Hong Kong is today one of the great financial centers of China and the world, but there was a time when it did not belong to the Asian giant: the United Kingdom occupied the territory from 1842 to 1997.
Hong Kong was acquired by the United Kingdom in 1842 through the Treaty of Nanking, and ratified in 1860 by the Treaty of Peking, where the area was increased by the incorporation of new territories, and by the Agreement for the extension of Hong Kong in 1898. .
The Opium War, or Anglo-Chinese wars, were the origin of colonization. They happened from 1839 to 1842 and from 1856 to 1860.
In the second stage of the war, France allied with Great Britain to fight against China.
China had to open its ports to international trade from a disadvantageous position with very low tariffs on Western products.
After the Opium Wars, China signed Unequal Treaties with the United Kingdom, France, Russia and the United States.
In 1912, with the formation of the first Chinese republic, headed by Yuan Shikai, Hong Kong Island was a place of exile.
During World War II, Hong Kong was taken over by Japan, and was a military center. But with the defeat of the axis, the English took it back again.
Negotiations began in 1982 and took more than two years, until the parties approved the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
That December 19, 1984, the British promised to return Hong Kong to China in 1997, in exchange for China allowing the territory to continue as a capitalist economy and have political freedoms.
It was then that Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping devised the “one country, two systems” model and vowed to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy until 2047.
The story is also news on Radio Perfil FM 101.9. Locution by Pita Fortin.
by Radio Profile FM 101.9
by Radio Profile
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