It’s now 25 years since #hongkong was returned to #china following 156 years under British rule. As you can imagine, the West are having a hard time coping with China’s celebrations, despite the fact that Hong Kong was initially taken by brute military force after Britain's illegal shipments of heroin to China were confiscated and destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. Here’s a quick history.
By the 1800s, #britain had grown extremely fond of Chinese goods, mainly tea and china. British merchants were making a lot of money bringing Chinese goods back to Britain, but they encountered an issue: Britain didn’t have anything China wanted to buy back, so there was a huge trade imbalance.
Britain decided to play dirty, growing opium, the key ingredient of heroin, in British India for shipment to China in the hope of making enough back in the illicit trade to fund their new addiction to tea. Don’t forget, heroin was illegal in China, but Britain was desperate to even out trade so who cares, right? Before too long, China had millions of heroin addicts which, rightfully so, worried the government who decided they had to act.
In May of 1839, Britain’s Chief Superintendent of trade, a man named Charles Elliot, was forced to hand over more than 1,400 tons of the drug that was being stored in a warehouse in Canton for illegal distribution in China. It was then destroyed, which angered the British side and eventually led to the First Opium War, where the British smashed China militarily, culminating in the take over of Nanjing, which literally means Southern Capital, in late 1842. China was then forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, the first of the so-called “unequal treaties”, which ordered the Emperor to not only pay the British for the destroyed opium, but also to cover the cost of the war, open more ports to accept British heroin, and give up Hong Kong which would be used as a trading port to boost the drug trade. The British achieved a 99-year lease of Hong Kong in 1898.
The Treaty of Nanjing is seen as the beginning of China’s “Century of Humiliation,” a very important aspect influencing China’s foreign policy to this day.
Fast forward to 1997, and Hong Kong was to be handed back to its rightful owner after what ended up being 156 years of British rule. What’s infuriating is that the British lie to this day about how Hong Kongers were treated during that time. Many people don’t realize that in more than 150 years of British rule, the island was lorded over undemocratically by white Governors installed by London, giving Hong Kong residents no say in how they were governed.
It’s quite hilarious that Western media like CNN argue that China has waged an “idealogical war against the influence of Western values” in Hong Kong, including “democracy” and “press freedom”. Perhaps the staff should read more history.
Britain always had a suspicion of Hong Kongers and often violently suppressed their calls for democracy on the island. In 1856, Britain’s Colonial Office rejected calls for more local representation, saying Chinese were had no respect for “the main principles upon which social order rests.” Racist much!
Popular grassroots movements on the island were squashed, and the press was censored by Britain in order to stop such movements gaining momentum. So much for “press freedom”.
It was only until Britain was getting ready to hand the island back to China in the 1990s that they started to rush in democratic reform, almost certainly as a way to spite China and cause issues they didn’t want to deal with themselves in their 156 years of rule.
In what seems like a pure irony, Hong Kong rioters waved British flags as they demanded full democracy there, and many young locals seem blatantly unaware of how Britain treated the population while they were in control.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said recently that he won’t give up on Hong Kong, and argued that China had “disturbed” the foundations on which modern Hong Kong had been built. WHAT FOUNDATIONS?! YOU DIDN’T GIVE HONG KONG PEOPLE A SAY IN GOVERNANCE FOR 156 YEARS!!!
Hong Kong people now have more say in their government that they have in nearly 200 years, and that is thanks to China.
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