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( One country, two systems)
"One country, two systems" is an idea originally proposed by Deng Xiaoping during the early 1980s, then Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC), for the reunification of China. He suggested that there will be only one China, but areas such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan can have their own capitalist economic and political systems, while the rest of China uses the "socialist" system. Under the suggestion, Taiwan can continue to have its own political system, legal, military, economic and financial affairs, including commercial and cultural agreements with foreign countries, and will enjoy "certain rights" in foreign affairs.[1] In 1984, Deng Xiaoping proposed to apply the principle to Hong Kong in the negotiation with the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher over the future of Hong Kong when the lease of the New Territories (including New Kowloon) of Hong Kong to the United Kingdom was to expire in 1997. The same principle was proposed in the talks with Portugal over Macau. The principle is that upon reunification, despite the practice of "socialism" in mainland China, both Hong Kong and Macau which were colonies of the UK and Portugal respectively, can retain their established system under a high degree of autonomy for at least fifty years after reunification to a very large extent. What will happen after 2047 and 2049 (50 years after the return of Hong Kong and Macao, respectively) has never been stated in any public documents. The establishment of these regions, called special administrative regions (SARs), is authorized by Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, which states that the State may establish SARs when necessary, and that the systems to be instituted in them shall be prescribed by law enacted by the National People's Congress in light of the specific conditions.
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