Imperialism Of Hong Kong Essay

In the 19th Century British planned to invade China for economic reasons. It had no motives to conquer the state rather entice it to accept a free trade. The country was rich in tea which was in high demand not only in Britain but all over the world. China also had porcelain and silk which the Britons envied. The intruders did not have enough silver to buy the commodities thus opted for a barter system. Consequently, a war between the two states occurred. It was fought between 1848 and 1852 with China becoming unsuccessful due advanced military competence of Britons. The signing of an agreement between them then followed, and British was additionally awarded extraterritorial rights by China. However, the imperialism in China was a positive thing to the natives because it introduced trade and much education in the region which opened up opportunities.

Erez Manela’s The Wilsonian Moment Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism is a monograph that attempts to reconstruct the story of colonial world at the end of Wilsonian moment. The book’s title, The Wilsonian Moment is alluding to the crucial period that lasted from autumn of 1918 to spring of 1919, when the Allied victory were confident that President Woodrow Wilson’s ideas for a new world will become successful until the terms of the Treaty of Versailles became public and the failure of the Wilson’s promise became evident. Erez Manela says, “The focus of this book is on the specific significance of Wilsonian moment in the colonial world, defined broadly as the dependent or semi dependent territories that encompassed at the time almost all of Asia and Africa”(8). Manela demonstrates how Woodrow Wilson’s post-war rhetoric on self-determination, a concept that firmly believes all nations should be able to determine for their futures and governance impacted several anti colonial movements by using Egypt, India, China, and Korea as case studies. In these case studies, Manela explicitly exhibits how colonized countries received and interpreted Wilson’s rhetoric, and applied it to their local struggle for independence. These four countries actively fought for their independence, but their arguments were dismissed at the Paris Peace Conference for different reasons. Manela tells us,” The “revolt against the West,” emerged “not from the

1. Explain the context/ background of the events you are examining? For example: time; place and how it relates to colonization by the nation you are examining or other nations.

During the 1750s the British invaded India and became the political leaders of Bengal to have access to Chinese tea but instead gained access to India’s opium. The Chinese refused to trade with Britain, so the British began exporting opium into China to cut the trade burden on themselves. The British smuggled opium into the Southeastern coast of China, where the desperate poor Chinese citizens did opium. The Chinese government demanded that the opium smuggling stop, but alternatively the Opium War broke out. Britain eventually won the war and took over Hong Kong, forcing China to pay up large amounts of silver. Due to Britain defeating China in the Opium War they gained silver, Hong Kong, and Southeast China. This gave the British access to market expansion, extra territory, and control over China, where the British law governed the Chinese citizens. In the 1840s through the 1850s India and China were the wealthiest countries in the world, then in the 1840s the British became in complete control over all of India allowing them to surpass Asia and other

Foreign military and economic intervention by European imperial powers created greater instability in China. Western powers, through an unequal treaty system, engaged in legal imperialism that gave them protection through special rights and privileges that gradually reduced Chinese tradesmen to a subordinate role. Opium trade, fueled by Britain, drained China of silver, and drove up the price of silver. Silver was the standard payment for taxes, but rising prices made tax payments an economic burden for peasants. The First Opium War, 1839 to 1842, resulted in the defeat of the Chinese and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing. The treaty forced ceded Hong Kong to the British and open treaty ports to the British along the southern coast providing Britain with greater access to foreign trade. The emerge of western competition in China threaten the livelihood of people throughout the country and weakened China’s economic power in the region overall. New trade routes, commodities, and the introduction of western business practices affected many people in various parts of the country.

Chapter one covers the earlier colonial timeframe up until approximately 1867 when Hong Kong and Shanghai bank was founded. It seems that Hong Kong was not really recognized for much of anything until the early 1800’s when it was realized to be an acceptable base to process trade through China. It is interesting, and somewhat terrible, to see the amount of conflict in such a short time period. Starting with the First Opium War in 1839, the Chinese suffered through several wars, unfair treaties, piracy, and British tyranny, ending with Hong Kong becoming a center for transnational Chinese trade.

“I believe that the only plausible explanation for the different rates of growth is socialism in Britain, free enterprise and free markets in Hong Kong. Has anybody got a better explanation? I’d be grateful for any suggestions.” Milton Friedman asks us this in his 1998 essay: The Hong Kong Experiment. Milton Friedman was part and founder of a school of economic thinkers called the Chicago School. This group believed strongly in the power of Capitalism, and although there are many definitions for this form of economic policy, Friedman and this paper us the following definition: “the organization of the bulk of economic activity through private enterprise operating in a free market”. Friedman in the aforementioned essay attempts to show us the benefits which a capitalist nation has over a socialist one. He uses, specifically, the case studies of the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Israel. Through these examples he postulates that it was Hong Kong’s capitalist policies which allowed it to succeed economically. There is no debating that Hong Kong is something of an economic miracle. The island began as small rock covered with a few fishing villages, and ended up being a world economic power. Friedman, however, makes the error of oversimplifying the situation of Hong Kong in the thesis of his essay. Hong Kong, by its very nature, does not exist in isolation. It is greatly affected by world politics, long history, and its own geography. We must understand Hong Kong’s success as a

The decolonization is a process in which colonies becomes independent of the colonizing country. This process can be as violent as peaceful and most of the revolutions emerging from decolonization were lead by a strong nationalism (Collins English Dictionary, 2007). After World War II, most of the European countries did not have enough economic and political stability to sustain to the different revolts taking place in their colonies and to help them to improve social and economic developments. But, it was inconceivable, for economic reasons, for these European countries to let their colonies being independent. Only, USA and the Soviet Union took positions against colonialism. On both sides, decolonization was unavoidable because of their political convictions. Thus, these two superpowers influence the decolonization process to achieve to their common goal: each state should be independent from any other form of power (Beyond empire and nation: Decolonizing societies in Africa and Asia 1930s-1970S, Amsterdam 2012). However, the conflict between USSR and USA during the Cold war affected the decolonization process of many different countries. How did the Cold war between USA and the Soviet Union had an impact on the decolonization process? To answer to this question understanding the role of the two superpowers, during this period in the world, is important. Than, in a second hand, the example of Indo-China’s decolonization will help us to highlight the mains impacts of the

England tired of the strict regulation of the Canton system, what they believed to be the Chinese undeserved entitled attitudes, and the need for new markets, used gun diplomacy to force China to accept unequal treaties and open its foreign trade. This was China’s introduction to ‘modernity’, but in truth it was the imperial nations craving up of China for their benefit and labeling it as bringing

Date back to 1800s in China, after the failure of two Opium Wars; Hong Kong entirely became a colony of Britain according to two unequal treaties that are Treaty of Nanking and Convention of Peking. As Hong Kong is a colony, it must be resumed over one day. After the foundation of People’s Republic of China, PRC needed to build up diplomatic development and this historical issue was brought to the table. Although the relinquishment issue was complicated and the negotiation between British and Chinese governments was back and forth, it was well solved in 1984 by signing Sino-British Joint Declaration. The declaration stated that Hong Kong must be handed over with effect from July 1st, 1997; moreover, both two countries agreed on “one country, two systems” this suggestive political principle. On July 1st, 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China and the success of the relinquishment

Because of a lack of western interaction, the British were pursuing to expand their empires with an Asian coastal port for trading items like tea and opium. Before the 1830s, China’s sole foreign trade consisted of luxury goods including silk

“Hong Kong became part of the People’s Republic of China in 1997, but under the “one country, two systems” agreement, China promised not to impose its socialist policies on Hong Kong and to allow Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense policy for 50 years.” (Hong Kong Economy: Population, Facts, GDP, Business, Trade, and Inflation, 2015). The universal suffrage is the critical issue for China currently, which was promised for 2017 by Chinese officials. Even though government officials have power over all land in Hong Kong, small government, low taxes, and light regulation has been beneficial towards their economy. Key businesses comprise monetary services and distribution; production has mainly traveled to the mainland. Hong Kong’s economy has become progressively united

Hong Kong is currently under the rule of the PRC as a special administrative region, with the practice of ‘One country, two system’. Hong Kong exercises capitalism under the rule of the British government and thus continues its practice after the handover. Hong Kong is closely located to mainland, showing her essential role in the economic

The opium increase had a negative effect on China and their government. Individuals became highly addicted and began trading silver to obtain opium which resulted in the Qing government losing most their silver. Due to loss of silver, tax payments began rising. Tax payments became hard for citizen to pay. With the intention of solving these issues, China banned all use of opium. Britain demanded the creation of an independent British colony in China with unrestricted trade. The British demands and Chinese resistance led to the Opium Wars. During the Opium Wars, China was forced to give in to British demands. They were required to relinquish Hong Kong forever, pay an indemnity of $100 million, and open four large cities to unlimited foreign trade. China and Western powers continued to dispute over trade, leading to the second Opium War. The second Opium War consisted of further loss of Chinese territory and forced the Chinese to accept trade and investments with unfavorable term in several more cities.

Secondly, Hong Kong as the member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has a free trade policy, which could maintain no import tariffs and no barriers on trade (Trade and Industry Department 2014). Further, according to the Index of Economic Freedom (2016), Hong Kong has the highest index (88.6) in the world. This means for international trade and investment, Hong Kong maintains one of the most open economies in the world. Meanwhile, for foreign investment, Hong Kong has no tighter regulations and control. Most foreign-invested enterprises could retain their all ownership (Koscil 2011).