ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the dynamic relationships between as well as the institutional designs of the executive and the legislature in the post-1997 Hong Kong. It also examines the institutional arrangements in terms of their capacity for conflict resolution and management. It is easy to detect the "drastic" institutional changes that have been laid down in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. In the Sino-British Joint Declaration period, the formal players were highly restricted to the Chinese and the British government. The Chinese side had reiterated that they opposed the ideas of "three-legged stool" for the then negotiations were held between sovereign states and there was no room for the government and people of Hong Kong to play. From the beginning, China was the single most powerful force in controlling access to the drafting of the Basic Law and its views on the design of the future political framework therefore became the dominant one.