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Country : Hong Kong Official name: Xianggang Tebie Xingzhengqu (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China) |
Historical profile
1839–42 The first Opium War was fought between Britain and China over China's attempts to impose restrictions on foreign traders and wipe out the illicit smuggling of opium into the country. During this period, the British used the territory as a naval base. At that time, Hong Kong was already a sizeable fishing community with 3,000 inhabitants and 2,000 fishermen.
1842 After China's defeat, Hong Kong island was ceded to the UK under the Treaty of Nanking that also gave rights to British traders in all the major ports.
1856–60 The second Opium War was fought in which the British and French defeated China.
1860 The Kowloon Peninsula was acquired by the Convention of Peking.
1898 The New Territories were leased from China for a period of 99 years.
1912 Thirty exiles from China settled in the territory, forming small refugee communities and gaining considerable exposure to Western culture.
1937 Outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. As the Japanese army advanced further into China, more Chinese fled to Hong Kong. It is estimated that over 500,000 Chinese entered the territory at this time.
1941 Hong Kong fell to the Japanese.
1945 After Japan's defeat in the Second World War, Britain resumed control of the territory.
1984 The UK conceded that from July 1997, on the expiry of the lease on the New Territories, China would regain sovereignty over the whole of Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration contained detailed assurances on the future of Hong Kong.
1997 Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China in an arrangement to last for 50 years.
1998 Only 23 per cent of eligible voters turned out to choose an 800-member election committee with powers to nominate the chief executive and 10 legislators. The election process was criticised as complicated and undemocratic.
2000 There was a low turnout in the elections which saw the Democratic Party (DP) lose a seat to the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) in the Legislative Council (LegCo).
2001 Chief Secretary Anson Chan, holder of the SAR's second most powerful office, resigned, sparking concerns that pressure from Beijing had made her position unsustainable. Donald Tsang replaced Chan as chief secretary.
2002 Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa was appointed for a second five-year term.
2003 The flu-like killer bug Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) spread to Hong Kong from mainland China. In July, around 500,000 people protested in the streets over a proposed anti-subversion law, which many believe threatens basic rights, and the government's handling of the economy; a candlelit vigil by 50,000 people called for universal suffrage in the territory and the dismissal of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
2004 In April, Chinese legislators ruled out direct elections for a Hong Kong leader in 2007.
2005 On 10 March, Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa resigned due to ill health; Chief Secretary Donald Tsang became acting chief executive. Henry Tang became acting chief executive on 1 June after the State Council approved the resignation of Donald Tsang.
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