Barren island to rich colony — what next?

Press, 14 August 1984, Page 22

Barren island to rich colony — what next?

Queen Victoria and some of her Government ministers reportedly scoffed at the “utter worthlessness” of Hong Kong Island which the British won in 1841. The island seemed to be more of a liability than an asset, with its barren landscape and infertile soils.

However the critics overlooked one aspect which would eventually transform Hong Kong from a bare island into the bustling metropolis it is today. The island has a magnificent natural harbour which accommodates huge modem ocean liners as easily as it did the sailing vessels of the 1840 s.

Trade through this harbour formed the basis of an economy which now supports a population of five million people. From being thought of as “utterly worthless,” Hong Kong prospered to become one of the major trading centres in the world, and one of the richest outposts of the British Empire. Hong Kong has featured in the news recently because its future after 1997 is in doubt. This is the expiry date for the lease of the land on which most of the British colony is established

and it might revert to Chinese rule.

The British and Chinese Governments have been talking about what will happen to Hong Kong after 1997 but at present its fate is in doubt.

Hong Kong, or the Crown Colony of Hong Kong to give it its full name, consists of Hong Kong Island (76 sq km), the city of Kowloon on the Chinese mainland, and an area of about 969 square kilometres on the mainland of China called The New Territories. In addition there are 235 other islands in the Crown Colony. Lantau Island is bigger than Hong Kong Island but nearly all the rest are too tiny and barren to be inhabited.

Hong Kong came under British rule in 1841 after a two year war with the Chinese. Traders operating out of the Chinese seaport of Canton were driven out for illegally trading in opium, and this sparked off the war.

The opium dispute concluded when Britain took possession of Hong Kong Island, and began to establish it as a trading base. The tip of Kowloon became British as the result of another war against the

Chinese which the British won in 1860.

This waterside city was an important acquisition because it gave Britain full control of the sheltered water between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island — one of the best harbours in the world. In 1898, an area of 969 square kilometres of mainland China stretching back from Kowloon was leased to the British to add to the colony of Hong Kong. The 99-year lease of this land runs out in 1997. Since the time of the original lease agreement, the method of Government and way of life in mainland China has changed. The old imperial system with an Emperor as head of state was replaced firstly by a republican system with a president at the top, and then the Communist revolution gave China its present method of government. Hong Kong has always been a haven for refugees from China, under former Governments as well as the present Communist regime. These refugees may now be wondering if after 1997 their lives will return to the style from which they fled. In the first years after Britain took over the island of Hong Kong, nothing seemed to go right for the new colony. Nearly all the new buildings were twice destroyed by typhoons. The market Slace was destroyed by fire, eadly fever epidemics killed many of the people and drove others away. The traders were less prosperous than they had been in Canton, because instead of dealing through Hong Kong, some British ships were going direct to seaports on the mainland to unload their cargoes and take on new ones. All this supported the “utterly worthless” description given by many back in Britain. It even gave rise to a new expression in the English language which became fashionable during the 1840 s. If someone was being especially troublesome or irritating, his victim would say “Oh, go to Hong Kong,” meaning “I wish you were

as far away from me as possible, in the most unpleasant place possible.” However, for various reasons people kept coming’ to Hong Kong and by the end of the 1840 s the colony had about 30,000 people. During the 1850 s and 1860 s, many Chinese people fled to Hong Kong to escape a bitter rebellion then raging in China. Twenty years after its founding the colony had a population of over 120,000.

Refugees have continued to flock to Hong Kong, peaceful under British protection, whenever unrest or wars upset China. The British laid the seeds for Hong Kong’s future prosperity when they declared it a free port. People from all nations were welcomed and no duties were levied on imports and exports.

Traders from all parts of the world found it safe, cheap and convenient to ship their goods to Hong Kong for subsequent distribution throughout southern China. Similarly, Hong Kong served as a collection point for Chinese exporters. Hong Kong’s population continued to grow until the Second World War, when it numbered over 1,500,000. Then the Japanese attacked and occupied Hong Kong.

During the occupation, trade and commerce ground to a halt, and food was in short supply. By the end of the war over one million Chinese had left the colony. However they were quick to come back when the Japanese left, and nearly a million new immigrants soon followed them. These were people who did not wish to stay in China after it became a communist country. Refugees from Communist China have been arriving ever since.

In 1950 the way of life for Hong Kong people changed dramatically. Western coun-

tries put a ban on trade with China because of that country’s participation in the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. This trade ban was of enormous significance in Hong Kong, because nearly all the people depended for their livings on trade between China and the Western countries as they had been doing for more than a century. With few natural resources, there seemed little that the Hong Kong people could do.

However, since ships from half the world had been using Hong Kong harbour to unload Western factory products for sale in China, they could also unload factory machines and raw materials for use in Hong Kong. It was by this method that the people of Hong Kong slowly climbed back into prosperity. Raw materials were imported, and the people of Hong Kong learned how to make and market things which millions of foreigners wanted. They turned the colony into a busy and pros-

perous industrial country, i While the Hong Kong people themselves were setting up factories and manufacturing a wide range of goods, especially plastic items, overseas manufacturers also had a hand in Hong Kong’s industrial revolution. I Because taxes were low, imports and exports were duty-free, large markets were handy and there was a good supply of cheap overseas companies set up business in Hong Kong, working mainly in engineering and electronics.