The development of Hong Kong and the events that ultimately led to the transition of power from Britain to China in 1997.
History Before 1842
Arrival of Fishing Boat in Harbor, Hong Kong, 1896. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The history of Hong Kong before 1842 is quite ordinary, as other fishing villages are in China. The Baiyue people were the main the ethnic group acting in the Hong Kong area before the Qin dynasty. After Qin Shi Huang united China, Hong Kong was administered by the different local governments as an unknown place. After the Tang dynasty, as the city of Guangzhou developed, there were ports built in Hong Kong. During the Ming dynasty, Hong Kong became one of the key coastal defense areas since the initial development of the military; most of the invaders were pirates from Japan. As a military base with a population, Hong Kong started exporting agarwood to other parts of China, and fishers began moving into the Hong Kong area. During the same dynasty, Hong Kong had its first interaction with Portugal when the Portugal army tried to enter Hong Kong forcibly. But Portugal lost two crucial battles, leading Portugal to turn their target to Macau. During the Qing dynasty, the Qing asked coastal residents to migrate 50 miles inland to prevent their interaction with the remaining Ming forces in Taiwan. It resulted in a strong negative impact on Hong Kong’s growing fishing industries. After two officials argued with the government, the residents finally moved back. There was more and more interaction and conflict between the local Qing government and the British military and business groups, which resulted in the Battle of Chuenpi and the First Opium War.
"As a military base with a population, Hong Kong started exporting agarwood to other parts of China, and fishers began moving into the Hong Kong area."
History Between 1842-1945
Because of the enormous trade deficit between China and Britain, the British merchants came up selling opium to China to make up the trade deficit. There were a lot of anti-opium activities conducted by the Qing government, and they damaged British interests. Hence, the first Opium War started, and the result was that the British army won the battle and asked China to sign the Treaty of Nanking that included the cession of Hong Kong. After the British administered Hong Kong, they created Hong Kong as a free economic island and used it as the center for shipping and trade. The Taiping rebellion affected many people from southern China, and some of them began immigrating to Hong Kong, increasing the population. More and more Chinese and British merchants came to Hong Kong, and companies opened in Hong Kong to take advantage of its geographical benefits. In 1898, Britain and China signed The Second Convention of Peking to lease New Territories for 99 years for the protection of Hong Kong island, this is the last part of the cession of Hong Kong. With the increasing population, Hong Kong’s economy developed with modern facilities and higher education. In 1937, the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War grew the tension between Japan and Hong Kong, with Britain entering the second world war, the British army in Hong Kong could not stop the strong attacks from the Japanese military. Hong Kong faced occupation of the Japanese for three years and eight months. During the occupation, trade came to a halt, the currency was devalued, food transportation stopped, and government services and public utilities were severely affected. After this terrible period characterized by a decreasing population, Japan surrendered in 1945 and Hong Kong returned to the British administration.
History between 1945 and 1997
1982, the signing of the Chinese-British Joint Declaration
"The Chinese-British joint declaration was a treaty bound by international law that stipulated the order and operations for the inevitable transition"
Following the social oppression created by Japanese forces on the cusp of World War II, British forces reestablished themselves in Hong Kong. Many mainland Chinese citizens had immigrated over, in escape of Japanese imperialism. With a more integrated population, and a need to recover from the economic backdrop of the World War, Hong Kong invested in textile for production and employment purposes. Unfortunately, bolstering of the textile industry relied on the submission of Hong Kong workers into positions of cheap labor and lowly work conditions. These conditions gradually accumulated to a boil, resulting in labor dispute riots that erupted in 1967. Hong Kong transitioned to forseting economic success by investing in new technologies and adding work based legislation to improve labor conditions. Soon, Hong Kong began to portray initial embers of its proceeding glow as a financial gem, and not without the notice of mainland China. With Britain's intended lease over Hong Kong territories coming to a near close within the next few decades, the two states met in 1982 to go over the grounds in which Hong Kong could transition back to mainland China. The Chinese-British joint declaration was a treaty bound by international law that stipulated the order and operations for the inevitable transition. Under which, the treaty outlined “Hong Kong special Administrative Region will directly be under the authority of the People’s Republic of China, the laws under Hong Kong will remain basically unchanged, the Hong Kong Special Administrative will consist of local inhabitants, will have independent finances, and may establish mutually beneficial economic relations with the United Kingdom”. Britain did everything they could to maintain as much financial and social autonomy in Hong Kong as possible within the treaty. The start date of the transition was written to be June 30, 1997.
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