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Hong Kong - A Short History of a World City

Before British merchants and forces arrived during the 19th century, there was no geographical unit known as Hong Kong. The land and islands that are now within the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) had been important for pearl farming, and for guarding the approaches to one of the world’s great trading cities, Guangzhou (or Canton as it was long known in the west); there were farmers, fishermen and pirates among a populace that sometimes sided with rebellious forces, leading to gross mistreatment by the newly ascendant Qing dynasty in 1662. It was British envoys who saw potential in the area they called Hong Kong, as a defensible harbour and base for trading with China, and made cession of Hong Kong Island a key part of a peace treaty signed after China and Britain battled over matters arising from the opium trade. The treaty was signed in 1842; 18 years later, China ceded Kowloon and nearby Stonecutters Island to Britain. In 1898, after more fighting, China agreed to a 99-year lease for additional islands, and a swathe of mainland north of Kowloon – the “New Territories”. Britain wanted the land partly to guard against perceived threats from Russia, France, Germany and the United States, which were all grabbing territory in east Asia. When the lease ended at midnight on 30 June 1997, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were returned as well as the New Territories. Hong Kong had by then undergone an astonishing transformation, which was certainly not envisaged by Britain’s Foreign Secretary in the early 1840s, Lord Palmerston – who famously described Hong Kong Island as “a barren island, which will never be a mart of trade”. Traded – and Made – in Hong Kong Trade became Hong Kong’s forte from virtually day one. Opium loomed large in the early years, when other goods included Chinese tea and silks. After the Second World War, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s when there were massive hardships under the mainland’s communist rule, there was a huge influx of people from China. Shanghai businessmen arrived among them; and the mix of a vibrant, low cost labour force, coupled with relatively laissez faire government and savvy business acumen helped spur a manufacturing boom. A host of typically cheap items were exported; the world bought goods that were “Made in Hong Kong”. With the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping two years later, China abandoned the policies of suppressing business talent, and embarked on the still ongoing, gigantic economic transformation. City streets once lined with small houses and dowdy Soviet style apartment blocks, and crammed with rivers of cyclists in uniform blue suits, were swept away by a tide of gleaming glass and steel, with thoroughfares where Mercedes and abundant taxis grind to a halt in traffic snarls. Hong Kong helped kick-start China’s transformation, pouring in money and talent. Spurred by lower costs and laxer laws, factories shifted across the border; “Made in Hong Kong” might now be little more than a label affixed here, as mainland made goods are briefly brought in, then exported overseas with value added, and perhaps some taxes side-stepped. A World City Wavers Though Hong Kong is now under Chinese sovereignty, with a “special degree of autonomy”, it has entered a period of uncertainty. Even the government seems unsure what Hong Kong is, starting a campaign to brand Hong Kong as “Asia’s world city”, without clearly defining what this means, or apparently recognising that Hong Kong was already a city that surely ranked among the world’s greats: for GDP alone, Hong Kong eclipsed many a fair-sized country. A couple of decades ago, Hong Kong was a gung-ho, can-do place (there’s even a restaurant calling itself “Can Do”). Now, the can-do attitude seems to have taken hold on the mainland, and seeped away from much of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been known – with some justification - as the city “where east meets west” and “the Pearl of the Orient”. Hong Kong remains special; in business its competitive advantages include rule of law and free press. But time will tell whether, someday (soon?), Hong Kong’s most appropriate slogan might read, “Hong Kong: just another Chinese city.”