฀and฀mos t฀ of฀Britain' s฀colonie s฀woul d฀d o฀s o฀later .฀Admittedly฀man y฀colonie s฀whic h฀ achieved฀independence฀after฀1945฀have฀since฀failed฀to฀maintain฀a฀democratic฀ system฀of฀government .฀However ,฀i t฀remains฀true฀that฀since฀194 5฀Britain ,฀as฀ the฀metropolita n฀power ,฀ha s฀generall y฀bee n฀encouragin g฀t o฀thos e฀o f฀it s฀ colonies฀which฀wante d฀to฀develop฀democracy.฀I n฀the฀context฀of฀the฀Britis h฀ Empire-Commonwealth,฀the฀process฀of฀a฀colony฀growing฀either฀directly,฀or฀ indirectly฀a s฀in฀the฀olden฀days฀through฀the฀stag e฀of฀being฀a฀dominion,฀int o฀ an฀independen t฀stat e฀is฀known฀a s฀decolonization.฀ If฀Hong฀Kon g฀could฀hav e฀become฀independent ,฀i t฀could฀an d฀probabl y฀ would฀hav e฀followed฀thi s฀pat h฀a s฀well.฀Th e฀realit y฀is ,฀however,฀tha t฀Hon g฀ Kong฀will฀hav e฀to฀b e฀retroceded฀to฀China฀regardles s฀of฀the฀publi c฀opinio n฀ in฀th e฀territory .฀Th e฀PR C฀would฀no t฀contemplat e฀a n฀alternativ e฀t o฀Hon g฀ Kong฀being฀incorporate d฀b y฀i t฀when฀i t฀should฀cease฀to฀be...

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