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Hong Kong, China |
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Hong Kong (Heung Gong in Cantonese, or "Fragrant Harbor") consists of a mainland peninsula on China's south coast and over 230 islands. It is one of the world's most fascinating cities as well as one of its richest financial and commercial centers. It has additionally a significant heritage of architectural innovation.
Its current status, as a result of the retrocession on June 30, 1997, is that of a "Special Administrative Region" of the People's Republic of China. It consisted historically of four regions: the New Territories adjoining China to the north consisting over 70% of the total land area; Kowloon, the southern part of the mainland peninsula; Hong Kong Island, the traditional financial center, and the other islands.
It was through the East India Company that the British became involved in the south China market in the late 17th century. This trade grew enormously in the 18th century, as Europeans became fascinated by Chinese products of porcelain, silk and tea. Numerous European palaces and great homes had Chinese rooms with Ming and Qing "china" as well as silk wall coverings
Initially there was a strong imbalance of trade in favor of China, as Europeans wanted Chinese products but the Chinese had little desire for European goods. Additionally, British and other foreign trade was restricted to Guangzhou in the south and this trade, from the British perspective, was further hampered by numerous petty rules and regulations.
The British introduction of opium from Bengal in the 1770s led to the breakdown of this pattern. Opium was wildly successful for British merchants and investors as thousands of 70kg (154 pound) chests of opium landed in Guangzhou (or Canton); the trade imbalance now tilted sharply toward the British. Opium had a debilitating effect both on Chinese officials, who were bribed to look the other way or fell under its influence, and on the society in general. The outflow of silver, which the Chinese used to pay for the opium, also had a massive inflationary impact on the Chinese economy.
The Chinese efforts to limit the opium traffic eventually led to a clash in 1839. The new governor, Lin Zexu, destroyed 20,000 chests of opium after having besieged the British in Guangzhou for six weeks. The ensuing British victory in the Opium War, settled by the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, opened five ports to British trade along the southern and eastern coasts and additionally gave the British Hong Kong Island "in perpetuity." A second portion of land, Kowloon, was added to the Hong Kong possession in 1859, and the New Territories were added as a 99 year lease beginning July 1, 1898 and ending June 30, 1997.
Occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War, Hong Kong's population swelled considerable during the postwar conflict between the communist and nationalist armies. Many also slipped into Hong Kong during the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. The city and its economy as a consequence grew rapidly, and Hong Kong became an economic powerhouse in Asia.
The looming return of the New Territories in 1997, forced a realistic view of the precarious situation of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. They could not survive apart from the mainland's material support. For People's China acquiring the entire area could serve as a dynamic link to world economic markets and perhaps even entice Taiwan into its fold. The British and Chinese governments, consequently, agreed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, that all of the Crown Colony be returned in 1997 when the lease on the New Territories expired. Hong Kong was also promised that its economic, social and legal system would be permitted to continue as it was under the pledge of "one country, two systems."
