20 January 1841: Britain takes possession of Hong Kong island

http://moneyweek.com/20-january-1841-britain-takes-possession-of-hong-kong-island/

[h=1]20 January 1841: Britain takes possession of Hong Kong island[/h] By: Chris Carter20/01/2015 0 comments



Hong Kong island was handed over to Britain following the Chuenpi ConventionThe 1830s came as a rude shock for China. For centuries, the Chinese empire had been the preeminent power in the region, where it boasted the best bureaucracy, and the latest technology. It had got used to being revered.
<a href="http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink/1415/4493388/0/170/AdId=10490078;BnId=3;itime=788166786;key=key1%2Bkey2%2Bkey3%2Bkey4;nodecode=yes;link=http://track.adform.net/C/?bn=4696542;C=0" target="_blank">< img src="http://track.adform.net/adfserve/?bn=4696542;srctype=4;ord=788166786" border="0" width="300" height="250" alt=""/>< /a> <a href="http://adserver.adtech.de/adlink/3.0/1415/4493388/0/170/ADTECH;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4" target="_blank"><img src="http://adserver.adtech.de/adserv/3.0/1415/4493388/0/170/ADTECH;loc=300;key=key1+key2+key3+key4" border="0" width="300" height="250"></a> So when a band of ‘uncivilised’ Westerners came knocking on the palace gates, the Chinese could be forgiven for thinking all was as it should be. The problem was the Chinese world view was badly out of date.

By the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century, China’s glory days had long since passed. By contrast, Europe was revelling in the industrial revolution, and Britain was busy carving out a global empire. To do that, Britain needed China – or rather, what it had to offer.

True to the stereotype, the British had developed a sweet spot for tea. So much so, in fact, that tea imports accounted for 16% of customs revenue. It’s been said that 83% of the Royal Navy’s running costs could be met by levying taxes on tea alone.

Britain felt it had to address this unequal balance of trade. So, it searched its new territories in India and came up with just the export – opium.

Opium was no big deal in Britain, where it was ingested as medicine. But the Chinese took a dim view of the narcotic. In China the drug was smoked and took a devastating toll on the health of the nation. The trade also consumed valuable reserves of silver – used as currency, and of which China was running short.

None of this stopped British traders from unloading the drug at Canton, modern-day Guangzhou. In March 1839, the Chinese ordered the traders to surrender the cargo worth £2m, which at the last moment was guaranteed by the British government.

The Chinese seized and destroyed 20,283 chests containing opium, outraging the government in London (who would have had to pick up the bill) and public opinion.

Faced with a modern army and navy, China found itself outmatched in the fighting that followed. On 20 January 1841, Hong Kong island was ceded to Britain at the Chuenpi Convention – along with a resumption of the opium trade.

Reading Chinese history, make me cry......I had to study, Ancient & Modern Chinese History, I cried when I read the stupidity & disunity of our ancestors, getting bullied & the people raped by the Kwei-lo & then the Japanese.....

halsey02 said:

Reading Chinese history, make me cry......I had to study, Ancient & Modern Chinese History, I cried when I read the stupidity & disunity of our ancestors, getting bullied & the people raped by the Kwei-lo & then the Japanese.....

Click to expand...

they got raped first by the mongols, then the jurchens, then the manchus, then the.......

reading about Tang dynasty would make you cry,Tang dynasty was possibly the greatest human civilisation in the entire human race.the golden age of prosperity,culture,literature and bureaucracy.the entire world looked up to China,the koreans,the japanese,the arabs,middle easterners and the europeans civilisations.the time where trade existed between china and all corners of the world,the only truly cosmopolitan civilisation of the ancient world,where foreigners and chinese mingled alike,sharing in culture and fashion.the greatest era when humans truly practised gender equality,freedom of religion and homosexuality.where slavery existed at its lowest point in history,less than 1 percent of the population were slaves and even slaves were granted some rights.its was a period of true refinement and thought and learning.

sadly the tiongs today have degenerated into a bunch of shit and pee anywhere loud uncouth barbarians.

Without the British, HK wouldn't be what it is today.

frenchbriefs said:

reading about Tang dynasty would make you cry,Tang dynasty was possibly the greatest human civilisation in the entire human race.the golden age of prosperity,culture,literature and bureaucracy.the entire world looked up to China,the koreans,the japanese,the arabs,middle easterners and the europeans civilisations.the time where trade existed between china and all corners of the world,the only truly cosmopolitan civilisation of the ancient world,where foreigners and chinese mingled alike,sharing in culture and fashion.the greatest era when humans truly practised gender equality,freedom of religion and homosexuality.where slavery existed at its lowest point in history,less than 1 percent of the population were slaves and even slaves were granted some rights.its was a period of true refinement and thought and learning.

sadly the tiongs today have degenerated into a bunch of shit and pee anywhere loud uncouth barbarians.

Click to expand...

The main problem with the Tang Dynasty is they imported too many FT, and outsourced the running of the whole govt to FT. In the end, they were destroyed by FT.

halsey02 said:

Reading Chinese history, make me cry......I had to study, Ancient & Modern Chinese History, I cried when I read the stupidity & disunity of our ancestors, getting bullied & the people raped by the Kwei-lo & then the Japanese.....

Click to expand...

You read history makes you cry... That is how chinks behave and when you look at the way chinks behave today.. Will that make u cry?

And sinkies are the descendents of the freaking chinks.. Do u feel disgraced?

Plus the way sinkies behave has certain traits of chinks which I called it sinkie behaviour.. Sad or not?

Be more Ang moh is the best. Do u know that if you behave more angmoh.. U are being served better and get more attention by waiter and waitress in the restaurant.

Fuck you dickhead.

Chinese did stopped the bastard angmohs and their 八国联军 attack and retain China in one piece as it is today. Chinese are warlords and will never cave in to chao angmohs.

Chinese have their ISIS style in 1800s to get rid of angmohs known as the Boxer Revolution.

Keep your big mouth shut no one says you are dumb.

tonychat said:

You read history makes you cry... That is how chinks behave and when you look at the way chinks behave today.. Will that make u cry?

And sinkies are the descendents of the freaking chinks.. Do u feel disgraced?

Plus the way sinkies behave has certain traits of chinks which I called it sinkie behaviour.. Sad or not?

Be more Ang moh is the best. Do u know that if you behave more angmoh.. U are being served better and get more attention by waiter and waitress in the restaurant.

Click to expand...

tanwahtiu said:

Fuck you dickhead.

Chinese did stopped the bastard angmohs and their 八国联军 attack and retain China in one piece as it is today. Chinese are warlords and will never cave in to chao angmohs.

Chinese have their ISIS style in 1800s to get rid of angmohs known as the Boxer Revolution.

Keep your big mouth shut no one says you are dumb.

Click to expand...

Face the hard truth sinkie.. Just go out and start sounding like a real chink..see how much respect you will get..

After you get your disrespect, you can enlightened them that last time, long ago, once upon a time, chinks are warlord.. I wonder what they will think.

Ps: you might need to put in extra effort to remind them that they need to be impressed by that and you have to put up a super awesome front to make it look real.

Angmohs are learning Chinese language and embraced Chinese culture in mass.

Only idiot jiu hu kia like you still think likewise. You are worst than Pinoy brain?

Go get eaten by jiuhu python.

tonychat said:

Face the hard truth sinkie.. Just go out and start sounding like a real chink..see how much respect you will get..

After you get your disrespect, you can enlightened them that last time, long ago, once upon a time, chinks are warlord.. I wonder what they will think.

Ps: you might need to put in extra effort to remind them that they need to be impressed by that and you have to put up a super awesome front to make it look real.

Click to expand...

tanwahtiu said:

Angmohs are learning Chinese language and embraced Chinese culture in mass.

Only idiot jiu hu kia like you still think likewise. You are worst than Pinoy brain?

Go get eaten by jiuhu python.

Click to expand...

They learn Chinese because they love the Chinese culture? Give me fucking break.. They want more money and suck more from chink soil.. Understand? Fucktard.. Best is fuck the chink women too and then throw one side.

eatshitndie said:

they got raped first by the mongols, then the jurchens, then the manchus, then the.......

Click to expand...

Just exactly what really went wrong with our forefathers..???

When at its apex, the Qing dynasty commands 33% of world total output and went to a low 0f 2%, thanks to the evil Mao .
Eleven jinping now trys to bring it up from the current 10% level.

My view is that the Chinese then has an attitude problem, thinking they are also the best and will never the be second best.

They failed in drawing brains and talents and above all did not invest in research and related scientific development.
But they sit back and enjoy the richness and glamour inside their courts,

Now coming back to our own soil...U can see the decay is somewhat similar..

The high paying ministers and cronies are all contented with their lot...no need to rebut and draw ire but sit back and collect their handsome payout.
They draw talents of the wrong kind that set our country backward...cheap labour and second and third tier scientist.

The good ones will not do Singapore name because our govt made our names stinks with its unreasonable demands and wants absolute obedience.
Thus we cannot attract Nobel laureate or top researcher here.On the same vein, the better and more mobile Singaporeans move out to the West
to live and work to realise their own potentials.

Seriously our Govt can do lots of damage with its strict and unreasonable demands and censorship.

That is right. Our ancestors were ethnocentric. They closed their eyes to developments and advancements in other countries, whom they termed "barbarians." Every Chinese student is taught this episode in history and China is not going to repeat that mistake again. Though still behind, the last few decades have seen China coming up tremendously fast, and is getting involved in other worldly issues besides modernising her own land. For now, China is surging forward at a pace unseen anywhere in history and it is anybody's guess how things will turn out. But one thing for sure, China will not allow herself to be bullied again.

Cheers!

blissquek said:

Just exactly what really went wrong with our forefathers..???

..........................
My view is that the Chinese then has an attitude problem, thinking they are also the best and will never the be second best...........

Click to expand...

Quote; "Chinese did stopped the bastard angmohs and their 八国联军 attack and retain China in one piece as it is today"

We have to thank the these two greatest Chinese ...Qin Shi Huang and Confucius..

Qin shi huang started the unification that lasts till today..

Confucius sets family values and rules of propriety that help shape the family nucleus .

blissquek said:

They failed in drawing brains and talents and above all did not invest in research and related scientific development.
But they sit back and enjoy the richness and glamour inside their courts,

Now coming back to our own soil...U can see the decay is somewhat similar..

Click to expand...

this is where the pap is different from old china. they draw in brains and talents from abroad, and they invest in research and development. they don't just sit back and enjoy the wealth. they work hard by passing laws and sticking spurs into sinkies' hides. they constantly look for ways to import talent, reduce dependency and freeloading, and creating hubs....all kinds of hubs, including money cleansing to loan crocodiling. :p

tonychat said:

Be more Ang moh is the best.

Click to expand...

Ang moh fucks your mother ah?

eatshitndie said:

they got raped first by the mongols, then the jurchens, then the manchus, then the.......

Click to expand...

Tiong started to go downhill when Liu Bei died before he could restore the glory of Han Dynasty

Agoraphobic said:

That is right. Our ancestors were ethnocentric. They closed their eyes to developments and advancements in other countries, whom they termed "barbarians." Every Chinese student is taught this episode in history and China is not going to repeat that mistake again. Though still behind, the last few decades have seen China coming up tremendously fast, and is getting involved in other worldly issues besides modernising her own land. For now, China is surging forward at a pace unseen anywhere in history and it is anybody's guess how things will turn out. But one thing for sure, China will not allow herself to be bullied again.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

The funny thing was at one point in time China was the most open civilization in human history with foreign influence from all over the world white brown yellow black races and the center of the world's development.its only natural to shut themselves off in the last 200 years from the evil clutches of the white men.white men have brought nothing but death and disease to the African continent,the middle east continent and the Chinese continent.but its too late,the Pandora box has been opened,the yellow tsunami is upon us,soon the chinese will flood every continent and there will be a Chinatown in every city.

sounds exactly like sinkies...

frenchbriefs said:

reading about Tang dynasty would make you cry,Tang dynasty was possibly the greatest human civilisation in the entire human race.the golden age of prosperity,culture,literature and bureaucracy.the entire world looked up to China,the koreans,the japanese,the arabs,middle easterners and the europeans civilisations.the time where trade existed between china and all corners of the world,the only truly cosmopolitan civilisation of the ancient world,where foreigners and chinese mingled alike,sharing in culture and fashion.the greatest era when humans truly practised gender equality,freedom of religion and homosexuality.where slavery existed at its lowest point in history,less than 1 percent of the population were slaves and even slaves were granted some rights.its was a period of true refinement and thought and learning.

sadly the tiongs today have degenerated into a bunch of shit and pee anywhere loud uncouth barbarians.

Click to expand...

eatshitndie said:

this is where the pap is different from old china. they draw in brains and talents from abroad, and they invest in research and development. they don't just sit back and enjoy the wealth. they work hard by passing laws and sticking spurs into sinkies' hides. they constantly look for ways to import talent, reduce dependency and freeloading, and creating hubs....all kinds of hubs, including money cleansing to loan crocodiling. :p

Click to expand...

To date, after some 50 glorious years and with over $300 billion in reserves, we still cannot attract ONE SINGLE NOBEL LAUREAT.

We are willing to pay top dollar...just like our Ministers willing to pay themselves top dollar to run this country.

So this begets the question...Why are top researchers not coming here..????

Money is not the lure as some Papies like to think.

They don't like the controlled environment here and they want freedom and happiness.