The UK seized
Hong Kong in 1841, and
China formally ceded it the following year at the end of the First Opium War. The Kowloon Peninsula was added in 1860 at the end of the Second Opium War, and the UK obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. Pursuant to a UK-
China agreement in 1984,
Hong Kong became the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of
China as of 1 July 1997. In this agreement,
China promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula,
China's socialist economic and strict political system would not be imposed on
Hong Kong and that
Hong Kong would enjoy a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.
After the handover,
Hong Kong continued to enjoy success as an international financial center. However, growing Chinese political influence and dissatisfaction with the
Hong Kong Government in the 2010s became central issues and led to considerable civil unrest, including large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019 after the HKSAR attempted to revise a local ordinance to allow extraditions to mainland
China. In response to the protests, the governments of the HKSAR and
China reduced the city's autonomy and placed new restrictions on the rights of
Hong Kong residents, moves that were widely criticized as contravening obligations under the
Hong Kong Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Democratic lawmakers and political figures were arrested in a widespread crackdown, while others fled abroad. At the same time, dozens of civil society groups and several independent media outlets were closed or disbanded. In 2021, Beijing imposed a more restrictive electoral system, restructuring the Legislative Council (LegCo) and allowing only government-approved candidates to run for office. The changes ensured that virtually all seats in the 2021 LegCo election went to pro-establishment candidates and effectively ended political opposition to Beijing. In 2024, the LegCo passed a new national security law (Article 23 of the Basic Law) further expanding the
Hong Kong Government's power to curb dissent.