RIBEIRO FAMILY : Hong Kong Stamps History

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Hong Kong B.C. - The end of an era ...

At about 11 a.m. CST on July 1, 1997, an era ended. The Union Jack lowered to the strains of "God Save the Queen" and the flag of Communist China raised to the accompaniment of the "March of the Volunteers." With this ceremony, the Crown Colony of Hong Kong and its surrounding territories became the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Earlier, on June 30, Hong Kong's last British stamp was issued within a souvenir sheet.

The sheet depicts the four post offices of Hong Kong that were in operation during the 150 years of British rule.

It also includes reproductions of six stamps, each depicting one of the English sovereigns during British rule.

On July 1, the People's Republic of China issued a souvenir sheet picturing the Hong Kong skyline and a $5 stamp featuring a floral symbol of the city (the Bauhinia blakeana, a species of orchid). Behind the handover ceremony and the two stamp issues lay more than 150 years of history.

During the 19th century, the Chinese Empire was moribund.

The industrial European states - Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy - all sought trade and political advantages at the expense of the declining empire.

However, these advantages existed mainly in the imagination of European and American merchants. China needed very little of what the West had to sell and wanted still less.

Events came to a head in the 1830s. The British East India Co., a semipublic trading company under the control of the Crown and Parliament, was in financial difficulties. Although the Chinese had declared opium illegal in 1799, the Company continued to sell the drug to the Chinese. By the late 1830s, opium sales to the Chinese were the most lucrative part of the Company's business. In 1839, Chinese officials boarded British ships, confiscated the opium, and burned it. The Royal Navy retaliated, and in 1841 Great Britain declared war on the Chinese Empire.

The Opium Wars were over in 1842. Their outcome was the inevitable result of the great technological difference between advanced industrial states and more traditional societies. The Treaty of Nanking marked the formal end of the wars in 1842. Hong Kong (called "the fragrant harbor" by the Chinese) was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity, and the cities of Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai were opened to British trade. On learning of the treaty, Lord Palmerston, the British foreign secretary, referred to Hong Kong as a "worthless rock." After additional conflicts with China in 1860, Great Britain gained Kowloon and Stonecutters Island.

In 1898, the Germans occupied Kiaochow. This set off a scramble for concessions from China by Britain, Russia, France, Germany, and Japan. As a result, Britain secured a 99-year lease on Kowloon and Wei-hai-wei on the mainland opposite Hong Kong.

<HKstamp3.jpg> This stamp illustrates the first hand-stamp and adhesive issue used in Hong Kong. According to the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, Hong Kong's first stamp was identical in design to the one used in Antigua. The hand-stamp was used on British stamps, and if you can find one today, count yourself lucky or rich. Gibbons catalog value is £550. The first postage stamp was issued in 1862.

Hong Kong grew slowly until after the establishment of the Chinese Republic in 1912, when it became a haven for political refugees - a role it would play several times more in this century. With the out-break of the war between Japan and China in 1937, 750,000 Chinese sought refuge in Hong Kong, and by 1941 the British governor general estimated that 500,000 people were sleeping in the streets. On Christmas Day, 1941, the British troops in Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese and many Chinese civilians fled the city.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Chinese civilians returned to Hong Kong at the rate of 100,000 a month. The population increased during 1948-49 as the Chinese Nationalist Government began to face defeat by the Communists in the civil war. By the spring of 1950, there were 2.2 million people in the city.

During the 1950s, Hong Kong's economy suffered as a consequence of the United Nations' embargo on trade with the People's Republic of China. The territory, however, developed internal industries. Textiles, electronics, watches, as well as other low-priced goods began to flood into world markets. Hong Kong's success was due to a large, continually growing labor force, inventive and resourceful people (many of whom were refugees from the Communists), and favorable tax policies.

Starting with the cultural revolution in the People's Republic in 1967, refugees again flooded into Hong Kong. By the mid-1970s, the political situation moderated and little by little Hong Kong and the People's Republic began to work together on joint projects.

Junkets by other presidents followed Richard Nixon’s trip to China in 1972 and members of Congress. American, European, and Asian businessmen sensing that China represented the last great untapped market, flocked to Hong Kong. The city was again transformed. Many of the manufacturing industries moved to the People's Republic, and Hong Kong became a center for financial services.

In 1982, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, knowing that the 99-year lease on the New Territories was due to expire in 15 years, opened talks with the government of the People's Republic. Since the Chinese maintained that all three treaties, which brought Hong Kong into existence, were signed under pressure and thus unjust, the talks were soon expanded to include all of Hong Kong. These talks resulted in a Joint Declaration in 1984, whereby Britain and the People's Republic agreed that sovereignty over Hong Kong would revert to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Joint Declaration also provided that for 50 years after 1997, Hong Kong's capitalist lifestyle would remain unchanged. The territory is supposed to enjoy a high degree of internal autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs. China's socialist system and policies will not be put into effect in Hong Kong.

These stamps depict the four British monarchs who ruled Hong Kong during the 20th century. They include Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Edward VIII abdicated before a stamp depicting him could be issued.

For many people in the West as well as in Hong Kong, the handover was somewhat abstract. But on June 3-4, 1989, the abstract became frightfully concrete. Elements of the People's Liberation Army butchered 800 or more pro-democracy students on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Perhaps as a result of this event, Britain sent Chris Patten to Hong Kong as its last governor general. Perhaps again as a result of the June 1989 event, Patten determined to try to establish democratic institutions in Hong Kong before the handover.

A legislature and a type of city council were elected. A fundamental law guaranteeing civil and political rights was established. One consequence of these efforts was that the government of the People's Republic of China began to refer to Patten as a "running dog of imperialism" and other equally complimentary epithets.

As the handover approached, the Chinese government replaced the entire elected legislature. Prior to this action, Beijing indicated that Hong Kong citizen Tung Chee-hwa would be the city's chief executive upon the handover. Patten has recently criticized the government for failing to institute adequate safeguards for Hong Kong's fledgling democracy.

At this time, it is difficult to project exactly what the future holds for Hong Kong and its people. The sight of 400 members of the People's Liberation Army riding in the backs of trucks into the city in a driving rainstorm suggests the future may not be so bright. On the other hand, the government recently permitted a small demonstration of pro-democracy activists. Hong Kong's people are intelligent, hard working and committed to democracy. We can only hope that the future holds great promise for them.