'The ongoing protests can be traced back to March when thousands marched against a proposed bill that would allow Hong Kong to extradite people to mainland China. Although the former British colony has been part of the country since 1997, it's designated as a Chinese "special administrative region" and has been allowed a degree of autonomy in legal and financial matters. That arrangement has been known as "one country, two systems" and it guides Hong Kong's constitutionally enshrined mandate that the city will maintain its "previous capitalist system" for 50 years after it officially rejoined China.
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<blockquote>"The world is watching and wondering: If a government cannot respect the basic rights of people it claims as its own citizens, why on Earth would it be trusted to respect the rights and interests of its neighbors, its trading partners, or the companies that invest in its economy?"
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell</blockquote>
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Source, August 13, 2019
Context'..China’s disinformation network..'