Pro-Beijing camp (Hong Kong)
The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) towards Hong Kong. The term "pro-establishment camp" is regularly in use to label the broader segment of the Hong Kong political arena which has the closer relationship with the establishment, namely the governments of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It is labeled the "Patriotic Front" by pro-Beijing media and "loyalists" by the rival pro-democracy camp. The pro-Beijing camp evolved from Hong Kong's pro-CCP faction, often called "leftists", which acted under the direction of the CCP. It launched the 1967 Hong Kong riots against British colonial rule in Hong Kong and had a long rivalry with the pro-Kuomintang bloc. After the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, affirming Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong from 1997, the traditional leftists realigned itself and unofficially formed a loose "United Front" with the conservative pro-business elites to counter the emergence of the pro-democracy camp in the 1990s and ensure a smooth transition of the Hong Kong sovereignty in Beijing's interest. Since the handover in 1997, the pro-Beijing camp has become the major supporting force of the Hong Kong government and maintained control of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), having the advantage of indirectly elected functional constituencies. Going into the 2010s, the pro-Beijing camp underwent a period of diversification in which different parties emerged and targeted different voters which resulted in steady increases of the support. With various positions on specific issues, the camp generally embraces conservative values politically, socially and economically, and Chinese nationalistic and patriotic sentiments. However, the unpopular SAR administrations and opposition to Beijing's policies toward Hong Kong have also caused the camp major losses in the 2003 and 2019 elections. Names The term "pro-Beijing camp" refers to the political alignment which supports the policies of the Beijing, where the seat of the Government of the People's Republic of China is. Therefore, "pro-Beijing camp" is sometimes referred to as "pro-China camp". The faction in the pro-Beijing camp which evolved from the "traditional leftists" was also known as the "pro-communists" (), while the business elites and professionals who were appointed by the colonial government before 1997 were called the "pro-government camp". In the 1990s when the traditional leftists and business elites unofficially formed the loose "United Front" towards the handover in 1997, "pro-Beijing camp" has become a broader term for the whole segment. The term "pro-government camp" has also been used to describe the same segment which support the SAR government. During the unpopular administration of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, the hardcore pro-government parties, mainly the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), were labelled "loyalists" by the pro-democracy camp. In recent years, a more neutral term "pro-establishment camp" is regularly in use, especially in Chinese media. Ideology The pro-Beijing camp members are united by the