Why was Hong Kong leaked? History of Hong Kong Former British colony in China
Hong Kong owes much of its complex history to its own geography. It is located on the sea coast east of the mouth of the Pearl River and borders the Chinese province of Guangdong. One of the harbors of Hong Kong Island - Aberdeen, deep and at the same time well protected, means “fragrant bay” in Cantonese. Once upon a time, merchants from different countries sold or bought sandalwood and fragrant exotic seasonings here. The name of Hong Kong itself is also translated. The name of the Kowloon Peninsula - “nine dragons” - also has historical roots. They are symbolized by the eight mountain ranges spread across this peninsula. And the ninth dragon is the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, who fled here in the 13th century after enthroning the Yuan Dynasty in the capital.
The Middle Ages: where it all began
Since time immemorial, the lands of what is now Hong Kong belonged to the Chinese. Their first settlements appeared here more than two thousand years ago. Starting from the 7th century, the sea coast of Hong Kong began to be inhabited by people who lived on boats and were engaged in fishing. However, over the next several centuries, these desert territories, washed by the waves of the Pacific Ocean, remained just a dot on the geographical map.
The fascinating history of Hong Kong begins with the period of penetration into the surrounding areas of Western countries, when in 1537 the first Portuguese merchants received permission from the closed imperial China to set up warehouses in the town of Macau (a sand spit on a peninsula located 60 km from Hong Kong). The example of the Portuguese was followed by the British, who in 1699 obtained the right for the East India Company to build a trading post and warehouses in the city of Guangzhou, located near Hong Kong. Trade brought great profits, despite a clear imbalance in favor of Chinese goods.
The end of the 18th century: how much is opium for the people?
Considering the opium produced in its Indian colony to be the most profitable export item, Great Britain brought the first 200 boxes of this potion to Guangzhou in 1773. Subsequently, using Hong Kong as a convenient transit point, the British increased drug smuggling to 20 thousand boxes per year over the course of thirty years. In order to combat opium smoking and the rapid outflow of silver from China, with which the potion was purchased, the Chinese authorities confiscated and destroyed the drug located in Guangzhou warehouses and expelled English merchants from there. London used this incident as a reason to send a military expedition to China. Hong Kong found itself at the center of military-political and economic intrigue.
Second half of the 19th century: Hong Kong - the result of the British victory in the Opium Wars
Two years after the first “Opium” War was unleashed by the British in 1840, they forced the Chinese Emperor to cede Hong Kong to them “for eternal possession” and soon appointed their governor, Henry Pottinger, there. In 1860, England (this time in alliance with France) defeated the imperial government in the second Opium War and seized the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula from China.
During the same period, the British and French achieved the legalization of the drug trade. In the tariff agreement signed with Beijing in 1858, they included opium in the list of goods that were allowed to be freely imported into China. Soon after the end of the Sino-Japanese War in 1898, the British government received from the weakened Imperial Celestial Empire a 99-year lease of vast mainland territories adjacent to the north of the Kowloon Peninsula and 262 islands scattered in the South China Sea. The "acquisition" received its literal name - "New Territories and Outer Islands."
Late 19th – early 20th centuries: “Oriental Pearl” in the crown of Great Britain
The further development of Hong Kong's history was invariably influenced by Anglo-Chinese relations. And its fate turned out to be in many ways similar to the life of many other English colonies. Not all Hong Kong residents enthusiastically accepted the snobbery, racial discrimination and social structure imposed by the British colonial administration. Some Hong Kongers sought to preserve their traditional way of life, while others looked with hope at the rapidly gaining strength of the national democratic movement in China. The leader of this movement was Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who received his medical education in Hong Kong. It is interesting to note that this man, who played a decisive role in the overthrow of the imperial Manchu dynasty in China in 1911 and became the president of the Chinese Republic he created, was one of the first Chinese politicians to recognize the positive role of the British administration in the history of Hong Kong. And indeed, the British did a lot here.
By the end of the 19th century, Hong Kong had become one of the largest ports in Asia and one of the most successful colonies of the British Empire. There has been economic growth here for several decades. Missionaries from England create favorable conditions for the education and training of not only lower-level management personnel, but also managers for large local companies. During the period between the two world wars, Chinese national business was formed in Hong Kong. Insurance, shipbuilding and shipping companies, banks and other financial institutions appear, and transport is developing.
1938-1945: under the Japanese yoke
The further rise of Hong Kong was prevented by the war unleashed in Asia by Japan. Since 1938, after the Japanese armed occupation of the Chinese province of Guangdong, hundreds of thousands of Chinese fled to Hong Kong. Its population grew to 1.6 million people, and half a million of them were homeless. Literally a few hours before the attack on the American fleet in Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941, Japanese aircraft destroyed British aircraft at the Hong Kong airfield and began a ground offensive operation on Hong Kong. The forces were unequal. On December 25, which went down in history under the telling name “Black Christmas,” the English governor signed an act of surrender of the territory. During the years of Japanese domination, the economy came to a complete collapse, and the local population was on the verge of starvation. In this situation, the occupation authorities were forced to carry out mass deportation of residents from Hong Kong, as a result of which only 600 thousand people remained here by the end of the war.
Post-war: development under the wing of the British Empire
The Japanese defeat in the war ended their dominance over Hong Kong. The question of his future fate caused disagreements between Great Britain and the United States. Prime Minister Churchill was an ardent supporter of maintaining the integrity of the British Empire. President Roosevelt believed that all colonies should be given the right to self-determination.
In 1945, the Yalta Conference of the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain decided to transfer Hong Kong to the jurisdiction of the central Chinese government under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek. However, the civil war that broke out in China between the communists of Mao Zedong and the nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek (1945-1949) prevented the implementation of this plan. So Hong Kong remained with the British for another half century. Mark Young, who returned to the post of governor of Hong Kong after Japanese captivity, proposed partial democratization here, in particular, giving ethnic Chinese the right to elect half of the local parliament, but the civil war on the “continent” postponed the implementation of such a plan indefinitely. Moreover, the disasters in China caused a huge influx of another wave of refugees into Hong Kong - up to 100 thousand people per month. By the end of 1947, Hong Kong's population reached 1.8 million people and continued to grow until the early 50s, when Beijing authorities introduced restrictions on the exit of citizens. However, in just five years, Hong Kong's population doubled, prompting the local government to launch large-scale housing construction.
Over the next thirty years, every second Hong Konger received social housing. Life in the colony became more and more attractive, so the process of Chinese people entering here legally or illegally from the PRC continued. Moreover, in the field of quality of healthcare, education and provision of shelter over one’s head, the policy of the Hong Kong authorities was more consistent with the best criteria of capitalist Great Britain than of communist China.
50-60: meteoric rise
After the end of the war, the influx of cheap labor and Western capital, as well as the Korean War, which again fenced off China from the outside world, created conditions for the dynamic development of Hong Kong. Modern shipyards, cement factories, and light industry enterprises began to appear in this important center of transit trade in the Asia-Pacific region. The low cost of labor, and therefore the low cost of consumer goods produced here (fabrics, shoes, consumer electronics, watches, toys, everyday items) made it possible to provide them with high competitiveness, which led to the steady economic rise of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong continued to occupy a special place in Anglo-Chinese relations. Considering his unique mediating role in the development of economic contacts between the PRC and the Western world, the pragmatist Mao Zedong decided not to aggravate relations with London, which took a serious turn during the years of the Cultural Revolution. The suppression by local authorities of the Hong Kong “leftists” protests provoked in 1967 by Beijing was echoed by the destruction of the residence of the British Charge d’Affaires in the PRC by “Mao’s Red Guards”. But at the same time, the supply of drinking water from the “mainland” to Hong Kong, carried out for hard currency, did not stop for a day... In turn, London also showed restraint and foresight. And the American-Chinese dialogue that began in 1971, which ended with the establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing and the lifting of trade sanctions by the Americans, became a prelude to a new period in the history of Hong Kong.
70s: transformation into an international business center
Introduction in Hong Kong in the early 70s. Free compulsory secondary education creates favorable conditions for training management personnel, and an effective and decisive fight against corruption helps attract more and more foreign investment here. Hong Kong is experiencing another economic boom and by the end of the 80s. is catching up with England in terms of the share of gross product per capita. In the 80s changes are taking place in Hong Kong's economic geography. From here, many Hong Kong enterprises are moving to the “special economic zones” created as part of China’s modernization and openness policy in the provinces of Guangdong and Fuzzian to produce cheap products, the cost of which has become lower and the profit margin higher. From this period, the territory rises one step higher on the ladder of added value levels and acquires a new status - an international center for financial and service services. The appearance of Hong Kong is also changing significantly, the coastline of which is covered with ultra-modern skyscrapers of banks, business and shopping centers, and multi-storey residential buildings.
80-90: difficult road to China
As the end of the 99-year lease of the New Territories approached, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher began negotiations with then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1983 about the future of Hong Kong. London's goal was to stipulate the transfer to Beijing only of the New Territories that were part of the colony under lease rights. In turn, the Chinese leader insisted on the return of all of Hong Kong to China and proposed signing a Joint Declaration based on his own concept of “one state, two systems,” which assigned autonomy and the existing system of governance to the colony. In this form, the document was signed in 1984. It also stipulated that the date for "Hong Kong's return to the motherland" (Beijing's propaganda stamp) would be July 1, 1997.
The path to realizing these plans was not easy. The expected status of Hong Kong was seriously tested after the Chinese authorities brutally suppressed the July 4, 1989 student demonstration in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In those days, the number of Hong Kongers who came out in support of fighters for democracy and against corruption reached 2 million people. Fearing that after returning to the PRC, the political climate of the territory would change, and similar incidents would be repeated here, many liberal-minded Hong Kongers chose to emigrate - according to some reports, over 100 thousand people left here over the course of a number of years. Many chose another option - just in case, get a British passport, the queues for which in the last weeks of colonial rule stretched for kilometers. But gradually the residents of Hong Kong regained confidence in their future under the jurisdiction of China. Probably, a certain role in this was played by the then popular last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, who was appointed to the post in 1992, who tried to carry out political reforms designed to guarantee Hong Kong's security after the handover to the People's Republic of China.
1997: Handover of Hong Kong to China
On June 30, 1997, at a ceremony held at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center built for the occasion, Queen Elizabeth's representative, Second Prince Charles, and Chinese President Jiang Zemin made speeches. Following this, the flags of Great Britain and colonial Hong Kong were lowered and at midnight on July 1 the flags of the People's Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) were raised - a white bahini flower on a red background. At least until 2047, the SAR will retain broad autonomy: its legislative and executive powers, justice authorities, police, immigration policy, duties, monetary system, as well as the right to representation in international organizations and events. Only defense and foreign policy issues are under the jurisdiction of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.
90s: new times
Beijing managed to pursue its own line on the issue of the election procedure and the candidacy of the new highest official of the territory. Thus, the Provisional Legislative Council, appointed by the PRC government, replaced the old Legislative Council (its composition was elected under Governor Chris Patten). In December 1997, the administrative committee formed by Beijing elected the first Chief Executive of the SAR (the so-called “president” of Hong Kong) a person outside politics, a businessman from a family of large shipowners - Dong Jianhua (Tung Chee-hwa). Uncle Dong handled the challenges of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis well, but came under fire for its bungling of the 2003 SARS epidemic and its failure to connect with the local democratic opposition. As a result, in May 2005, he was prematurely replaced in a responsible post by an experienced career official, Donald Tsang Yan-kuen, who was re-elected for a second term on March 25, 2007.
More than a century and a half has passed since, in 1841, British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston called Hong Kong a “practically uninhabited island” and Queen Victoria called it a “useless rock.” Today Hong Kong is the largest international financial center and one of the most beautiful modern cities in the world. This unique creation of history not only has a rich past and a dynamic, prosperous present, but also an optimistic future.
England’s attempts to “discover” China began at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. English trade in the south of the country was monopolized by the East India Company, which sought to lift restrictions that allowed foreigners to trade only in Guangzhou with members of the monopoly Gonghan merchant corporation. In 1793, the English representative Macartney arrived in China with the aim of establishing diplomatic relations between China and England and obtaining the right of free settlement and movement of the British in China. Members of Macartney's mission were received by the Qing authorities as representatives of the vassals. On the ships that carried the British through Chinese waters, flags were raised with the inscription: “Tribut Bearer from the English Country.” Macartney was presented with an edict from the Qianlong Emperor addressed to the English King George III, which stated: “You, O Sovereign, live far beyond the borders of many seas and yet, driven by the humble desire to join the benefits of our civilization, you sent a mission that respectfully delivered to us your message. The serious expressions in which it is composed reveal a respectful humility on your part, which is highly commendable. As for your request to accredit one of your subjects to my heavenly court to supervise your country's trade with China, such a request is contrary to all the customs of my dynasty and can in no way be accepted. If I ordered that the tribute gifts sent by you, O sovereign, be accepted, then this was done solely taking into account the feelings that prompted you to send them from afar. The great exploits of our dynasty have penetrated all the countries of the Celestial Empire, and the sovereigns of all nations of land and sea send their valuable gifts. As your ambassador can see for himself, we have absolutely everything. I do not attach value to strange or cunningly made objects and do not need the products of your country. Trembling, obey and do not show negligence.”
This document does not need detailed comments. The stupidity and arrogance of the feudal rulers of China, their great-power aspirations and amazing ignorance of the real position occupied in the world by the Middle Empire are presented extremely vividly. At the same time, the reluctance of the Qing government to allow foreigners into China can be explained by the fear of violating China’s isolation, which, as Marx wrote, was “the first condition for the preservation of old China.”
But even after the failure of Macartney’s mission, English capitalists - the East India Company and young firms seeking to join the exploitation of the Chinese market - continued to seek the opening of China for trade expansion. In 1818, the English government sent a new representative to China - Amherst. He also was not successful. After the industrial bourgeoisie of England achieved the liquidation of the East India Company's monopoly in the countries of the East and deprivation of its right to trade, the activity of English capitalists in the Far East intensified. In 1834, Napier was sent to Guangzhou as a commissioner to supervise Anglo-Chinese trade, and he acted particularly brazenly, coming to China without the consent of the Chinese authorities, violating the procedure for negotiations established by the Qing government. When Napier was asked to leave China, he refused to fulfill this demand, and in response to the decision of the Chinese authorities to stop Anglo-Chinese trade, he staged a military provocation, summoning two English warships to the mouth of the river. Zhujiang, where Guangzhou is located.
The opium trade played a major role in the aggravation of Anglo-Chinese relations. For 200 years, the value of goods exported by foreigners from China (tea, silk, handicraft fabrics) significantly exceeded the value of Chinese imports. The difference was covered in silver. But in the last third of the 18th century. English businessmen found a way to change the ratio of exports from China and imports to China. In 1773, the government of British India established its monopoly on the opium trade. Since then, the importation of English opium from India has become a means of robbing and poisoning the Chinese people. The effect of opium on the physical and moral state of people is extremely destructive.
In his angry article “The History of the Opium Trade,” K. Marx quotes the words of the Englishman Martin, who wrote that “the opium seller kills the body after he has corrupted, humiliated and devastated the moral being of unfortunate sinners; the insatiable Moloch demands new victims every hour, and the English murderer and the Chinese suicide compete with each other in bringing these victims to his altar” 2.
Since the 20s of the XIX century. The import of opium into China began to increase sharply. Over the five-year period (1815-1819), an average of 4,420 boxes were imported annually (about 60 kg of opium in one box), and in 1835-1838. - 35,445 boxes per year. The income of the government of British India from the opium trade increased 70 times over 66 years (1773-1839), reaching in 1835-1839. an average annual amount of 5.2 million silver lians, i.e. about 200 thousand kg of silver. In total for 1795-1838. Over 450 thousand boxes, or 27 million kg of opium, were imported into China. American merchants also participated in the opium trade, importing this poison to China from Turkey.
Although formally the trade in opium was prohibited back in 1800, in fact the English, and after them the American hunters for profit, did not pay attention to this ban and, with the help of the Qing officials they bribed, launched the smuggling trade of opium on an ever-increasing scale.
The Qing government's position on the opium trade was inconsistent. This was explained by disagreements among the ruling class of feudal lords both in matters of the opium trade and the aggressive policies of the capitalist powers. Many influential figures, while formally advocating the prohibition of the opium trade, objected to effective measures to combat smuggling, since they did not want to aggravate relations with England, and they themselves profited from transactions involving the purchase and sale of opium. Some dignitaries sought from the emperor a decision on strict and effective measures to combat the sale and smoking of opium. The most prominent representative of this group, Lin Tse-hsu, presented a report to the emperor entitled “Opium Should Be Strictly Banned to Eliminate the Root of Trouble,” in which he warned that if the spread of opium poison was not stopped, “in a few years there will be almost no soldiers left in China.” who can protect us from the enemy, and there will be no silver left to pay wages.” As governor of the provinces of Hubei and Hunan, Lin Tse-hsu launched a fight against the sale and smoking of opium.
In December 1838, he was appointed imperial commissioner in the province. Guangdong, and he was able to fight against opium smuggling in its main center - Guangzhou. Arriving in Guangzhou, Lin Tse-hsu, through a series of decisive measures (including the cessation of trade with foreigners and the blockade of the trading post of English merchants), achieved the surrender of more than 20 thousand boxes of opium by English and American merchants, which was destroyed in June 1839.
Everyone knows that Hong Kong was formerly a British colony. There was, there was, and then suddenly in 1997 rrr! and wasn't. I remember they talked about it on the news back then. I had a feeling that some very abstract “ours” were leaked to the Chinese. I didn’t understand why this happened at the time - I heard something about the lease ending - and I didn’t really try to figure it out. And if you look at it, it all started a very long time ago...
In order to understand why Hong Kong was merged, it is important to know how it was acquired... In the 19th century, the great powers divided weak China into spheres of influence, and, under military-economic pressure, imposed on it various deals with unfavorable conditions. Today they are called Unequal Treaties. Colonial Hong Kong consisted of three parts, each of which was acquired by the British in a separate treaty with the Chinese Empire:
"Acquisition of Hong Kong" by Zamoeux Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Hong Kong itself - the "main", central island (where most of the skyscrapers are today) was given away by the Treaty of Nanjing (1842) after the first Opium War.
- Nearby Kowloon is a small piece of land bounded on the north by Boundary Street - the Peking Treaty of 1860 as a result of the Second Opium War.
- The "New Territories", from Kowloon north to the Shenzhen River, and several other islands were received by the British under the Convention of Expansion (1898), after China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War. The map shows that by area this is the vast majority of Hong Kong territory.
One way or another, when the question "what's next?" was first raised in the early 1970s, the British had to sit down at the negotiating table with a much stronger power wanting to restore its rights after a century and a half of grievances and humiliations. China rose from his knees.
Over the course of a century, Kowloon grew to the north
The central island of Hong Kong was at that time the economic center of the region. Due to its limited size, much of the colony's secondary infrastructure was located in these New Territories. Without them, Hong Kong would not be able to provide for its own needs. And small Kowloon expanded to the north, incorporating parts of leased land. Boundary Street, the former border between one's own and another's territory, has become just one of the highways of the growing city. Among other things, good relations with China are very important for the well-being of Hong Kong, as 70% of drinking water is imported from there.
Kowloon today
In short, when the Chinese government made it clear that it did not intend to extend the lease on the New Territories, the British had to make a difficult decision about what to do with the entire colony. It was very difficult to reclaim only part of the land, and the Chinese themselves persistently hinted that they would like to get back everything that was taken from them as a result of the Unequal Treaties. The British themselves understood that they most likely would not be able to hold the colony by force in the event of hostilities.
As a result, Britain accepted the fact that it could not maintain control of Hong Kong and concentrated on preserving economic and political freedoms on its territory. China, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, had just recently introduced into its constitution the possibility of creating Special Administrative Regions, in which the political system could differ from the rest of the country.
In 1984, the parties entered into an agreement: Hong Kong would go to China in 1997, but would become one of these regions for a minimum period of 50 years. This guaranteed minimum expires in 2047, and it is unclear whether China will decide to extend Hong Kong's special status beyond that date. The handover ceremony took place on July 1, 1997. Already today, the population of Hong Kong, accustomed to distinguishing themselves from ordinary Chinese, has many questions for the central government. They feel the center's interference in their lives, and they are not very happy about it - last year's protests are a perfect example of this.
Subsequently, in one of her rare interviews, Margaret Thatcher called the surrender of Hong Kong one of the most serious disappointments of her reign.
Converted into a British crown colony. Management of the colony was transferred to the governor, under whom, from 1843, the Legislative Council, consisting of 4 colonial officials, acted as an advisory body. In 1850, 2 appointed members were also introduced into its composition. Subsequently, the number of council members gradually increased: in 1857 it was replenished with two more officials and one appointed member, in 1884 it was expanded to 7 officials and 5 appointed members (including one Chinese), and in 1896 - to 8 officials and 6 “unofficial” members .
Captured by Great Britain Hong Kong became an outpost of British penetration into China. British traders, merchants and opium sellers conducted their operations from it; American traders soon joined them. They constituted the elite of the colony, while the vast majority of the population was Chinese (31.5 thousand inhabitants out of 33 thousand in 1851).
The territory of the colony expanded steadily. According to the terms of the Beijing Convention of 1860, concluded after the Second Opium War, China was forced to cede part of the Kowloon Peninsula and a number of islands to Great Britain. In an effort to strengthen Hong Kong's defenses, the British government obtained from China in 1898 a concession for 99 years (until 1997) of the “New Territories” in the north of Kowloon (Kowloon).
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Hong Kong seriously affected by epidemics and natural disasters. In 1894, the colony was struck by an epidemic of bubonic plague that came from Southern China, which killed more than 2.5 thousand people that year and another 1.3 thousand in 1898–1900. Fleeing from the disease, 100 thousand Chinese temporarily left Hong Kong, which caused heavy damage to the economy of the colony. On September 18, 1906, a devastating typhoon and tsunami hit Hong Kong, claiming up to 10 thousand lives.
Despite this damage, Hong Kong developed rapidly. Thanks to its favorable geographical position, excellent natural harbor and free port status, it has become an important center of trade and shipping. Hong Kong became one of the largest ports in the world, acting as an intermediary in trade between China , Japan, Indochina, Siam, Netherlands Indies, India, European countries and the USA. The colony passed approx. 20% of China's exports and a significant part of Chinese emigration. Roads, large ship docks, highways and industrial enterprises were built. The most important industries were shipbuilding, sugar and tobacco industries. Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank was the largest in China. The railway connected Hong Kong from Guangzhou. The colony was home to a significant British naval base.
Hong Kong's population grew rapidly. In 1931, there were already 880 thousand inhabitants, of which 860 thousand were Chinese, in 1938 - already over 1 million.
In the 20th century Hong Kong became the center of social movement. From the beginning of the century, organizations and groups of the Sun Yat-sen United Union and then the Kuomintang were active in it. Since the 1920s, communist organizations began to emerge in Hong Kong. In the 1910s, the first trade unions appeared in the colony, and already in the next decade the colony experienced a series of major strikes and workers’ uprisings: about 100 thousand people took part in the Hong Kong sailors’ strike in January-March 1922, and in the Hong Kong-Guangzhou strike of 1925–1926 participation of 250 thousand workers.
Despite the social upsurge, little changed in the colony's management system. It was still led by a governor appointed from London. According to the decree of 1917, there were Executive and Legislative Councils. The first of them included 7 officials and 4 “unofficial” members (2 of them were Chinese). The Legislative Council had 9 officials and 8 “unofficial members” (including 3 Chinese, and since 1929 - 2 Chinese and one Portuguese). All members of the councils were appointed.
After the capture of Guangzhou by Japanese troops in 1938, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Southern China poured into Hong Kong, and in 1941 the number of inhabitants of the colony grew to 1.6 million. However, their refuge did not remain reliable for long. December 8, 1941 Hong Kong came under attack by Japanese forces under the command of Sakai Takashi. British, Canadian and Indian units stationed on the territory of the colony, as well as volunteer forces, repelled the attacks for more than 2 weeks, but on December 25, Hong Kong was captured by superior Japanese forces. British officials, including Governor Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered. During the period of Japanese occupation (Isogai Rensuke became the first head of the Japanese administration), European residents were interned or subjected to other persecution, and many Chinese left Hong Kong, where by the summer of 1945 there were only approx. 750 thousand inhabitants.
On August 30, 1945, Hong Kong was occupied by the British Pacific Fleet and again became a British colony. On May 1, 1946, civilian administration was restored. This time, the British authorities agreed to provide elements of self-government to Hong Kong. The new constitution provided for the creation of a municipal council, two-thirds of whose members were elected (half the members had to be Chinese). The Chinese made up 4 of the 8 “unofficial” members of the Legislative Council and 3 of the 6 “unofficial” members of the Executive Council, the Portuguese - one each. The Executive Council now included an equal number of officials and “unofficial” members.
Due to the civil war in China and the victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Mao Zedong in 1949, hundreds of thousands of Chinese residents fled to Hong Kong. Some of them brought with them financial resources or knowledge, others joined the ranks of hired workers. Many foreign firms have moved their headquarters from Shanghai to Hong Kong. All this contributed to a new rise in Hong Kong's economy and its transformation into a major industrial center. The leading place was occupied by textile and clothing production.
The Chinese government has stated that it does not recognize Hong Kong's colonial status and views it as a "reclaimed territory." Clashes occurred between supporters of the CPC and the Kuomintang, accompanied by the destruction of bureaus, industrial enterprises and stores belonging to supporters and citizens of the PRC and Taiwan. In October 1956, clashes in Hong Kong and Kowloon killed 50 people and injured hundreds. Harsh working conditions contributed to the spread of the CCP's ideological influence in the 1960s, especially among young people and in the labor movement. At the same time, the PRC authorities were to a certain extent beneficial from the existence Hong Kong. The British colony served as a major source of foreign exchange for China. Per share China accounted for a quarter of Hong Kong's imports. China also received huge amounts of funds through banks, commercial and industrial enterprises in Hong Kong that it owned and collaborated with. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities set up border patrols to stop the illegal emigration of Chinese citizens into British territory.
However, in the late 1960s the situation worsened. In April 1966, after an increase in transport tariffs, a wave of riots swept through Hong Kong, the authorities imposed a curfew and arrested 250 people. In May 1967, a strike broke out by several thousand workers at an artificial flower factory, followed by lockouts in other industries. Unions launched massive protest campaigns that continued throughout the summer; Armed skirmishes broke out with British police. Great Britain deployed additional military forces to the colony, closed opposition newspapers, and thousands of protesters were arrested. The PRC protested to the British government and practically stopped supplies of water and food to Hong Kong. Word spread that Great Britain would have to evacuate the colony. However, by the fall the authorities managed to suppress the protest movement. China has resumed supplies to Hong Kong, and the British side has dismantled a number of new border fortifications. The strikers were never returned to work in 1968. In 1972, in a letter to the chairman of the UN Committee on Decolonization, Chinese Foreign Minister Huang Hua assured that his country intended to use exclusively peaceful means to restore Chinese sovereignty over “occupied” Hong Kong and Macau. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in support of Chinese demands.
In the 1970s, the fight against corruption began in Hong Kong, initiated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. As a result of the campaign, it was possible to significantly reduce its level, and to date, Hong Kong society is considered one of the least corrupt in the world.
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British Hong Kong is a state entity claimed by China and Great Britain. A complex system of international treaties has made this peninsula practically independent from both countries, and liberal tax laws have allowed this state to become one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
Background
The history of Hong Kong begins about 30,000 years ago. According to archaeologists, this is one of the most famous corners of the earth where traces of the activity of ancient people were discovered. For a long time this territory belonged undividedly to China. During his reign, the region was known as an international center of trade. Hong Kong was known as a major salt producer, a naval port, and a smuggling center.
Beginning of the Opium War
In 1836, the Chinese government carried out a major revision of its policy on the sale of raw opium. Lin agreed to take on the task of blocking the spread of opium. In March 1839, he became special imperial commissioner in Canton, where he ordered foreign traders to give up their opium stocks. He restricted British traders' access to the Canton factories and was able to cut them off from supplies. The Chief Trade Inspector, Charles Elliott, agreed to comply with Lin's ultimatum to ensure a safe exit from the opium market for British traders, and the associated costs were to be resolved through arrangements between the two governments. Elliott promised that the British government would pay local traders for their opium supplies. Therefore, the merchants handed over their chests, which contained 20.283 kg of opium. Subsequently, these reserves were liquidated in front of a large crowd of people.
British performance
In September 1839, the British cabinet decided that the Chinese should be punished. The Eastern people had to pay for the destruction of British property. The expeditionary force was led by Charles Elliott and his brother in 1840. The corps was supervised by Lord Palmerston. It was in his petition that the government was told that the British authorities did not challenge China's right to conduct its own opium trade, but objected to the manner in which this trade was conducted. The Lord viewed the sudden hundredfold tightening of control over opium as a trap for foreign (primarily British) traders, and presented blocking the supply of opium raw materials as an unfriendly and incorrect step. To back up this petition with action, the lord instructed an expeditionary force to occupy one of the nearby islands, and if the Chinese did not properly consider the demands of the British, the Chinese ports of the Yangtze and Yellow River would block the British ships. The petition emphasized that British merchants should not be subjected to the arbitrary, unfriendly demands of the local administration in any of the seaports of the Chinese Empire.
Agreements
In 1841, after negotiations with Mr. Qi-Shan, who became the successor of the legendary Lin, Elliott announced that preliminary agreements had been reached, which already recognized the British right to Hong Kong Island and its harbor. Thus British Hong Kong was born. The flag of Great Britain flew over the island's old fortifications, and Commander James Bremen took charge of the island on behalf of the British Crown.
Hong Kong promised to become a valuable base for the British trading community in Canton Province. In 1842, the transfer of the island was officially ratified, and Hong Kong became a British colony "forever".
Colony expansion
The treaty signed by Great Britain and the Chinese government could not satisfy either side. In the fall of 1856, Chinese authorities detained a Chinese-owned ship whose registered place of registration was listed as British Hong Kong. The Consul in Canton appealed to the Chinese authorities with the assertion that such detention was an insult of a very serious nature. The Hong Kong administration seized on the incident to push its own policies forward. In the spring of 1857, Palmerston appointed Lord Elgwin to represent the British side in resolving the issue of trade and defense, and authorized him to sign a new, more favorable treaty with China. At the same time, the British decided to strengthen their position in the upcoming negotiations, and supplemented their own corps with a French expeditionary force. In 1860, joint action captured the Dagu fortress and occupied Beijing, forcing the Chinese authorities to accept British demands. In history, these confrontations were called the opium trade wars, each of which expanded empires and ended in the defeat of China. According to the signed agreements, the British were able to open their own ports, the right to legally trade opium and have their own diplomatic missions in Beijing was returned to them. In addition, during the conflict, the English corps was able to occupy the Kowloon Peninsula. This plateau was of significant potential value - it was possible to build a city and a new defensive line on it.
Expansion and strengthening
By the end of the 19th century, colonists sought to expand British Hong Kong for defense. Negotiations were started on this matter with the Chinese side, which led to the signing of the second Beijing Convention on June 9, 1989. Since foreign states had already come to an agreement that it was impossible to undermine China’s sovereignty and tear off territories from it piece by piece, British Hong Kong received a different state design. This allowed China to "save face" in the form of nominal jurisdiction over the alienated lands, and the British to effectively rule Hong Kong on a leasehold basis. The Hong Kong lands were leased to the English government for 99 years. In addition, 230 islands were placed under British jurisdiction, which became known as new British territories. Officially, Britain took temporary possession of Hong Kong and other lands in 1899. It had its own rules, different from the mainland ones, there were courts, police and customs - everything with which British Hong Kong could emphasize its independence. The coin of this region circulated throughout Southeast Asia.
Years of war
Before the outbreak of World War II, Hong Kong led a quiet existence as one of the many British colonies that were scattered around the globe. With the outbreak of hostilities, it was decided to consolidate the military operation to protect new British territories with the Chinese authorities. In 1941, the British signed a military agreement under which, if British Hong Kong was attacked, the Chinese National Army would attack the Japanese from the rear. This should have been done to relieve enemy pressure on the British garrison. The Battle of Hong Kong began, during which Japanese aerial bombers virtually destroyed the British air force in one attack. Two days later, the Japanese broke through the defense line in new territories. The British commander, Major General Christopher Maltby, concluded that the island could not hold out for long without reinforcements, so the commander withdrew his brigade from the mainland.
On 18 December the Japanese captured Victoria Harbour. As of December 25, only small pockets of resistance remained from organized defense. Maltby recommended surrender to the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, who accepted his advice in order to reduce possible damage to the city and port.
Japanese invasion
The day after the invasion, Generalissimo Chiang issued an order to three Chinese corps under the command of General Yu Hanmou to turn towards Hong Kong. The plan was to start New Year's Day with an attack on Japanese occupation forces in the Canton region. But before the Chinese infantry could form their own line of attack, the Japanese broke Hong Kong's defenses. British losses were significant: 2,232 soldiers were killed and 2,300 were wounded. The Japanese reported losses of 1,996 killed and 6,000 wounded. The harsh Japanese occupation brought a lot of suffering. The city was destroyed and the population fled Hong Kong. The country was experiencing economic and social decline, the population of the British colonies decreased by half. The Japanese imprisoned the ruling British colonial elite and sought to defeat local traders by appointing their own proteges to advisory councils and overseeing them. This policy resulted in widespread cooperation from both the elite and middle class, with far less terror than in other Chinese cities.
Japanese occupation
Hong Kong was transformed into a Japanese colony, with Japanese business structures prevailing and replacing British ones. However, the Japanese Empire had serious logistical difficulties, and by 1943 the food supply in Hong Kong was problematic. The government became more brutal and corrupt, and the Chinese elite became disillusioned. After Japan's surrender, the transition back to British patronage was painless, as on the mainland nationalist and communist forces were preparing for civil war and ignoring Hong Kong's demands and concerns. In the long term, the occupation reinforced the pre-war social and economic order among the Chinese business community, eliminating some conflicts of interest that resulted in some decline in British prestige and power.
Restoring Chinese sovereignty
The infusion of American and British money quickly brought the colony back on its feet. The post-war development of Hong Kong shows gradual and then rapid economic growth. At the end of the 80s, Hong Kong became one of the four “eastern dragons” and successfully maintains its position in the present time. In 1997, the ceremonial transfer of rights to Hong Kong to the government took place. The British crown colony ceased to exist, and Hong Kong nominally became part of China. But the city managed to maintain its own independence and isolation from the rest of the Chinese provinces. It has its own courts, developed its own rules, and has its own administration and customs. Hong Kong is only partly China and is unlikely to become part of the overall administrative system in the near future.
Capital of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a country with virtually no territory. It does not have a capital in the generally accepted sense of the word. It can be said that the capital of Hong Kong is Hong Kong itself. At the same time, various sources indicate that the capital of Hong Kong is Victoria City. This is a prestigious area of the metropolis, in which all administrative and political buildings were concentrated during the period of British rule. After the end of the lease, Victoria City became just one of the districts of Hong Kong, so the idea that this particular place is the capital of Hong Kong is outdated and not entirely correct.
Modern Hong Kong
The post-war rapid development of the Far Eastern region has led to the fact that modern British Hong Kong has become one of the most dynamic and developed cities in the world. The almost complete lack of natural resources did not prevent this disputed territory from achieving the highest possible standard of living. This happened thanks to developed legislation, perfect infrastructure and favorable geographical location.
Hong Kong was able to find its niche in the global economy, and became a forward in the electronics, clothing, textile and electrical industries. However, the main driver of Hong Kong's development is the service sector. The vast majority of residents of this region are employed in the financial, banking, trading and hotel industries. Hong Kong's main partners are the USA, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and the UK.
Heart of Hong Kong
The center of Hong Kong can be considered Hong Kong Island, divided into two areas that have a natural border in the form of a bay. There are three underground tunnels between the mainland and the island. The island is home to Hong Kong's most important administrative institutions, including the World Financial Centre, the old and new Bank of China buildings, and the World Exhibition Centre. Most entertainment venues. Fashionable shops, ancient museums and clubs are also located on the island, so at this time it is about. Hong Kong can be considered the center of this densely populated region of Southeast Asia.
A traveler's paradise
New Hong Kong is a real paradise for lovers of entertainment and shopping. Local shops have collections of famous world brands at relatively low prices, and numerous discos, bars and clubs are open to the public around the clock. Lovers of leisurely walks and antiquity will also be satisfied - there are many protected areas and parks left in Hong Kong where you can enjoy the untouched nature of the tropical forest. Tourists will also enjoy numerous museums and temples, where they can view unique exhibits collected over thousands of years of Hong Kong’s history, see the world’s largest Buddha statue, and visit remote settlements where ancient traditions are still revered. Walking enthusiasts will not be disappointed - despite the amazing population density, Hong Kong has been and remains one of the cleanest metropolises in the world. Communication should not be a problem - most Hong Kong residents speak excellent English.
If you have the time and opportunity, visit this amazing island - the impressions of modern Hong Kong, amazingly combining antiquity and modernity, will remain in your memory for a lifetime.