A GF SEC155car r yi ngt heembl em oft heHong under s l ung l oad, f or mi ng par t of a f ( Gover nmentF l yi ngSer vi ce)
Asa S peci alAdmi ni s t r at i ve Regi on ( S AR) , Hong Kong enj oys a hi gh degr ee of aut onomyf r om Chi na,wi t hdi f f er encesi n many as pect s of gover nment . F or ex ampl e, i t has i t s own l egals ys t em, cur r ency,pol i ce f or ce and educat i onal s ys t em.Not abl y,however ,t he Peopl e' s L i ber at i onAr myi sr es pons i bl ef ordef ence oft he S ARsand hast r oopsgar r i s oned i n eachoft hem. Dur i ng t he col oni aler a,def ence ofHong Kong wast he r es pons i bi l i t yofBr i t ai n.T he aer i al component of t he Hong Kong Def ence F or ce wasknown ast he Royal HongKongAux i l i ar yAi rF or ce( RHKAAF ) .I n t he 1950s ,t he RHKAAF oper at ed f i ght er ai r cr af ts uch ast he S uper mar i ne S pi t f i r e; overt i me,however ,i t sr ol e evol ved t o become l es s mi l i t ar yi n nat ur e,i ns t ead pr ovi di ngs er vi cess uchasf i r ef i ght i ngand s ear chandr es cue. I n 1984,t he S i noBr i t i s hJ oi ntDecl ar at i on was s i gned, whi ch s t i pul at ed t hat s over ei gnt yofHongKongwoul dt r ans f ert o Chi nai n1997and al s os etoutapat hway f ort hehandover .On1Apr i l 1993,aspar tof t he pr epar at i ons f ort he handover ,t he RHKAAFwasdi s bandedandi t snonmi l i t ar y dut i es wer e as s umed by a new or gani s at i on, t he Gover nment F l yi ng S er vi ce( GF S ) . As i t s name s ugges t s ,t he GF S i sa depar t mentoft he gover nmentofHong Kong.I ti schar ged wi t ha wi de var i et yof mi s s i onsr angi ngf r om medi calevacuat i on t ot act i cal s uppor toft heHongKongPol i ce F or ce.I nor dert oper f or mt hes edut i es ,t he GF Si nher i t ed ani ni t i alf l eetofhel i copt er s andf i x edwi ngai r cr af t ,whi chi ncl udedt he Beech S uper Ki ng Ai r , S i kor s ky S 70 Bl ackhawkand S 76S pi r i t .Al lt hes et ypes wer er et i r ed bet ween 1999 and 2002,i n f avourofmor e moder nai r cr af t ,al t hough t he s er vi ce wi l ls oon embar kon a f ur t her moder ni s at i onpr ogr amme.