The Hong Kong Basic Law in Comparison With the Constitutions of Other Countries - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Without hesitation, Elliot raised the British flag and claimed possession of the island in and on behalf of the British crown.
In 1842, the Qing Dynasty was compelled by UK’s victory in the First Opium War to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain in perpetuity. The Treaty of Nanking was followed by the Treaty of Peking (the former Beijing) which ceded the Kowloon peninsula to the British by virtue of its victory in the Second Opium War. This was followed by China’s 99-year lease of the New Territories and 203 outlying islands to Britain in 1898. What China cannot discern, Elliot and the other pioneering Britons can conjure because they were able to contemplate on its deep, sheltered harbor an immeasurable asset that promises a million things including foreign international trade possibilities (Carroll 2007, p. 1). And they were right on target because quickly and even to the surprise of the Chinese political leaders they were able to transform Hong Kong into a prosperous, industrial and financial center (Tsang 2007, p. ix). This was also
achieved through the industry and entrepreneurship of a population that is 98% Chinese, who combined the spartan discipline of the quintessential Chinese with the cosmopolitan outlook and modern way of life and core values that are unmistakably British and European. With this and the effective administration of an efficient and tested British governance, Hong Kong today has become the world’s biggest container port and one of the world’s biggest textile exporters. Moreover, it has developed such a massive foreign trade that is almost twice that of China (Lye 1996, p.80). In 156 years of British administration, Hong Kong has been entrenched as a global financial metropolis finding its mark as the world’s 13th highest GDP per capita with a GDP per capita of $42,000 as of 2007 (CIA, The World Factbook 2008). ...Download file to see next pagesRead More