Establishment of Hong Kong as a British Colony - Essay Example

Your Instructor’s Name Course Date Establishment of Hong Kong as a British Colony When we decide to study the history of a place, the importance of reading a periodical or article written in that period about the place is indispensable. Here we try to understand the situation of Hong Kong under British rule through two periodicals. Hong Kong: Colonial Legacy, Transformation and Challenge by Ming K Chan and Hong Kong and The Crisis of Sovereignty by William H Overholt provide an insight into the British Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Colonial Legacy, Transformation and Challenge by Ming K Chan is a post-1989 written periodical. Here I choose to separate the two periodicals as pre-1989 and post-1989 to emphasize the effect of the Tiananmen incident on the two periodicals. This periodical gives general information about the colonial rule in Hong Kong. With the signing of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, there were apprehensions as to the future of Hong Kong. As a colony not just was Hong Kong dependant but the dependency factor had also instilled fear among Hong Kong Chinese about their future. The writer chooses to focus on the transformation of British Hong Kong to Hong Kong SAR. Regarding the transformation, he expresses the concern that the China factor instead of being a positive force in the transformation has been a negative force. Due to this, there is a loss in confidence among Hong Kong Chinese. The writer has taken up the subject empathically and has properly addressed all the concerns and the reasons for them. The second periodical Hong Kong and The Crisis of Sovereignty by William H Overholt is a pre-1989 written periodical. The writer talks about the ‘crisis of sovereignty’ where, on one hand China is looking forward to accept Hong Kong and establish its sovereignty in Hong Kong and on the other hand Britain is just as keen about Hong Kong not as much for its interests in Hong Kong but for maintaining its high position in world. The writer describes about the 1982 crisis and its impact on the market and on people. He discusses about how future order shall be maintained in Hong Kong while discussing about the bargaining power of the two sovereigns-China and Britain. The two periodicals are not just individual successes but when unified they provide a better understanding of Hong Kong. The periodical Hong Kong: Colonial Legacy, Transformation and Challenge takes a step by step approach to justify its conclusion. Ming K Chan shows his capability as an excellent observer of general feelings as well as of future trends. Ming K Chan is not too kind on British as he explains the much-publicized laissez-faire colonialism was far from fair. The influence of British establishments was a selective alliance of the colonial bureaucracy and industrialist entrepreneurship. There was not always the existence of a fair trade because of the favoured particular preferences. Hong Kong Chinese were not just suffering from being under a foreigner’s rule but also by the fact that they were not being treated at par with their colonizers in their own homeland. It should be noted that we do not speak of Hong Kong Chinese’s pain as we do of Colonized India’s pain just because Hong Kong was the sixth largest grossing economy. However, one should always remember that the locals were not being benefited by the growing economy, though at the same time one should also not forget Britain’s contribution to making what Hong Kong is today. The writer then introduces his readers to the China factor and its role. China had helped Hong Kong in its processes of decolonization, localization, and internationalization. The decolonization process rapidly made place nearing the last decade of the lease. The basic constitutional reforms were made in such forms that would prepare the power transfer to come place on 1997. The localization has extended its doors to the public and social organizations, and it eventually gave way to the linkage of Hong Kong to the rest of the world. However, the process of democratization not just wiped China’s positive influences but also established China factor as a destabilizing and negative force (Chan 11). China being a communist nation was bound to have difficulties with the democratic nature of Hong Kong. What further disturbed China was Hong Kong ‘Chinese’s’ democratic outlook. After the Tiananmen incident of 1989, the condition only grew worse and the people lost confidence in both the sovereigns. The confidence building measures of Governor Patten only triggered a sense of insecurity and doubt in China, which further deteriorated the condition of Hong Kong Chinese. Hong Kong was being written off under its future administration and people were migrating to places for better prospects. The author brings up these concerns in his periodical and concludes that in order to maintain the prosperity and progressiveness of Hong Kong, China would have to not just formulate new policies for Hong Kong but also provide the necessary independence for the economy to prosper. To keep the interests of capitalists in Hong Kong, China needed to deviate from its communist outlook and bring forth necessary measures to bring people into confidence. The second periodical Hong Kong and The Crisis of Sovereignty by William H Overholt takes an overview of what Hong Kong meant to both China and Britain. Through his approach of considering economy of Hong Kong as a central reason for conflict, the author brings up the necessities needed for maintaining the economy of Hong Kong as the time for end of lease neared and the reasons for China and Britain to do the same. The author starts with a description of how Hong Kong became British Hong Kong. It was handed over to Britain as a settlement for Opium War by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. It becomes clear that though Hong Kong was leased to Britain it only proved fruitful for China, as Hong Kong became a booming economy under Britain. The writer then explains about the 1982 crisis when Mrs. Thatcher’s unreserved zealous declarations about the future of Hong Kong and regarding treaties created an environment of hostility between British and Chinese officials. The writer explains that in such hostile time when the global recession was at its worst, people lost confidence, which resulted in plummeting of stock market. Real estate prices fell and so did the value of Hong Kong dollar. However, by mid-1983, the stock market had recovered and expatriate investors had regained their confidence but Chinese businesspersons remained skeptical about their future. Through the questions, that the writer puts forward, the condition of British Hong Kong in 1980s becomes clearer. There were doubts about the future (to be precise post-1997, when the term of lease was to get over) government of Hong Kong. The writer then explains about the interests of China and Britain in Hong Kong and their bargaining powers. Hong Kong was important to China not just because it provided a gateway to the world while keeping the rest of the China away from Western influence but also because it wanted to set up an example for Taiwan that a ‘free rule’ under China was possible. Economically Hong Kong was just as important to China as its pride and belief in communism. “Almost one-third of China’s foreign exchange comes from Hong Kong. China has invested US$ 15 billion in Hong Kong, and has 13 banks with 150 branches in Hon Kong.” (Overholt 475). This explains the impact that Hong Kong had on China’s economy and the kind of support it provided. Britain was not as interested in the economy of Hong Kong as it was on maintaining its pride. “Britain’s goals were to avoid humiliation over Hong Kong, to continue to extract economic benefits from its administration of Hong Kong, to maintain good relations with China, and to ensure a livable future for Hong Kong’s people.” (Overholt 475). The author then explains that in order to maintain the economic status of Hong Kong certain prerequisites were needed. Hong Kong was different from China in spite of sharing common social system and traditions and in order to maintain the prosperity of Hong Kong China needed to understand this. A free press, appropriate education system, freedom of travel, a convertible currency, Western legal system, diplomatic status, a market economy, control of their technology and information are the prerequisites that the writer mentions about (Overholt 477). The next point brought out in the periodical is about the factors that influenced economy and the negotiations. The writer explains how the economy of a country is dependant on its work force as much as on its technology and how in turn the two are connected. The writer explains that though the two sovereigns wanted Hong Kong to maintain its prosperity (but obvious for selfish reasons), the two also wanted to keep their control over Hong Kong. This struggle for power is what created uncertainties about Hong Kong’s future. The author then discusses about the future scenarios for Hong Kong and concludes that the theoretical solution to the problem of Hong Kong was not rigorously democratic but it could be politically popular and economically successful (Overholt 474). Hong Kong was not just another colony of Britain in Asia; the fact that it prospered being a colony not just makes it interesting to study about what was going in the mind of a Hong Kong Chinese but also brings astonishment to its readers. The two periodicals being discussed here are a part of that process and generate as much interest as astonishment. The reason that the two periodicals serve a part in explaining Hong Kong’s history is because the author’s have done their best to introduce to its readers the conditions of Hong Kong just as it were. The first periodical opens up to introduce to its reader’s that though Hong Kong was going great but its people were just as low. It must have been harder for people to get through the process of transition. The reason is not that Hong Kong had been a colony for a long period, there are many more regions with longer history of colonization, but that it was never going to be independent. China was not sure about its own status especially after the 1989 incident; this only rooted a deeper sense of despair. As a colonized region, Hong Kong Chinese never enjoyed the kind of living that its colonizers enjoyed, though it was still better off than many other colonies. When people are subjected to such discrimination and indifference, it creates a deeper dent in the psyche of people than imagined. The dent is not filled for many years to come. Regardless of all the reformations, that Britain brought it could never gain the trust of local people. If 140 years is not a long time than it is not short indeed (both in relativity to other colonies), the time is enough to create a permanent impact on minds of people regarding their status in the society. This impact of being a subordinate in their own homeland, in present as well in future, was a sense of helplessness regarding their own future. China’s attitude is of indifference regarding Hong Kong Chinese’s needs and their feelings. This raises questions about its true motives and about its stand as the motherland of Hong Kong Chinese. The periodical succeeds in being able to raise the questions itself and also in forcing the readers to think about the questions and in turn provides them a better insight about the position of Hong Kong. The next periodical is a pleasant deviation from the previous periodical in its treatment of the topic. The author chooses to provide facts to its readers and through these facts forces the readers to think about Hong Kong, unlike before where the author provides questions and forces readers to ponder over those questions. As said before, this is a pre-1989 periodical and the lenient tone from the previous periodical is rather striking. Both periodicals delve about the future of Hong Kong under China; however, this being written before the Tiananmen incident shows that people were less worried about their future. It is not that there were no doubts about their future but the fact they felt Chinese at heart gave them a reason to cherish. It must have been as if returning home, when you are home worries about finance does not matter as much, since the concern of pride is a bigger matter. At least they had the assurance of being treated equally. The periodical also raises another concern about difference in their own society. It is not astonishing when the author points out that the businesspersons wanted the British rule to continue. While the Chinese at the lower level were suffering, these businesspersons were gaining from the global environment that Britain brought with it. Britain had brought with it policies that China would have never allowed and because of China’s conservative approach businesspersons were doubtful about its claim over Hong Kong and its future. The periodical forces one to wonder about the need for colonization or the need for ‘unification’ that China talked about, in fact the periodical provides a valuable insight about the factors that contribute to a region’s growth and about a region’s economic value defining its value as a whole. This periodical though has one limitation, the writer has written in a little staggered manner and one needs to study the periodical quite a few times in order to understand what the writer wants to talk about. It does not have the same impact after first reading that the previous periodical had in spite of being at par to the previous periodical when it comes to content. The writer’s inability to provide the facts with the same passion that the previous writer did makes the periodical less likable than the previous one. The two periodicals are an invaluable source of information about Hong Kong. Their shortcomings do not render them useless as sources. The writers seemingly gave the very best on what they have researched on the topic. They have delivered a very good outlook on how Hong Kong is to be perceived, and they have effectively given an excellent acquaintance through which we get to know more on the existence of Hong Kong. One must read them to ensure a better understanding of Hong Kong. Bibliography Chan, Ming K. “Hong Kong: Colonial Legacy, Transformation and Challenge.” The Annals of The American Academy Sep. 1996: 11-23. Print. Overholt, William H. “Hong Kong and The Crisis of Sovereignty.” Asian Survey 4 (1984):471-484. Print. Read More