evidence: Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Hong Kong has its own political and economical system which is separate from that of China. [...] 7. The British government managed to colonize Hong Kong in 1841 during the Opium War. [...] 17. Hong Kong was under British rule from 1842 to 1997. Today it is a special administration region in China.