Background

Hong Kong was a British colony under the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, with the territory originally only being Hong Kong Island after the first Opium War before being expanded in 1860 to include the Kowloon Peninsula after the Second Opium War, both ceded to the British by the Qing. The colony expanded to its current size in 1898 with the Qing giving the British a 99-year lease of the New Territories. During the rule of the British in Hong Kong, there was an intermediary period in which the Japanese took control of the territory amidst the chaos of World War 2 from 1941 to 1945. The British administrative period lasted 152 years and led to the rapid advance and development of Hong Kong as the Pearl of the Orient. The rule spanned from Queen Victoria, through Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, and upto Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, in China, the country went through 5 different ruling bodies, one empire, one attempt at forming a new Empire, and three governments, during the British rule of Hong Kong namely the Qing Dynasty, the Provisional Government, the Beiyang Era, the Nationalist Government (also known as the Kuomintang), and the current Chinese Communist Party. The Qing Dynasty fell 12 years after the Boxer Rebellion and the 55 Day at Peking incident in 1900 leading to tremendous foreign sanctions and eventually the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor, commonly known as Puyi. Replacing them the Provisional Government reigned before becoming the official government, yet before it could stand for long their leader, Doctor Sun Yat Sen, was assassinated in 1913. This led to the rise of Yuan Shikai who tried to become emperor himself, despite his efforts, his death led to convoluted warlords infighting until 1928 when the Nationalist Party took over. The Nationalist Party was opposed by the Chinese Communist party who, after the Nationalists were weakened due to the Second World War, seized power in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War.