why was hong kong important to the british empire
a centre for international trade
title: British Hong Kong text: British Hong Kong British Hong Kong denotes the period during which Hong Kong was governed as a colony and British Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom. Excluding the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. The island was ceded by Qing China in the aftermath of the war in 1842 and established as a Crown colony in 1843. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War title: British Hong Kong text: beginning of the emergence of a Hong Kong identity, changed the attitude of the local Chinese. They overwhelmingly rallied around the colonial British regime. British Hong Kong British Hong Kong denotes the period during which Hong Kong was governed as a colony and British Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom. Excluding the Japanese occupation during the Second World War, Hong Kong was under British rule from 1841 to 1997. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. The island was ceded by Qing China in the aftermath of the war title: Hong Kong text: Hong Kong Hong Kong (; ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is a special administrative region on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in southern China. With over 7.4 million people of various nationalities in a territory, Hong Kong is the world's fourth-most-densely-populated region. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after Qing China ceded Hong Kong Island at the end of the First Opium War in 1842. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and was further extended when Britain title: Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations text: a deeply important role in the formation of the modern Hong Kong. Sovereignty of Hong Kong was ceded to the UK "in perpetuity" on 29 August 1842 through the Treaty of Nanking. The UK further expanded the territory of Hong Kong in 1860 by another cessation, plus a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. The stability, security, and predictability of British law and government enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a centre for international trade. Localisation of teritary institutions, the Hong Kong government and the independent Judiciary in the run-up to the 1997 Handover of sovereignty, caused a title: British Hong Kong text: where the Union Jack was raised under a "feu de joie" from the marines and a royal salute from the warships. Hong Kong was ceded in the Treaty of Nanking on 29 August 1842 and established as a Crown colony after ratification was exchanged on 26 June 1843. The treaty failed to satisfy British expectations of a major expansion of trade and profit, which led to increasing pressure for a revision of the terms. In October 1856, Chinese authorities in Canton detained the "Arrow", a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong to enjoy protection of the British flag. The Consul