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|flag_s1 = Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg
|flag_s1 = Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg
|s2 = Hong Kong
|s2 = Hong Kong
|flag_s2 = Flag of Hong Kong.svg
|flag_s2 = Hong Kong Blue Ensign.png
|image_flag = Hong Kong Blue Ensign.png
|image_flag = Hong Kong Blue Ensign.png
|flag_alt = Flag of Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997
|flag_alt = Flag of Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997

Revision as of 12:46, 24 November 2012

Hong Kong
香港
1841–1941

1945–1997
Motto: "Dieu et mon droit" (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem: God Save the King/Queen
Map of colonial Hong Kong
Location of Hong Kong
StatusBritsih Crown colony
(1843–1941, 1945–1981)
British Dependent Territory
(1981–1997)
CapitalVictoria
Common languagesEnglish, Cantonese Chinese
GovernmentCrown colony
(1843–1941, 1945–1981)
British Dependent Territory
(1981–1997)
Monarch 
• 1841–1901
Victoria (first)
• 1952–1997
Elizabeth II (last)
Governor 
• 1843–1844
Sir Henry Pottinger (first)
• 1992–1997
Chris Patten (last)
Colonial/Chief Secretary1 
• 1843–1844
John Morrison (first)
• 1993–1997
Anson Chan (last)
LegislatureLegislative Council
Historical eraNew Imperialism
20 January 1841
29 August 1842
24 October 1860
9 June 1898
December 1941
30 June 1997
Area
184880.4 km2 (31.0 sq mi)
19011,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
19451,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
19951,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
Population
• 1848
24,000
• 1901
283,978
• 1945
750,000
• 1995
6,300,000
CurrencyHong Kong dollar (since 1937)
ISO 3166 codeHK
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Qing Dynasty
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
Hong Kong File:Hong Kong Blue Ensign.png
1 The title changed from "Colonial Secretary" to "Chief Secretary" in 1976.

British Hong Kong (Chinese: 英屬香港) refers to Hong Kong as a British Crown colony and, later, a British Dependent Territory under British administration from 1841 to 1997.

History

Colonial establishment

Victoria in the 1890s.

In 1836, the Chinese government undertook a major policy review of the opium trade. Lin Zexu volunteered to take on the task of suppressing opium. In March 1839, he became Special Imperial Commissioner in Canton, where he ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium stock. He confined the British to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies. Chief Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, complied with Lin's demands in order to secure a safe exit for the British, with the costs involved to be resolved between the two governments. When Elliot promised that the British government would pay for their opium stock, the merchants surrendered their 20,283 chests of opium, which were destroyed in public.[1]

In September 1839, the British Cabinet decided that the Chinese should be made to pay for the destruction of British property by the threat or use of force. An expeditionary force was placed under Elliot and his cousin, Rear Admiral George Elliot, as joint plenipotentiaries in 1840. Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston stressed to the Chinese Imperial Government that the British Government did not question China's right to prohibit opium, but it objected to the way this was handled.[1] He viewed the sudden strict enforcement as laying a trap for the foreign traders, and the confinement of the British with supplies cut off was tantamount to starving them into submission or death. He instructed the Elliot cousins to occupy one of the Chusan islands, to present a letter from himself to a Chinese official for the Emperor, then to proceed to the Gulf of Bohai for a treaty, and if the Chinese resisted, blockade the key ports of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.[2] Palmerston demanded a territorial base in Chusan for trade so that British merchants "may not be subject to the arbitrary caprice either of the Government of Peking, or its local Authorities at the Sea-Ports of the Empire".[3]

British Hong Kong in the 1930s

In 1841, Elliot negotiated with Lin's successor, Qishan, in the Convention of Chuenpee during the First Opium War. On 20 January, Elliot announced "the conclusion of preliminary arrangements", which included the cession of Hong Kong Island and its harbour to the British Crown.[4] On 26 January, the Union Flag was raised on Hong Kong, and Commodore James Bremer, commander-in-chief of the British forces in China, took formal possession of the island at Possession Point.[5] Elliot chose Hong Kong instead of Chusan because he believed a settlement further east would cause an "indefinite protraction of hostilities", whereas Hong Kong's harbour was a valuable base for the British trading community in Canton.[6] On 29 August 1842, the cession was formally ratified in the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong "in perpetuity" to Britain.

Growth and expansion

The treaty failed to satisfy British expectations of a major expansion of trade and profit, which led to increasing pressure for a revision of the terms.[7] In October 1856, Chinese authorities in Canton detained the Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong to enjoy protection of the British flag. The Consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, claimed the hauling down of the flag and arrest of the crew were "an insult of very grave character". Parkes and Sir John Bowring, the 4th Governor of Hong Kong, seized the incident to pursue a forward policy. In March 1857, Palmerston appointed Lord Elgin, the former Governor General of the Province of Canada, as Plenipotentiary with the aim of securing a new and satisfactory treaty. A French expeditionary force joined the British to avenge the execution of French missionary Fr. Auguste Chapdelaine in 1856.[8] In 1860, the capture of the Taku Forts and occupation of Beijing led to the Treaty of Tientsin and Convention of Peking. In the Treaty of Tientsin, the Chinese accepted British demands to open more ports, navigate the Yangtze River, legalise the opium trade, and have diplomatic representation in Beijing. During the conflict, the British occupied the Kowloon Peninsula, where the flat land was valuable training and resting ground. The area in what is now south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island was ceded in the Convention of Peking.[9]

In 1898, the British sought to extend Hong Kong for defence. After negotiations began in April 1898, with the British Minister in Beijing, Sir Claude MacDonald, representing Britain, and diplomat Li Hongzhang leading the Chinese, the Second Convention of Peking was signed on 9 June. This granted a 99-year lease of the rest of Kowloon south of the Shenzhen River and 230 islands, which became known as the New Territories. The British formally took possession on 16 April 1899.[10]

Japanese occupation

In 1941, during the Second World War, the British reached an agreement with the Chinese government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek that if Japan attacked Hong Kong, the Chinese National Army would attack the Japanese from the rear to relieve pressure on the British garrison. On 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong began when Japanese air bombers effectively destroyed British air power in one attack.[11] Two days later, the Japanese breached the Gin Drinkers Line in the New Territories. The British commander, Major-General Christopher Maltby, concluded that the island could not be defended for long unless he withdrew his brigade from the mainland. On 18 December, the Japanese crossed Victoria Harbour.[12] By 25 December, organised defence was reduced into pockets of resistance. Maltby recommended a surrender to Governor Sir Mark Young, who accepted his advice to reduce further losses. A day after the invasion, Generalissimo Chiang ordered three corps under General Yu Hanmou to march towards Hong Kong. The plan was to launch a New Year's Day attack on the Japanese in the Canton region, but before the Chinese infantry could attack, the Japanese had broken Hong Kong's defences. The British casualties were 2,232 killed or missing and 2,300 wounded. The Japanese reported 1,996 killed and 6,000 wounded.[13]

The conquest was swift, but was followed by days of large-scale looting; over ten thousand Chinese women were raped or gang-raped by the Japanese soldiers.[14] The population fell in half, from 1.6 million in 1941 to 750,000 at war's end because of fleeing refugees; they returned in 1945.[15]

The Japanese imprisoned the ruling British colonial élite and sought to win over the local merchant gentry by appointments to advisory councils and neighbourhood watch groups. The policy worked well for Japan and produced extensive collaboration from both the élite and the middle class, with far less terror than in other Chinese cities. Hong Kong was transformed into a Japanese colony, with Japanese businesses replacing the British. However, the Japanese Empire had severe logistical difficulties and by 1943 the food supply for Hong Kong was problematic. The overlords became more brutal and corrupt, and the Chinese gentry became disenchanted. With the surrender of Japan, the transition back to British rule was smooth, for on the mainland the Nationalist and Communist forces were preparing for a civil war and ignored Hong Kong. In the long run the occupation strengthened the pre-war social and economic order among the Chinese business community by eliminating some conflicts of interests and reducing the prestige and power of the British.[16]

Restoration of British rule

Hong Kong in 1965

On 14 August 1945, when Japan announced its unconditional surrender, the British formed a naval task group to sail towards Hong Kong.[17] On 1 September, Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt proclaimed a military administration with himself as its head. He formally accepted the Japanese surrender on 16 September in Government House.[18] Sir Mark Young, upon his return as Governor in early May 1946, pursued political reform, believing that given the Chinese government's determination to recover Hong Kong, the only way to keep the colony British was to make the local inhabitants want to do so. He believed this could be done by making local inhabitants participate in politics.[19]

The development of Sha Tin New Town in 1983

Handover to China

Government

British passport issued to Hong Kong citizens

In January 1841, when Elliot declared Hong Kong's cession to Britain, he proclaimed that the government shall devolve upon the office of Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China. He issued a proclamation with Commodore Bremer to the inhabitants on 1 February, declaring that they "are hereby promised protection, in her majesty's gracious name, against all enemies whatever; and they are further secured in the free exercise of their religious rites, ceremonies, and social customs; and in the enjoyment of their lawful private property and interests."[4] Elliot declared that Chinese natives would be governed under Chinese laws (excluding torture), and that British subjects and foreigners would fall under British law.[4] However, London decided that English law should prevail.[20]

The Letters Patent of 5 April 1843 defined the constitutional structure of Hong Kong as a Crown colony and the Royal Instructions detailed how the region should be governed and organised. The Letters Patent prescribed a Governor as head of government, and both the Executive Council and Legislative Council being advisors to the Governor.[21] The administrative civil service of the colony was led by a Colonial Secretary (later Chief Secretary), who was deputy to the Governor.

In 1861, Governor Sir Hercules Robinson introduced the Hong Kong Cadetship, which recruited young graduates from Britain to learn Cantonese and written Chinese for two years, before deploying them on a fast track to the Civil Service. Cadet officers gradually formed the backbone of the civil administration. After the Second World War, ethnic Chinese were allowed into the service, followed by women. Cadets were renamed Administrative Officers in the 1950s, and they remained the elite of the Civil Service during British rule.[22]

Economy

Victoria Harbour in 1988, the Bank of China Tower was being built

The stability, security, and predictability of British law and government enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a centre for international trade.[23] In the colony's first decade, the revenue from the opium trade was a key source of government funds. The importance of opium reduced over time, but the colonial government were dependent on its revenues until the Japanese occupation in 1941.[23] Although the largest businesses in the early colony were operated by British, American, and other expatriates, Chinese workers provided the bulk of the manpower to build a new port city.[24]

By the late 1980s, many ethnic Chinese people had become major business figures in Hong Kong. Amongst these billionaires was Sir Ka-shing Li, who had become one of the colony's wealthiest people by this time.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Tsang 2004, pp. 9–10
  2. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 11
  3. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 21
  4. ^ a b c The Chinese Repository. Volume 10. pp. 63–64.
  5. ^ Belcher, Edward (1843). Narrative of a Voyage Round the World. Volume 2. p. 148.
  6. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 11, 21
  7. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 29
  8. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 32–33
  9. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 33, 35
  10. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 38–41
  11. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 121
  12. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 122
  13. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 123–124
  14. ^ Philip Snow (2004). The Fall Of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese Occupation. Yale U.P. p. 81.
  15. ^ Jung-Fang Tsai, "Wartime Experience, Collective Memories and Hong Kong Identity, China Review International (2005) 12#1 pp 229+ online
  16. ^ Wei-Bin Zhang (2006). Hong Kong: The Pearl Made of British Mastery And Chinese Docile-Diligence. Nova Publishers. p. 109.
  17. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 133
  18. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 138
  19. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 143–144
  20. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 23
  21. ^ Tsang 2004, pp.18–19
  22. ^ Tsang 2004, pp. 25–26
  23. ^ a b Tsang 2004, p. 57
  24. ^ Tsang 2004, p. 58

Further reading

  • Carroll, John M. A Concise History of Hong Kong (2007)
  • Clayton, Adam. Hong Kong since 1945: An Economic and Social History (2003)
  • Lui, Adam Yuen-chung (1990). Forts and Pirates – A History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong History Society. p. 114. ISBN 962-7489-01-8.
  • Liu, Shuyong; Wang, Wenjiong; Chang, Mingyu (1997). An Outline History of Hong Kong. Foreign Languages Press. p. 291. ISBN 978-7-119-01946-8.
  • Ngo, Tak-Wing (1 August 1999). Hong Kong's History: State and Society Under Colonial Rule. Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-415-20868-0.
  • Snow, Philip. The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation (2004) excerpt and text search
  • Tsang, Steve. A Modern History of Hong Kong. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-419-0. {{cite book}}: Text "year2007" ignored (help) excerpt and text search
  • Welsh, Frank (1993). A Borrowed place: the history of Hong Kong. Kodansha International. p. 624. ISBN 978-1-56836-002-7.

Primary sources

  • Endacott, G. B (1964). An Eastern Entrepot;: A Collection of Documents Illustrating the History of Hong Kong. Her Majesty's Stationary Office. p. 293. ASIN B0007J07G6.
  • Tsang, Steve (1995). Government and Politics: A Documentary History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. p. 312. ISBN 962-209-392-2.