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proposed anti-subversion laws. The following year 200,000 marched and established the tra-
dition of annual 'July 1st marches', calling for more democracy and voting re-
forms.Although Beijing has said the earliest possible date for direct elections for chief exec-
utive is 2017, and for Legislative Council - 2020, the 'pace of democracy' remains an issue.
In 2013 Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong,
launched a civil disobedience campaign and started the Occupy Central with Love and
Peace movement to pressure Beijing and the SAR administration to introduce universal suf-
frage. The same year Hong Kong made international headlines as it offered a temporary
refuge for the NSA whisleblower Edward Snowden.
Despite these political issues, Hong Kong today is undeniably optimistic. Analysts say
'three flows from China' are now driving Hong Kong's economy - goods, visitors and cap-
ital. In 2010 the move back to Hong Kong from London of HSBC's CEO was seen as highly
symbolic of the shift in the world's economic centre of gravity to China.
