Obama backing down on China [another embarrassment for the President]

China Post ^

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

The Brits had a lease with China on Hong Kong and it expired. It was not a hostile takeover.

No, the lease was for the "New Territories," not Hong Kong. I worked in the New Territories in about 1998. They have very close business relations with Hong Kong proper, so it would not have been easy to separate them.

The Brits were in no condition to defend Hong Kong against a Chinese invasion. I suppose they figured they agreed to the best possible deal.

[kabar]

Hong Kong's territory was acquired from three separate treaties: the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, the Treaty of Beijing in 1860, and The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory in 1898, which gave the United Kingdom the control of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon (area south of Boundary Street), and the New Territories (area north of Boundary Street and south of the Shenzhen River, and outlying islands), respectively. Although Hong Kong Island and Kowloon had been ceded to the United Kingdom in perpetuity, the control on the New Territories was a 99-year lease. The finite nature of the 99-year lease did not hinder Hong Kong's development as the New Territories was combined as a part of Hong Kong. By 1997, it was impractical to separate the three territories and only return the New Territories. In addition, with the scarcity of land and natural resources in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, the New Territories were being developed with large-scale infrastructures and other developments, with the break-even day lying well past 30 June 1997. Thus, the status of the New Territories after the expiry of the 99-year lease became important for Hong Kong's economic development.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Yes.

In 1997, some residents of HK island wanted to be taken over by China (at least according to the terms of the agreement) and some did not. Even if the Brits could defend HK, I don’t believe there was a clear-cut desire of the residents (almost all of them of Chinese origin) to remain under British rule.

At this time, I believe the Taiwanese people have a strong desire to remain a sovereign nation, so that is a significant difference from Hong Kong in 1997.