GRSJ224/Post-Colonial Hong Kong Identity

Hong Konger

A term that refers to a native or inhabitant of Hong Kong, the term was added to the Oxford Dictionary in March 2014.

History of the Colony

In the early 19th Century, the British Empire ran a huge trade deficit against Qing Imperial China due to the strong demand for Chinese goods such as tea and silk in Europe. In a bid to reverse the trade imbalance, the British Empire began to grow opium in India and smuggle them into Chin. The popularity of opium in China had reversed the trade deficit and brought health problems to many citizens in China, which dismayed government officials. The Qing Government initially attempted to halt the Opium trade through diplomatic efforts but failed. Then, it resorted to the use of force, confiscating and publicly burned down opium, which triggered a military response from the British Empire and that lead to the First Opium War.

Following the defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the War, Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British Empire in 1842 through the Treaty of Nanjing.

After the First Opium War, the British Empire’s demanded for more favourable trading and diplomatic conditions such as legalizing the opium trade and more trading ports to be opened to British merchants. The additional demands together with sporadic armed conflicts raised tensions between the two nations which ultimately lead to the Second Opium War. The British Empire was again victorious and that resulted in the permanent cession of the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and subsequently a ninety-nine-year lease of the New Territories in 1898.