ANNEX A
History of Hong Kong's Acquisition by Great Britain
1. The Treaty of Nanking, 29 August 1812. By the end of the 18th century British merchants dominated the foreign trade at Canton, the only port in China open to such trade. They found conditions for the conduct of their trade severely impaired by the restrictions imposed by a wary and mistrustful Chinese Government. To make matters worse, many foreign traders had joined the lucrative opium trade which the Chinese made illegal in 1799. Relations between Britain and China deteriorated until 1839 when the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, under pressure from the merchants and traders, sought a settlement of Sino-British commercial relations in an effort to guarantee free and secure (but legal) trade for British subjects in China.
2.
...
Palmerston demanded either a commercial treaty that would put trade relations on a satisfactory footing or "the cession of one or more islands on the coast as eligible to be occupied as Stations at which Her Majesty's subjects trading to China might reside in safety under the protection of British authority; and from whence they might securely carry on their commercial intercourse with the principal Ports of the Coast of China". An expeditionary fores arrived in June 1840 to back these demands and thus began the so-called First Opium War (1840-2). Hostilities alternated with negotiations until agreement was reached between the British Commissioner and Plenipotentiary, Captain Charles Elliot and the Manchu Commissioner, Keshen. Under the Convention of Chuenpi, 20 January 1841, Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain. A naval landing