One country, two systems. Beijing's promise to Hong Kong has the virtue of simplicity. In the West it conjures up the notion of a tiny island of advanced civilization lodging precariously inside a primitive, monolithic communist mainland. In China, though, it's a glaring understatement. Two systems? China today has dozens of political and economic experiments jostling one another, all progressing in different directions at different speeds. One country? China is many countries already. Hong Kong will be just one more participant in an unfinished revolution.
The People's Republic is still a police state with one firm red line: Thou shalt not...
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