Seems like the answer is that there is no answer. Everything is done on a case by case basis. The outcome of the *.hk TLD is probably the least of the Hong Kong people's concerns right now and if China have control over Hong Kong then it'll probably have control over the TLD as well.
Also, there's this:
> Based on my (admittedly cursory) scan of the Taiwan one, there’s a lot of mention about “the territory of the Governmental Authority,” which implies that if the Governmental Authority no longer has territory, things might become somewhat hairy.
Some other interesting information regarding Hong Kong, and also Macau:
1. Country calling codes: Hong Kong (+852), Macau (+853) and China (+86) are still separate;
2. Passport country code: Hong Kong and Macau passports issued before Chinese rule use HKG and MAC respectively. This is changed to match China's code, CHN, causing much confusion in customs officers in many countries unfamiliar with the situation.
3. During Japanese occupation, officials tried renaming various places in Hong Kong to Japanese names, but gave up when it brought nothing but tedious red tape.
China does not need to touch the .hk TLD, when the brand is already infiltrated and tarnished. Look at the number of totally-from-Hong-Kong companies with Hong Kong addresses, phone numbers and domain names, completely run by China-Chinese QXJZ nationals.
Went looking for a comment about this, seems like there is a Taiwan TLD[1] but that's definitely a different situation. I can't even think of a good general system for this that isn't open to one powerful country or a group of countries having control over what other areas are considered countries and which aren't. I definitely agree with the other comments about how having a TLD ultimately isn't as big a deal as the other consequences of being denied statehood though
Macau also had its own TLD (.mo) prior to the handover just like Hong Kong so I don't see why China would all of a sudden decide to prohibit the use of either (maybe when the 50 years are up!) There's no TLD for the other SARs but that's because they were never independent.
I doubt they would prohibit use. They'd just control the TLD (as they effectively already do, just more indirectly) and potentially apply different policies than are currently applied w.r.t eligibility for registration/renewal.
Yeah, that was oversight. I typed up this thing in the span of a few hours and I was so caught up with the fall of the Soviet Union that I had forgotten about Hong Kong.
I was curious about that myself, so I've updated the article with the results of some quick research.
TL;DR: in 2010 it seemed like they'd keep it, but now, China can get rid of it if they wanted, and I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether or not they will.
Seems like the answer is that there is no answer. Everything is done on a case by case basis. The outcome of the *.hk TLD is probably the least of the Hong Kong people's concerns right now and if China have control over Hong Kong then it'll probably have control over the TLD as well.
Also, there's this:
> Based on my (admittedly cursory) scan of the Taiwan one, there’s a lot of mention about “the territory of the Governmental Authority,” which implies that if the Governmental Authority no longer has territory, things might become somewhat hairy.
> if China have control over Hong Kong
It's Chinese territory. They have 100% control.
Sometimes "if" means "so long as it's true" rather than "I'm not sure whether it's true".
Some other interesting information regarding Hong Kong, and also Macau:
1. Country calling codes: Hong Kong (+852), Macau (+853) and China (+86) are still separate;
2. Passport country code: Hong Kong and Macau passports issued before Chinese rule use HKG and MAC respectively. This is changed to match China's code, CHN, causing much confusion in customs officers in many countries unfamiliar with the situation.
3. During Japanese occupation, officials tried renaming various places in Hong Kong to Japanese names, but gave up when it brought nothing but tedious red tape.
China does not need to touch the .hk TLD, when the brand is already infiltrated and tarnished. Look at the number of totally-from-Hong-Kong companies with Hong Kong addresses, phone numbers and domain names, completely run by China-Chinese QXJZ nationals.
Went looking for a comment about this, seems like there is a Taiwan TLD[1] but that's definitely a different situation. I can't even think of a good general system for this that isn't open to one powerful country or a group of countries having control over what other areas are considered countries and which aren't. I definitely agree with the other comments about how having a TLD ultimately isn't as big a deal as the other consequences of being denied statehood though
[1]: https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/twtaiwan-comp...
Macau also had its own TLD (.mo) prior to the handover just like Hong Kong so I don't see why China would all of a sudden decide to prohibit the use of either (maybe when the 50 years are up!) There's no TLD for the other SARs but that's because they were never independent.
I doubt they would prohibit use. They'd just control the TLD (as they effectively already do, just more indirectly) and potentially apply different policies than are currently applied w.r.t eligibility for registration/renewal.
So long as Hong Kong is not a normal Chinese city, but a quasi-state, it will keep needing its own country code and keep the TLD.
Considering how it acknowledges Taiwan I think we can safely attribute that to oversight rather than malice.
Yeah, that was oversight. I typed up this thing in the span of a few hours and I was so caught up with the fall of the Soviet Union that I had forgotten about Hong Kong.
I was curious about that myself, so I've updated the article with the results of some quick research.
TL;DR: in 2010 it seemed like they'd keep it, but now, China can get rid of it if they wanted, and I'm not knowledgeable enough to say whether or not they will.