ENG-1973 — Page 281

HISTORY

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from the Viceroy the perpetual lease of the peninsula as far as Boundary Street, including Stonecutters Island. The Convention of Peking, 1860, which ended the hostilities, provided for its outright cession.

Other European countries and Japan were now demanding concessions from China, particularly after Germany, France and Russia had rescued her from the worst consequences of her defeat by Japan in 1895. In the ensuing tension Britain felt that efficient defence of Hong Kong harbour demanded control of the land around it.

By the Convention of Peking on June 9, 1898, the New Territories, comprising the area north of Kowloon up to the Shum Chun River, and 235 islands, were leased for 99 years. The move was directed against France and Russia, not against China, whose warships were allowed to use the wharf at Kowloon City, where Chinese authority was permitted to continue ‘except in so far as may be inconsistent with the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong'. An Order in Council of December 27, 1898 invoked this clause and the British thus unilaterally took over Kowloon City. Some desultory opposition, when the British took over the New Territories in March 1899, soon disappeared. The area was declared part of the colony but was administered separately from the urban area.

Growth of Hong Kong 1841–1941

The new colony was a great disappointment at first. It attracted unruly elements; fever and typhoons threatened life and property and crime was rife. The Chinese influx was unexpected as it was not anticipated they would choose to live under a foreign flag. The population rose from 32,983 (31,463 Chinese) in 1851 to 878,947 (859,425 Chinese) in 1931.

The Chinese asked only to be left alone, and thrived under a liberal British colonial rule. Hong Kong became a centre of Chinese emigration and of trade with Chinese communities abroad. Ocean-going shipping using the port increased from 2,889 ships of 1.5 million tons in 1860 to 23,881 of 29.1 million tons in 1939. The dominance of the China trade forced Hong Kong to conform to Chinese usage and to adopt the silver dollar in 1862 as the currency unit. In 1935, when China went off silver, Hong Kong had to follow suit with an equivalent 'managed' dollar.

Hong Kong's administration followed the normal Crown Colony pattern, with a governor nominated by Whitehall and nominated Executive and Legislative Coun- cils with official majorities. The first unofficial members of the Legislative Council were nominated in 1850, and the first Chinese in 1880; the first unofficial members of the Executive Council appeared in 1896, and the first Chinese in 1926. Two electoral bodies, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, and the Unofficial Justices of the Peace, were each allowed from 1885 onwards to nominate a member of the Legislative Council.

The British residents on a number of occasions strongly pressed for self-govern- ment, but the home government steadily refused to allow the Chinese majority to be subject to the control of a small European minority.