Britain Hands Hong Kong Back to China

At midnight on 1 July 1997, British rule over Hong Kong officially concluded, ending 156 years of colonial administration that began during the First Opium War. The formal ceremony took place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. It was attended by dignitaries including Britain's Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and Premier Li Peng. With the lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Chinese flag, sovereignty over the territory transferred to the People's Republic of China, which established Hong Kong as its first special administrative region.

British jurisdiction over the region had expanded across the nineteenth century through three separate treaties with the Qing dynasty. Following British occupation in 1841, Hong Kong Island was ceded in perpetuity by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island followed in 1860 under the Convention of Peking. In 1898, the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory granted Britain a 99-year lease over the New Territories and outlying islands, establishing a firm expiration date of 30 June 1997.