HONG
KONG HISTORY |
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Although it was occupied since at least as long ago as the Neolithic Age,
the territory of today's Hong Kong remained distant from the major events
unfolding in imperial China for most of its history. It did not begin
attracting worldwide attention until the 19th century.
Occupied by the United Kingdom during the First Opium War in 1841, Hong Kong
Island was formally ceded by China the following year under the Treaty of
Nanking. Parts of the adjacent Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street,
and the Stonecutters Island) were ceded to Britain in 1860 by the Convention
of Peking after the Second Opium War. Various adjacent lands, known as the
New Territories (including New Kowloon) were then leased to Britain for 99
years from July 1, 1898, the lease expiring on June 30, 1997. |
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Pursuant to an agreement signed by the PRC and the UK on December 19, 1984,
the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the whole territory of Hong Kong under
British colonial rule became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of
the PRC on July 1, 1997.
In the Joint Declaration, the PRC promised that, under the "One Country, Two
Systems" policy proposed by Deng Xiaoping, China's socialist economic system
would not be practiced in Hong Kong and that Hong Kong would enjoy a high
degree of autonomy in all matters, except foreign affairs and defence, for
50 years, until 2047. |
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