Beijing responds to Hong Kong's democratization movement: from bureaucratic control to political leadership.

The Basic Law interpretation and its subsequent rulings by Beijing in 2004 are perhaps the most important constitutional developments in posthandover Hong Kong. The interpretation, passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC)--nominally the highest legislative body in China--on April 6, 2004, is widely seen as a fatal blow to any hopes for democracy, both in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and on the mainland.

In an overt display of anxiety over the issue, the U.S. vice president, Dick Cheney, warned the Chinese leaders during his ...

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