Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

The day is customarily marked by an officially organised extravagant fireworks display in the evening, and is also the platform for political rallies demanding universal suffrage.

It has become the annual platform for demanding universal suffrage, calling for observance and preservation civil liberties such as free speech, venting dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong Government or the chief executive, rallying against actions of the Pro-Beijing camp.

However, it was only in 2003 when it drew large public attention by opposing the bill to enact the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23.

Article 23 enactment was "temporarily suspended"[2] Since 2020, when the Hong Kong National Security Law was promulgated, there have been no further protest marches.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed by the Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom governments on 19 December 1984 in Beijing.

It was an internationally televised event with the ceremony commencing on the night of 30 June 1997 and finishing on 1 July 1997 at the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai.