The aim of this paper is to provide a socio-historical perspective on the continuity and change of the Chinese press in Hong Kong. Divided into four sections, the paper examines (1) the partisan press structure as a microcosm of China's interparty struggle; (2) the rise of the market-oriented centrist press since 1970 as a result of Hong Kong's economic growth and autonomy; (3) the causes and consequences, and possibilities and constraints of press freedom under British colonial rule; and (4) the erosion of the rightist press as juxtaposed with Hong Kong's prospective return to China in 1997. (Author/HOD)