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A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk6piːt6 hɐŋ4tsɪŋ3kʰɵy1/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeūi) is a political subdivision of the People's Republic of China. The PRC at present has two SARs, Hong Kong and Macau; each has a Chief Executive as head of government.
Current situation
Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China authorizes the National People's Congress to create special administrative regions and to create a Basic Law which provides those regions with a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system and a capitalist economy under the principle of "One country, two systems" proposed by Deng Xiaoping.
Currently, the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for all issues except diplomatic relations and national defense: consequently, they have their own judiciaries and courts of final appeal, immigration policies, currencies and extradition processes. Hong Kong remains using common law, whereas Macau remains using Portuguese legal system.
Both the SARs each has their own passports, which requires 7 years of residence in the SAR, and therefore citizenships are differentiated from Chinese citizens in the mainland (that is, there exist three types of citizenships in the PRC).
Historical arrangement for Hainan
Historically, in the Republic of China political division which was in force from 1944 to 1949 (before the communist takeover), Hainan was administered as the 'Hainan Special Administrative Region', and was prepared to be upgraded as a province.
Offer to Taiwan
The PRC has offered Taiwan a similar status to that of an SAR if it accepts mainland rule; however the Republic of China government refuses to accept the offer, and most polls indicate that only around 10% of the Taiwanese electorate support it. Unlike Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan would be able to retain its own armed forces as an SAR.
Note
This is not to be confused with "Special Economic Zone", which is a economic and taxation arrangement for certain areas in the mainland.
See also
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