Table of Contents
Why did China occupied Hong Kong?
The First Opium War which ensued lasted from 1839 to 1842. Britain occupied the island of Hong Kong on 25 January 1841 and used it as a military staging point. China was defeated and was forced to cede Hong Kong in the Treaty of Nanking signed on 29 August 1842. The island became a Crown Colony of the British Empire.
When did England give Hong Kong back to China?
1997
The U.K. government said China is in a “state of ongoing non-compliance” with the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a treaty signed by the two countries that guarantees Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms after the city was handed back to Beijing in 1997.
What was the agreement between Hong Kong and China?
Sino-British Joint Declaration
| Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong | |
|---|---|
| Context | Agreement on the future of Hong Kong |
| Drafted | June–September 1984 |
| Signed | 19 December 1984 |
What was Margaret Thatcher’s policy on Hong Kong?
Original image altered for clarity. In 1982, Thatcher visited Beijing, becoming the first UK Prime Minister to enter Communist China, and formally established negotiations on the future of Hong Kong. Initially, London hoped to maintain significant control over the city, even if it ceded legal sovereignty to China.
What is the significance of the handover of Hong Kong?
Handover of Hong Kong, domestically known as the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, was the formal passing of authority over the territory of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony.
What did the British do to get Hong Kong back?
Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China. In the Hall of the People in Beijing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system.
What did Thatcher say to Zhao Ziyang in 1982?
On September 23, 1982, Thatcher met with Zhao Ziyang at the Great Hall of the People. ” (Zhao) said that there were two principles (at stake) — sovereignty, and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong,” a record of the meeting said.