In 1984 China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration to settle the future of Hong Kong. The agreement was registered at the United Nations (nr. 23391). It stated that China’s basic policies regarding Hong Kong would “remain unchanged for 50 years”, including the promise that the city would retain a high degree of autonomy and that Hong Kong's legal and judicial system would remain unchanged for 50 years after 1st of July 1997, until 2047.

In 2017 Xi Jinping announced the Chinese Communist Party would take over: Hong Kong's democracy was in the way of China's expansive plans. 
In 2019 China criminalized Hong Kong's free minds.
In 2021 China jailed democracy, leaving all democratic seats in parliament empty.