Knowledge Seeker
  • Home
  • Articles

Hong Kong: The Rest of The Story

8/14/2019

 
You might already be aware of the situation in Hong Kong (around seven million citizens), but why is it happening? Here's a very interesting synopsis:

Britain ruled Hong Kong (a territory not a country), until 1997 when they turned it over to China. The reason Britain owned Hong Kong, beginning in 1842, is really fascinating. China had a huge trade surplus, because they had so many products Europe was interested in such as porcelain, silk, and tea, which not unlike today, hurt the other countries doing business with them because money was leaving their economies. This is where it really gets interesting. The East India Trading Company from Britain, began growing opium in India, and smuggled it into China illegally. The influx of narcotics reversed the Chinese trade surplus because so many citizens were spending money on drugs versus spending it locally. A war broke out called: The Opium War between Britain and China and Britain won.

Part of the treaty between the two countries was that Britain could lease Hong Kong from China for 99 years which ended in 1997. Based on input from other countries like France, German, and the U.S., they had Britain add to the Agreement that when China did take ownership back of the territory that they couldn't run it like the Qing Dynasty was running China (later termed communism), for a period of 50 years which would end in 2047. It was to be a territory with separate laws that were geared towards human rights. They also weren't allowed to take ownership of any businesses (state owned).

This worked out great for the citizens of Hong Kong as it's one of the most successful cities in the world with the largest number of wealthy people per capita. Then things went  south and the citizens of Hong Kong are in an uproar. In March, China attempted to influence laws regarding extradition treaties, meaning Hong Kong would have to turn anyone over to Chinese police whereas before Hong Kong could refuse. The citizens of Hong Kong don't trust China and they're afraid that if anyone said something against communism or China in general, that China would take them and either murder them or send them to hard labor camps. The bottom line is they in no way want an extradition treaty with China. So far five citizens have been killed during the protest and with China threating to send troops, it's likely that more will be killed.

When I look at situations and try to figure out what's going on, I usually look at it through the lens of power, influence, and money. With this in mind, I can't help but think there's more to this story. This is just a theory on my part, but Trump has significantly hurt the Chinese economy in an effort to get them to the table for a trade deal that would work for the U.S. Hong Kong is loaded with wealth. Maybe China doesn't want to wait until 2047 to tap into the extraordinary money supply. If they can say Hong Kong is out of control and that they must impose martial law, it would allow them a foot in the door to take control of the territory and run it however they'd like. They're not worried about a world war over the issue especially since they know that countries like France and Germany are now running from fights and not following through on threats. The U.S. certainly won't go to war on their own regarding Hong Kong. Anyhow, I might be totally off base, but maybe I'm not.

Comments are closed.

    Author: John Mann

    Picture

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly