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Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. The area now known as Hong Kong became an important trading region and a significant strategic location for the Chinese mainland during the Tang and Song dynasties. After the Mongol invasion, Hong Kong's prominence declined. It began to attract the attention of China and the rest of the world again in the 19th century, when it was ceded to Britain after the Opium Wars. Hong Kong's earliest recorded non-Asian visitor was the Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares who arrived in 1513. Álvares began trading with the Chinese, and the Portuguese continued to make periodic trade stops at various locations along the coast. Tea, silk, and other Asian luxury goods were introduced in Europe by the Portuguese, and by the mid-18th century these items were in high demand, particularly tea. The British, to redress their net outflow of payments to China for tea and to force China to conduct relations like other states, invaded China, winning the First Opium War in 1841. During the war, Hong Kong Island was first occupied by the British, and then formally ceded by the Qing Dynasty of China in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking. Hong Kong became a crown colony in 1843. The first urban settlement was named Victoria City. The Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island was ceded to the British in 1860 under the Convention of Peking after the Second Opium War. Various adjacent lands, known as the New Territories (including New Kowloon and Lantau Island), were then leased by Britain for 99 years, from 1 July 1898 to 30 June 1997. For the first 20 years there was little contact between the European and Chinese communities. The first specially-recruited Hong Kong civil servants to be taught Cantonese were recruited in 1862, markedly improving relations.Hong Kong entered a dark age during the Japanese Occupation of World War II, which lasted for three years and eight months. Many Hong Kongers were executed by the Japanese army during the war. There was a significant resistance movement most notably on Lantau Island. After their defeat by the allied forces, the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945. The port was quickly re-opened and welcomed a mass migration of Chinese refugees in 1949 from the civil war. Many refugees escaped to Hong Kong fearing the new Communist government in China. Hong Kong had been a trade port ever since the British occupation, but its position as an entrepot declined greatly after the United Nations ordered a trade embargo against the People's Republic of China as a result of the Korean War. In response, a textile industry was established, taking advantage of the new pool of workers from China who were willing to work for almost any wage. During this period, the economy grew extremely rapidly. Towards the 1970s, Hong Kong began to move away from the textile industry and develop its financial and banking economy. This led to even greater growth, and Hong Kong quickly became one of the wealthiest territories in the world. Its position as an entrepot was revived when the Open Door Policy was adopted by the PRC in the late 1970s under Deng Xiaoping. In the 1980s, with the lease on the New Territories running out, the British government, led by Margaret Thatcher, decided to negotiate the question of the sovereignty of Hong Kong. Although the British would have been legally required to transfer only the New Territories to the PRC, Whitehall decided that maintaining a rump colony would not be worthwhile - the majority of Hong Kong's land was in the New Territories, and failure to return the entire colony would undoubtedly have generated political friction between the UK and PRC. Pursuant to an agreement known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed by the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom on 19 December 1984, the whole territory of Hong Kong under British colonial rule became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC on 1 July 1997. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping, the socialist economic system in mainland China would not be practiced in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and life-style would remain unchanged for at least 50 years, or until 2047. Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except diplomatic affairs and national defense. The Joint Declaration came into particular focus in June 1989 when the PRC authorities in Beijing moved with particular severity against "pro-democracy" demonstrators in Tiannamen Square and elsewhere in Beijing. The loss of life amongst their Chinese brethren in the Chinese capital led to literally millions of Hong Kong Chinese protesting openly in the streets of Hong Kong. In the (then) colony of Hong Kong there was immediate concern about Hong Kong's future, a fall in the stock market and general disquiet. Hong Kong was transferred to the PRC at midnight on 1 July 1997, with the last governor, Chris Patten, leaving on the royal yacht. Soon after the handover in July, land values in Hong Kong collapsed substantially and expedited the burst of the bubble economy, as part of the Asian financial crisis. This was exacerbated by Tung Chee Hwa's unsubstantiated pledge to supply 85,000 new flats annually; which essentially manipulated the region's real estate prices. In some areas, land values fell by over half; and the Hang Seng Index fell by over 1,500 points on 28 October 1997, losing 22.8% of its value in a week. Hong Kong was hit badly by the outbreak of the SARS virus beginning in mid-March through the summer of 2003. This exacerbated the region's economic problems, especially in the effect that it had on travel to and from Hong Kong. On 1 July the same year, half a million people marched in the largest protest rally ever aimed at the government of Hong Kong, voicing concerns about a proposed anti-subversion bill that would have eroded freedom of the press, of religion and of association arising from Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, as well as dissatisfaction with the poor state of the economy. Regina Ip, then Secretary for Security, and Antony Leung, then Financial Secretary, were forced to leave office in 2003 under public pressure (though Antony Leung left office for reason unrelated to the SARS and Article 23 crisis, he gave in to public pressure after his involvement in the 'Lexusgate' scandal).On 10 March 2005, Tung Chee Hwa submitted his resignation as chief executive of Hong Kong. Donald Tsang, the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong, served as Acting Chief Executive until 25 May, when he, too, resigned to take part in the campaign for the new Chief Executive election. Following an interim government headed by Henry Tang, Tsang was elected as Chief Executive |
Hong Kong Information: Inside
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