Special Administrative Regions
Although mainland China is currently far away from a full-fledged civil democracy, Hong Kong and Macau as Special Administrative Regions do have some essences of liberal democracy.
As European colonies, both were denied democratic governments until very late in the colonial period. Hong Kong got its first elections in the 1980s and Macau in the 1990s. Both Hong Kong and Macau have legislatures; 30 of Hong Kong's 60 legislators are directly elected, as are 12 of Macao's 29. Also, like grassroots elections in China, Hong Kong does hold elections for the district counsel, which act as consultants to the government.
Read more about this topic: Democracy In China
Famous quotes containing the words special and/or regions:
“The very best reason parents are so special . . . is because we are the holders of a priceless gift, a gift we received from countless generations we never knew, a gift that only we now possess and only we can give to our children. That unique gift, of course, is the gift of ourselves. Whatever we can do to give that gift, and to help others receive it, is worth the challenge of all our human endeavor.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)
“What is a television apparatus to man, who has only to shut his eyes to see the most inaccessible regions of the seen and the never seen, who has only to imagine in order to pierce through walls and cause all the planetary Baghdads of his dreams to rise from the dust.”
—Salvador Dali (1904–1989)