Hong Kong di Wîneyan de: 1997 - 2017

The Chinese flag is raised by People's Liberation Army soldiers to signal Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty after 156 years of British rule, in Hong Kong, July 1, 1997. 

A small investor watches share prices inside a bank in Hong Kong, Dec. 1, 1998. Hong Kong surprised markets with a $15 billion intervention in August 2008, saving the city in the crisis.

A mourner wears a mask to ward off the SARS virus while attending a funeral in Hong Kong, May 22, 2003. Hong Kong was the hardest hit by the flulike SARS virus when the WHO declared a pandemic in March 2003. Tse Yuen-man, a 35-year-old doctor, received highest honors at her funeral.

Activists fight to save the Queen's Pier in Hong Kong's financial district, Aug. 1, 2007. The colonial-era pier became a civic battleground in 2007. The government wanted it removed for reclamation and roadworks, angering activists fighting to save a historic site.

Kong Siu-kau waits for dinner in Hong Kong's Tai Kok Tsui district, July 16, 2008. As soaring property prices forced rents higher, thousands of Hong Kong residents moved into "cage homes," 15-square-foot wire mesh cubicles usually crammed eight in a room.

Activists hold a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong's Victoria Park, June 4, 2009, to mark the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. 

A protester raises his umbrellas after riot police fire tear gas to disperse protesters in Hong Kong, Sept. 28, 2014. Large-scale protests calling for a fully democratic vote to choose Hong Kong's next leader. Umbrellas became the symbol of the campaign.

Hong Kong fans hold banners which read "Hong Kong is not China," during the 2018 World Cup qualifying match between Hong Kong and China, in Hong Kong, Nov. 17, 2015. Fans booed the playing of the Chinese national anthem during the match.

An unidentified injured man is escorted by riot police at Mong Kok in Hong Kong, Feb. 9, 2016. Authorities tried to move illegal street vendors from a working-class Hong Kong district, the worst street clashes since pro-democracy protests in late 2014.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after she swore an oath of office on the 20th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, China, July 1, 2017.