During the First Opium War, China cedes the island of Hong Kong to the British with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention, an agreement seeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict. In 1839, Britain invaded China to crush opposition to its interference in the country’s economic and political affairs.

the People’s Republic of China

Although Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were ceded in perpetuity, the leased New Territories comprised the vast majority of the total area….British Hong Kong.

Since Hong Kong is not a sovereign state, it is not recognized as an independent actor by the international community. The foreign relations of the territory have always been the responsibility of the British government in London, and they will be the responsibility of the Chinese government in Beijing after 1997.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government. Under these terms and the “one country, two systems” principle, the Basic Law of Hong Kong is the regional constitution.

The People’s Republic of China

The result was a law that criminalized acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security — with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for all four.

English is one of the official languages in Hong Kong, and is used widely in the Government, academic circles, business and the courts. All road and government signs are bilingual. Those who spoke English or were taught English were considered the elite and upperclassmen.

Hongkongers (Chinese: 香港人), also known as Hong Kongers, Hong Kongese, Hongkongese, Hong Kong citizen and Hong Kong people, typically refers to legal residents of the city of Hong Kong; although may also refer to others who were born and/or raised in the city.

Persons of Chinese descent, regardless of whether they were born in Mainland China as well as Hong Kong SAR are usually considered to be Chinese citizens. However, this law denies dual-nationality persons.

A majority of the population identified with ‘Chinese Folk Religions’ (49%). Of the remaining population, 21.3% of Hong Kong is Buddhist, 14.2% is Taoist, 11.8% is Christian and 3.7% identified with ‘Other’. Smaller numbers of the population are Hindu, Sikh and Jewish.

Chinese

Hong Kong’s recent census report states that Mandarin is the second language most spoken on the island following Cantonese. Cantonese remains dominant with 96% percent. As for Mandarin, 48% of Hong Kong’s population can speak it, compared to 46% of population that can speak English.