ABSTRACT
The last few decades have seen a global boom in urban agglomeration due to improved economic opportunities. Constitutionalism in Greater China is seen as a niche subfield by traditional constitutionalists and rarely enters broader global discussions. However, Greater China's experience with its autonomous cities has a lot to add to the debate on greater autonomy and constitutional standing for cities. Britain first took over Hong Kong Island in 1842 after defeating China in the First Opium War. After the Second Opium War in 1860, Beijing was also forced to cede Kowloon, the area on the mainland opposite Hong Kong Island. In 1971, when the People's Republic of China's (PRC) obtained its seat in the United Nations (UN), it began to use the international fora to reclaim its lost sovereignty in the Greater China region. The British considered it unfeasible to split the ceded territories and restore only the New Territories to the PRC.
