Surgery in the "new" Hong Kong

The sovereignty of Hong Kong was handed over to the People's Republic of China by the United Kingdom on July 1, 1997, after almost 150 years of British rule. Hong Kong became a special administrative region (Hong Kong SAR) of China, maintaining its own legal structure governed by law based on the principle of "1 country 2 systems." The basic law continues to recognize the autonomy of medicine and other professions and of professional organizations to monitor standards and accredit qualifications as they did in the past. At the political level, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong SAR has a medical representative who is elected by the medical profession.