Special Administrative Region

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Categories: Hong Kong law | Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China | Special territories | Hong Kong | Macau | Politics of Macau | Politics of Hong Kong | Law of the People's Republic of China

This article deals with the Special Administrative Regions set up by the People's Republic of China. For the historic special administrative region set up by the Republic of China when it administered the mainland, view this article. Not to be confused with Special Economic Zone.
For the administrative division of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, go here.
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A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk6piːt6 hɐŋ4tsɪŋ3kʰɵy1/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeūi) is a political subdivision of the People's Republic of China. The PRC at present has two SARs, Hong Kong and Macau; each has a Chief Executive as head of government.

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Current situation

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Background

Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China authorizes the National People's Congress to create special administrative regions and to create a Basic Law which provides those regions with a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system and a capitalist economy under the principle of "one country, two systems" proposed by Deng Xiaoping.

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High degree of autonomy

Currently, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for all issues except acts of state like diplomatic relations and national defence: consequently, they have their own judiciaries and courts of final appeal, immigration policies, currencies and extradition processes. The pre-existing legal systems, namely common law in Hong Kong and Portuguese law in Macau, are preserved except consequential to establishment of courts of final appeal.

With listed exceptions, national laws applying in the mainland do not apply in an SAR. These listed exceptions must involve diplomacy, national defence or something beyond the scope of the SAR's autonomy.

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Suffrage in the National People's Congress

Like other administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Macau are represented in the National People's Congress, although suffrage is not well-defined and is not open to the general public. Interestingly their representation is not prescribed in the constitution of the PRC, unlike provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the military do.

Before they became Special Administrative Regions, they had representation in the NPC through Guangdong Province, but had no representation to the legislature of the United Kingdom and Portugal. (Macau residents who are holders of Portuguese passports can vote in Portugal.)

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External affairs

Special Administrative Regions are empowered to contract a wide range of agreements with other countries and territories such as mutual abolition of visa requirement, mutual legal aid, extradition, handling of double taxation and others. In diplomatic talks involving an SAR, the SAR concerned may send officials to be part of the delegation.

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Defence and military

The People's Liberation Army is garrisoned in both the SARs. The garrison and its members must obey all SAR laws as well as national laws applicable to them. They do not participate in the governance of the SAR but the SAR may send for them in times of emergency such as natural disasters. According to the basic laws, defence is the responsibility of the Central People's Government. There is no law providing for enrolment of Hong Kong and Macau residents in the forces during ordinary times, and no Hong Kong and Macau residents are currently enroled.

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Immigration and nationality

Each of the SARs issue passports on its own, only to its permanent residents who are concurrently nationals of the PRC, that is, PRC nationals satisfying one of the following conditions:

  • born in the SAR;
  • born anywhere while either parent was a permanent resident of the SAR;
  • resided continuously for seven or more years in the SAR.

Apart from affording the holder consular protection by the People's Republic of China, these passports also specify that the holder has right of abode in the issuing SAR.

The National People's Congress has also put each SAR in charge of administering the PRC's Nationality Law in its respective realms, namely naturalisation, renunciation and restoration of PRC nationality and issuance of proof of nationality.

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Offer to Taiwan

The PRC has offered Taiwan a similar status to that of a SAR if it accepts PRC sovereignty; however the Republic of China government refuses to accept the offer, and most polls indicate that only around 10 per cent of the electorate on the island support it. Unlike Hong Kong and Macau, the proposed Taiwan SAR would keep its own armed forces rather than receive a garrison. The promise of a high-degree of autonomy, as afforded to Hong Kong and Macau, among other things, is enshrined in the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China enacted in 2005.

Proposal for Taiwan as a SAR: [1]

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See also

fr:Région administrative spéciale he:אזור_מנהלי_מיוחד id:Daerah Administratif Khusus nl:Speciale Administratieve Regio ja:特別行政区 zh:特别行政区