; Whereas the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law declare that the lifestyle and social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged for 50 years after the 1997 reversion; Whereas the Basic Law guarantees Hong Kong residents the freedoms of speech, press, publication, association, assembly, demonstration, religious belief and activity, academic research, and the rights to form unions and to strike, among others; Whereas the Basic Law also guarantees Hong Kong residents the right to vote and to stand for election; Whereas although the Basic Law states that the ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures , the actual process for nominating eligible Chief Executive candidates remains heavily influenced by the Government of China; Whereas widespread frustration with the lack of progress toward a democratic selection of candidates for Chief Executive provoked large-scale public demonstrations in late 2014, popularly known as the Umbrella Movement , that involved hundreds of thousands of demonstrators and the occupation of certain public spaces for as long as 79 days; Whereas, although Hong Kong continues to enjoy high levels of economic freedom and judicial independence, certain recent actions by the Government of China are inconsistent with its stated commitments to Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and the preservation of the rule of law; Whereas international press reported that from October through December 2015, four employees of Might Current publishing house and its affiliated bookstore, Causeway Bay Books, a Hong Kong seller of publications critical of Chinese leadership, disappeared under suspicious circumstances from Hong Kong, Thailand, and mainland China, in potentially the most serious breach of the one country, two systems policy since 1997, which has had a chilling effect on the freedoms of speech and publication in Hong Kong