‘Never a British Colony’ – school students taught alternate Hong Kong narrative

As Hong Kong becomes less and less of an independent territory and transitions into a region of China, school students are being taught the state was never a British colony in the first place

There are new reports schools are being given textbooks which declare the British government “only ever exercised colonial rule” in Hong Kong, further highlighting China’s claims that sovereignty was never broken.

Britain ruled Hong Kong for over 150 years and returned it to the Chinese government in 1997.

During this time, Hong Kong became a booming city state, and one of the world’s leading financial centres.

But China continues to maintain the region was never ruled by the UK, and the British only occupied it after 1842.

This is all despite a number of signed treaties ceding and leasing parts of the territory to Britain, all of which China argues were signed “under coercion” and never fully accepted.

In recent years, Beijing’s has been set on reinstating “Chinese identity” among Hong Kong students.