Hong Kong

Hong Kong (香港; "Fragrant Harbour"), officially Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the southern coast of China at the Pearl River Estuary and the South China Sea. Hong Kong is known for its skyline and deep natural harbour. It has a land area of 1104 km² and shares its northern border with Guangdong Province of Mainland China. With around 7.2 million inhabitants of various nationalities, Hong Kong is one of the world's most densely populated metropolises.

After the First Opium War (1839–42), Hong Kong became a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong remained under British control for about a century until the Second World War, when Japan occupied the colony from December 1941 to August 1945. After the Surrender of Japan, the British resumed control. In the 1980s, negotiations between the United Kingdom and the China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which provided for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong on 30 June 1997. The territory became a special administrative region of China with a high degree of autonomy on 1 July 1997 under the principle of one country, two systems. Disputes over the perceived misapplication of this principle have contributed to popular protests, including the 2014 Umbrella Revolution.

Hong Kong Open

Events called the Hong Kong Open include:

BWF Super Series

The BWF Super Series, launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). A season of Super Series features twelve tournaments around the world, including five of them classified as Super Series Premier. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, Super Series Premier and Super Series. Super Series Premier tournament offers higher ranking point and higher minimum total prize money. Top eight players/pairs in each discipline in Super Series Standing are invited to the Super Series Masters Finals held at the year end.

Features

Prize money

A Super Series tournament offers minimum total prize money of USD$200,000; a Super Series Premier tournament offers minimum total prize money of USD$350,000; Super Series Masters Finals offers minimum total prize money of USD$500,000. From 2014 onwards, a Super Series Premier tournament offers minimum total prize money of USD$500,000, with minimum increment USD$50,000 each year until 2017. Super Series tournaments offer minimum total prize money of USD$250,000, with increment of USD$25,000 each year through 2017.

World government

World government is the notion of a common political authority for all of humanity, yielding a global government and a single state. Such a government could come into existence either through violent and compulsory world domination or through peaceful and voluntary supranational union.

Currently there is no worldwide executive, legislature, judiciary, military, or constitution with jurisdiction over the entire planet. The United Nations is limited to a mostly advisory role, and its stated purpose is to foster cooperation between existing national governments rather than exert authority over them.

History

Origins of the idea

The idea and aspiration of world government is known since the dawn of history. Bronze Age Egyptian Kings aimed to rule "All What the Sun Encircles," Mesopotamian Kings "All from the Sunrise to the Sunset," and ancient Chinese and Japanese Emperors "All under Heaven." These four civilizations developed impressive cultures of Great Unity, or Da Yitong as the Chinese put it. In 113 BC, the Han Dynasty in China erected an Altar of the Great Unity. The Greek Stoic School preached one monarch over all mankind:

BWF World Championships

The BWF World Championships (formerly known as IBF World Championships, also known as the World Badminton Championships) is a badminton tournament sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The tournament offers the most ranking points, together with Summer Olympic Games. The winners will be crowned as the "World Champions" and awarded gold medals. However, it does not offer any prize money.

The tournament started in 1977 and was held once every three years until 1983. However, the IBF faced difficulty in hosting the first two events as the World Badminton Federation (which later merged with the IBF to form one badminton federation) hosted the same tournament a year after the IBF World Championships with the same goals. Started 1985, the tournament became bi-annual and played once every two years until 2005. Starting 2006, the tournament was changed to an annual event on the BWF calendar with the goal to give more chances for the players to be crowned as official "World Champions". However, the tournament will not be held once every four years to give way to the Summer Olympic Games.