Zhang Dejiang's Macau visit serves as a means of explaining to everyone else exactly what is at stake and why Hong Kong has grown increasingly determined to resist Beijing’s idealized assumptions about what 'one country, two systems' is supposed to mean.

Hong Kong’s last British governor, Christopher Patten, recently told a Washington, D.C. audience that Hong Kong had not been given what it thought it had been promised by Beijing when Hong Kong was transferred from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

The three most feared of all future prospects: Hong Kong’s evolving relationship with the mainland; Beijing’s conflation of national and political security; and Beijing’s habit of issuing interpretations that Hong Kong courts now accept they are bound to obey.

Suzanne Pepper takes stock of the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong.

Real elections, the kind those fractious oppositionist elements are demanding, create nothing but trouble: social strife, polarization and worst of all uncertainty.

Beijing must feel Carrie Lam is their best hope for reducing tensions and getting the job done as they proceed with all their cross-border interventions.

Is Beijing's patience running thin on its stalemate with Hong Kong’s democracy movement?

It is a new year and the fight goes on in Hong Kong, writes Suzanne Pepper.

Will the candidates try to convince Beijing of the need to re-think its one-size-fits-all 'mainland' political mindset in dealing with Hong Kong?

'If self-determination is the same as independence, and Legislative Councilors are going to be punished for violating the terms of their oaths of allegiance to China because they are exploring the possibilities for self-determination, then the current oath-taking saga marks the beginning of the end of Hong Kong as we know it.'

A Hong Kong court has today disqualified the two lawmakers who used their oath-taking to criticize China. However, Beijing’s interpretation of oath-taking last week will have major implications that range far beyond the simple matter of swearing in, writes Suzanne Pepper.

Taking stock of Hong Kong's swearing-in storm.

Hong Kong's 'lost' right to self-determination lies at the heart of the localist argument.

Will Beijing modify its head-in-the-sand approach to the challenges it now faces in Hong Kong?

An analysis of Hong Kong before, during, and after the city's recent elections.

For all the anxiety over a possible post-Occupy pro-independence radical surge on Sept. 4, preliminary polling suggests there may be only minimal change in the Legislative Council’s balance of political forces once the dust settles. Suddenly, tactical voting doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.

'Now that the independence argument is being so clearly articulated in Hong Kong, Beijing can’t pretend anymore that it doesn’t understand what people here are talking about.'

The principle of official political vetting has now been applied in Hong Kong over the issue of independence.