liday: National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the
People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 1 July 1997 is
celebrated as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day

Constitution: Basic Law approved in March 1990 by China's National
People's Congress is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent
residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven
years; indirect election limited to about 100,000 members of functional
constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad
regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies

Executive branch: chief of state: President of China JIANG Zemin (since
27 March 1993) head
Chief Executive TUNG Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997) cabinet: members;
ex-officio members are: Chief Secretary Donald TSANG Yam-kuen
(since 1 May 2001), Financial Secretary Antony LEUNG (since 1 May 2001),
and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since 1 July 1997) elections: NA

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60
seats; 30 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 24 elected
by popular vote, and 6 elected by an 800-member election committee;
members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 10 September 2000
(next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote by party -
NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 12, Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment of Hong Kong 10, Liberal Party 7, Frontier Party 5, Hong Kong
Progressive Alliance 4, New Century Forum 2, Hong Kong Association for
Democracy and People's Livelihood 1, independents 19

Judicial branch: The Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region

Political parties and leaders: Association for Democracy and People's
Livelihood [Frederick FUNG Kin-kee, chairman]; Citizens Party [Alex
CHAN Kai-chung]; Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong
[Jasper TSANG Yok-sing, chairman]; Democratic Party [Martin LEE Chu-ming,
chairman]; Frontier Party [Emily LAU Wai-hing, chairwoman]; Hong Kong
Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood [leader NA]; Hong Kong
Progressive Alliance [Ambrose LAU Hon-chuen]; Liberal Party [James TIEN
Pei-chun, chairman]; New Century Forum [NQ Ching-fai, chairman] note:
political blocs include: pro-democracy - Association for Democracy and
People's Livelihood, Citiz