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Old 11-07-2014, 07:54 AM
 
1,161 posts, read 2,432,920 times
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Incorrect.

Hong Kong Island was handed over to the British in 1841 in perpetuity according to the treaty terms following the First Opium War.

Kowloon was handed over to Britain in 1860, also in perpetuity. This followed the second Opium War.

Following the Sino-Japanese War, Britain used a weakened China to agree to a 99 year lease for the New Territories.

The problem facing Britain was that the New Territories, which made up the bulk of the Hong Kong colony, was only a lease and it contained the most, if not all, of the water supply for Hong Kong. China made it absolutely clear that when it took back the New Territories it would shut off the water supply for Hong Kong. Britain had no choice but agree to hand back all of Hong Kong. The New Territories were also too integrated with the rest of Hong Kong that it simply was not practical to carve up the city if Britain attempted to hold on to HK Island and Kowloon. Too many people lived in the NT and would be closed off from Hong Kong. Commercial activities would be damaged. So Britain handed back all of Hong Kong.





Quote:
Originally Posted by Chava61 View Post
Since Hong Kong was only leased to the British, it belongs to China all the time. So your statement is simply unrealistic.

As for HK protests being 1989 all over again, I don't think so as I doubt the Chinese Government will dare bring tanks to stop the protests with the whole world watching on social media.
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Old 11-07-2014, 08:02 AM
 
1,161 posts, read 2,432,920 times
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The British administrators and the UK government started talks to introduce more self-governance to Hong Kong in the 1950s but Beijing emphatically opposed it. They were waiting for the eventual handover and did not want any proper democratic institutions in place in Hong Kong. Beijing was also afraid that if Britain introduced more self governance in HK, it would eventually lead to an independent Hong Kong and it would become a city state similar to Singapore.

So while Beijing has ironically criticized Britain in the last few weeks regarding the lack of democracy in Hong Kong, it was definitely Beijing that put pressure on Britain not to implement democratic reform. Even though Beijing allowed Britain to retain Hong Kong up till 1997, they also kept Britain's hands tied in many ways. Britain knew they couldn't defend Hong Kong against a Chinese invasion, and they also knew the world would probably not support them had they attempted to hold on to Hong Kong. Britain did not want to risk the wrath of Beijing and the Red Army, so they tabled the reforms. It wasn't until the very last minute, under Patten, that some type of democratic reform was implemented, which infuriated Beijing but Beijing wisely didn't do anything since they were going to take HK in a few years anyway.


Quote:
Originally Posted by juppiter View Post

Please remember that Hong Kong did not have Democracy under British rule either.

That said, I don't see a 1989 style revolution ever occurring in China. It is a nation that will slowly creep toward democracy through reforms.
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Old 11-19-2014, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Chicago
607 posts, read 756,531 times
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Here is the issue..

forget the technicalities...

the UK obviously took Hong Kong by force....however, the question is, what right do they have to continue enjoying
a free capitalist society, now that mainland China has reappropriated the same?

Also, HK is a showcase for mainland China, per showing that they are very much a part of the times and connected to the outside global power structure......this is also important for investors in recent high flying stocks from China like Alibaba.
It is obviously not a great thing for the mainland to be seen as turning back individual freedoms.....

Appearances are everything.....China is of the global system but yet not quite of it. Their currency still is not freely convertible or traded on world markets. Foreigners are still not allowed to own stock outright in companies.
I am of the opinion that China, as well as Russia, does not want to jump completely into the global economy. One foot in and one foot out.

That being said, if mainland C is seen as turning back freedoms in Taiwan and or HK, being that they are only halfway into the global economy, it can very much cause the outside world, including Asia, to hugely certail FDI and other investments.

It is a tightrope, and China treads it carefully......

The CCP cannot been seen as losing face..It is all about them.......and only them....a relatively small politburo/posse at the top of state run enterprises(SRE's), the Military, and the gov't itself.....

They see freedom and CCP power as a zero-sum. mutually exclusive game..

This is the crux of the entire HK problem...

The protests are getting crazy now.......a crackdown might be coming...this just happpened on Nov. 19(PIC)

Hong Kong protesters smash into government HQ - CNN.com

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