Hong Kong is celebrating 20 years of liberation from colonial rule, but societal problems that led to unrest in the 1960s are still very much in focus
Article 39 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law states that the people have the right to self-determination under the two international human rights conventions. Citizens of Hong Kong cannot take their rights for granted. The threshold for referendum proposals in Switzerland is 50,000 signatures, allowing people to express their opinions through the ballot box and not in the streets. The people have the right to hold a referendum on any public issues. Otherwise, when a dictatorship becomes reality, they will be obliged to resist. See the Charter for Permanent Peace and Development.