ABSTRACT
Hong Kong became a colony of the United Kingdom after the Opium War between the United Kingdom and China from 1839 to 1842. In 1984 the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed an agreement on Hong Kong. According to the agreement, the United Kingdom would return Hong Kong to China in 1997. Also in the agreement, China pledged that Hong Kong would be, under the principle of “one country, two systems,” a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China with a high degree of autonomy. China also agreed that Hong Kong’s capitalism and way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years after the transfer of sovereignty. Based on the agreement, Hong Kong was returned to China on July 1, 1997. 1
