As regards Hong Kong's later evolution, the effects of the Japanese capture of the Colony can be summed up as: first, the evident self-serving nature of British colonialism was exposed by the Japanese attack; and the subsequent removal of the European ruling clique objectively strengthened the position of the Chinese capitalist and bureaucratic groups in the Colony; second, the wartime experience changed the relationship between the European business group and the colonial ad- ministration. There had been quite major differences between the European busi- ness leaders and the colonial régime in the prewar period. When the Japanese incarcer- ated the two groups together, the prisoners signalled their option by electing only one Government official to a position of command in the camp; all the rest were businessmen. After the end of the war this business group became increasingly powerful and, whereas in its earlier days it may have been true to say that Hong Kong was a Crown Colony ruled by administrators appointed by London, it later became more and more the property of its business community who worked with and utilized the colonial administration to foster the optimum conditions for a certain type of extremely rapid economic expansion based on very high rates of capital accumulation. The wartime "hiatus" was an important moment in this transition."
The over-riding concern of both these groups, as of London, was, however, to make sure that British colonial rule would be restored in Hong Kong after Japan's defeat. The British Government came under heavy but spasmodic pressure during the war from both Chiang Kai-shek and the US Government to return Hong Kong to China. London managed to elude and delude its critics with some agility." The local population, however, had come to expect a return to China and when Ad- miral Harcourt's relief force steamed into Hong Kong harbour on August 30, 1945, "on every junk and on nearly every house there flew the flag of China". end, Britain obtained Chiang's approval for a subterfuge whereby Harcourt ac- cepted the Japanese surrender on behalf of both Britain and Chiang as supreme commander of the China theatre. But the British moved swiftly to re-establish their own régime and after an interval of Military Government, the old colonial set-up was fully restored on May 1, 1946. In the words of one fairly uncritical observer, this "resembled a Bourbon restoration".
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Other than the normal administative and economic problems which can be imagined, the main issue facing the colonial authorities was that of "collaboration" with the Japanese. A multitude of Kuomintang agencies in the Colony were pursu- ing the question vigorously. The British soon put a stop to this via a remarkable piece of legislation, the Chinese Collaborators (Surrender) Ordinance, 1946. This effectively protected the Chinese business élite who were among the most public "collaborators" during the Japanese occupation (as during the British occupation, it might be added). Britain needed this group's cooperation to re-establish its rule in Hong Kong in the changed circumstances and was prepared to pay a price, even though it raised grumbles among the ex-internees. A mere five people were arrested for collaboration (as distinct from, say, treason or war crimes), and three were finally handed over to the Kuomintang. At the same time, in a concomitant move to assist the partial integration of the European and Chinese capitalist groups, the administration repealed the racist Peak Residence Ordinance dating back to 1904, which had barred Chinese from residing in the fashionable Peak area of Hong Kong
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