party hoisted the flag at Possession Point on 26 January and Elliot proclaimed Hong Kong a Bri sh colony.
3. Neither side accepted the Chuenpi terms. The
cession of a part of China aroused shame and anger among the Chinese, and Keshen was ordered to Peking in chains. Palmerston took the view that Elliot had failed to secure the necessary guarantee of British interests, had chosen a poorly situated island for a future trading station and had exceeded his instructions by issuing proclamations concerning Hong Kong as though the island had actually become British territory. Elliot, reprimanded and recalled to London, was replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger in July 1841. The latter conducted hostilities with determination. A year later, after pushing up the Yangtze River and threatening to assualt Nanking, he brought the hostilities to an end by the Treaty of Nanking, 29 August 1842.
4. In his negotiation of the Treaty, Pottinger faithfully pursued the principle of guaranteeing free and safe access of British merchants to Chinese trade. He exceeded his instructions by securing not only the opening of four more ports (in addition to Canton), but also the cession of an island station. Article 3 of the Treaty provides for the cession in perpetuity of the island of Hong Kong as a port where British subjects "may careen and refit their ships". In addition, the monopoly enjoyed since. 1757 by Canton, as the only port where foreigners could trade, was broken by the opening of the ports at Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai. An agreed tariff was to be arranged, there was to be mutual release of prisoners and the recognition of diplomatic equality between the two countries.
5.
The British Government was reluctant to accept the permanent cession of Chinese territory and the Chinese Court took the view that Hong Kong had been given to the British simply as a "place of residence" Nevertheless, on 26 June 183 the Treaty of Nanking
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