Hey all, in case you don't know already, the numbers in the bottom, left corner of the video correspond to the sources of information at the bottom of the description. Many of those are good further reading on the topic. Also, I just want to acknowledge one small narration slip-up. At 7:14 I say, "What was known was that the event would be centered around midnight on the night of July 30th, 1997." That should be *June* 30th, 1997.
NO WAY!!! Let me get this straight: You comment something that is unrelated to the fact that I smell like 100 dead orangutans? Considering that I am the unprettiest RUclipsr ever, smelling like 100 dead orangutans is really incredible. Yet you did not mention that at all. I am quite disappointed, dear wENDOVER
I am one of the 110,000 that moved to Vancouver. I was 3 at the time. It's so fascinating how a seemingly arbitrary number, 99 years, shaped my whole life. Wonder how my life would be different if the number were 80, or 120.
As a Hongkonger, I really really appreciate that you devoted an entire video to us. I was not old enough to witness British Hong Kong myself. This video made me know just a little more, and it is kind of emotional for me. Thank you.
Well I’m not really qualified to say this, I was born after the handover. But I think I can be quite confident to say that people are divided here. Most young people (like me) are against the Chinese. If given the chance, I’d probably want to make Hong Kong British again. But will it actually be better? Probably, but I cannot tell you.
@@WRGOP I am also a Hong Konger but ain't old enough to experience the British era. But I will say I want to go back to the British time because they gave us a lot, like business fortunes and sublime infrastructures, turning us from a small fishing village into a vibrant global city.
I guarantee whoever signed that 99 year deal never expected the Brits to actually ever give it back lol. They probably thought it would be forgotten in 100 years 😂
Then they greatly misunderstood the Chinese people. Like look at China's history. They don't seem like the type of people to just give land up. No shade.
I think it's part of the 'one country two systems' framework? I think that China or whoever involved in this process recognized that 'the People's' has been more or less same as socialism or communism, especially during the cold war (most E. European communists that the USSR installed call themselves 'people's'), although literally it's not really true.
@@turnpike9680 scotland is the rightful owner of scotland Wales is the rightful owner of wales Ireland is the rightful owner of whole Ireland And the list goes on🙂
@@aguamalone7615 HK never have democracy , man. It was rule by British. HK citizen never have right to vote for their destiny until the time UK had to return approach , So the Brit start a Lego council election plan. They never want HK democracy while they were ruler by Governer.
isaac ng hey, I know this is probably the truth cuz I've heard this before. But is there any specific words or term I can search about the British government actually suggested the ...democracy ? Cuz I wanna hv my prove next time I hear anyone say the British didn't have us democracy too bullshit. Btw hker here
@@gordon4672 An article (with pictures of the actual documents) about Britain trying to push for democracy in HK but "China wished the present colonial status of Hong Kong to continue with no change whatever" talk.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2134476 Lord Patten also pushed for democracy in the final years of Hong Kong, including stepping down as the president of the legco and let legco elect its own president, and pushing for the first ever election for legco in 1995 zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AE%96%E6%B0%91%E5%9C%B0%E6%99%82%E6%9C%9F%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E5%88%B6%E5%BA%A6%E6%94%B9%E9%9D%A9#%E5%BD%AD%E5%AE%9A%E5%BA%B7%E6%94%BF%E6%94%B9%E6%96%B9%E6%A1%88 zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995%E5%B9%B4%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%AB%8B%E6%B3%95%E5%B1%80%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89
having gone for a literary exchange trip to hong kong with significant focus on this exact event, this is a really good goddamn video edit: the political and social impacts of the turnover in the years that followed are also really interesting as well. this video isn't exactly about that but hong kong's resultant dual identity is a very unique predicament that has some really interesting long term effects that extend past the turnover itself into present day.
Wendover! If you see this, please consider the following: I’m sure many people would love to see a follow up video on Hong Kong’s complex political and cultural situation ever since. It’s a topic that is both incredibly interesting and relevant. Hope you consider it! As always, a fantastic video, can’t wait to see what you do next.
@@LapisPebble more likely they thought that in 99 years the ever mighty British empire would just threaten them for an extension. They should have listened to Kipling
@@interestingusername2633 Urm Hong Kong Island is a region in Hong Kong. The population of HK is more than 7 million already. Research before you swear lol
@mharris1270 Fun Fact: Hong Kong Island was not part of the 99 year lease and was ceded to the British "in perpetuity"(forever) but Margaret Thatcher was too cowardly to put up a fight against Communist China. She couldn't even muster the courage to let them do a self determination vote because we all know how those results would have turned out.
@@JH-dl6vu "stolen" The word is 'conquered'. It's not our fault only white people are competent at waging war, it's everyone else's fault for being shit in comparison.
I remembered my school taught us the 'new' national anthem. "What happened to the old one?" My classmate asked. "Oh, we stopped singing that." My teacher answered. Just like that. I guess that's why I never feel like I'm British nor Chinese; my nationality changed faster than I can change my mobile carrier.
@AzerGhost16 Lol. Is that why the British amended their laws several times to make sure Hong Kong citizens would never have the right of abode in the UK, or a become British citizens, while granting it to the white Falklanders? The fact has been created by the White Brits, not by "the mainlanders".
My mom was a domestic worker in Hong Kong and was there to witness the handover. She brought home pictures of the parade and festivities from the streets of Kawloon. As a child I never really understood how significant how significant the event is but I'm glad I we got to keep a little piece of history in those pictures.
Macau was not as symbolic. Macau was already controlled by Chinese loyalists since the Chinese riots in the 70s. That's why you never heard about Macau. Because there is actually nothing for the western media to complain about.
@@ranelgallardo7031 Except that it was overall smaller and less attention-grabbing. However what's noticeable for the Macau one was a very young girl that was invited to sing an emotional patriotic song, 'the song of 7 sons: Macau' (HK should have its version originally, but I don't think it went famous and was thus not performed)
@@ecthelionyoou8231 pre-1841 *Gong Jin-ou playing* 1842-1997 *God save the queen starts playing* 1997 *March of vollounteirs bass booster earrape plays* I know that góng jin'ou was adopted in 1911, I needed something for Qing
I'll be very curious to see what happens in 2047 when Hong Kong ceases to be semi-autonomous and is fully in the control of mainland China. How will it impact business and the citizens living there?
china will absorb hong kong and hong kong will lose its way of life and its status. just another chinese city which will be the same as Guangzhou, shenzhen, and other chinese megacities. I believe that will be little to no negotiation as China has begin to absorb hong kong already, and with china's power on the rise, there will be no hope.
@@battledroid224 I want to believe in Hong Kong, I do. after all, I live there. It's just that no matter what the people do, there's no escaping china or its system. China has become too powerful in the last 30 years or so that nobody, not even the US could stand up to China. The communist system is likely to stay, at least for another 60 years. At least in my lifetime, I don't think there will be any big scale change in the systems currently in place.Particularly seen as the Communist system doesn't give the people a voice in how the elites are running the country.
As someone who lives in Hong Kong myself I am very grateful that you have dedicated an entire video to this small Asian powerhouse that often gets overlooked by most of the world Thank you for sharing and explaining in detail about one the most significant events in our history to the wider world
I love how it is specified as Air China 747, British triple seven, rather than just calling them planes. Truly makes the video seem alot more professional.
I'm from Hong Kong and even though this place is getting more and more messed up I'm still super excited to see a video with so much views about us -A-
Hey Wendover big fan of your channel here I want to thank you for covering this! I'm from Hong Kong and I really appreciate the effort you've put into this video!
@@aliuli657 I mean Charles doesn't rule anything, he's a) a prince, and b) only going to be a King who's a figurehead not really a head of state. Also from what I've read Charles is quite liberally minded so he probably didn't exactly agree with the British colonies either.
@@alexanderhowarth6460 1. Does Japan have an empire anymore? 2.The Japanese word for emperor has no "empire" within it. 天皇 means heavenly king, not emperor. There's no implication that there is an empire.
@@alexanderhowarth6460 the only East Asian emperor was the Chinese one, as others agreed about 2000 to 1000 years ago, and so they took the Chinese language, some Chinese culture and develop their own. That's why royals in Bhutan, and Japan uses 4 claw dragon, not 5. Because 5 claws is the "true dragon" is for the emperor only.
I think the real difference was that in the past we (the British) fought for the right to be international drug dealers and now that is _slightly_ more frowned upon....
@@olympia5758 It's not ugly, it's JC Denton from Deus Ex, one of the coolest videogame characters of all time. I do agree though that it's really fucking unoriginal that every 12 year old and his brother is using it as an avatar but humans are turning into sheep, everyone wants to be identical to everyone else.
Thanks for mentioning the passport. Nearly 2 million Hongkongers have a British Passport (BNO) but this passport does not allow the holder to live in the UK indefinitely. BUT, all ethnically non - Chinese residents of Hong Kong were given British citizenship. And now EU passport holders can live in the UK, including Macauese, a former Portuguese colony.
As a Hong Konger, thanks for this video. It's a topic which although has been talked about for several times, is still very interesting and something which is needed to be covered to understand the current situation with Hong Kong.
Águila701 If you’re not British you won’t notice it as much. Just things on the surface like red busses etc. If you are British though you’ll pick up more things. Like the exact same ice cream vans you see as a kid. Post boxes, plug sockets, driving on the left, street names are identical than ones found in London, pubs etc. It’s really quite bizarre as a Brit visiting Hong Kong because it’s so different than you’re used to but also exactly the same, if you get my meaning.
@Águila701 I lived in HK for 9years, UK for 5 years and AU for 1 year... I can tell you that there are a lot of similarities you could find between these places, almost like if you are living in the same country, there is almost no difference on how the society works, how people behave, people's core value and so on...
Weirdly, as a Hong Konger who went to college in UK felts more or less the same. I know it’s the British influence, but somehow my brain tricked me into thinking “wow, the brits do this and that exactly the same way as us in HK” lol ps. I wish HK the best and away from commies.
Sadly, after the hangover, HK is just a normal city of China, without much power and autonomy. In the past, HK was f--ked by British, now HK is f--ked by Chinese Communist Party and people from mainland China We simply don't need sex cuz we are f--ked everyday. (Before and after 1997) And HK keeps deteriorating in terms of economy, freedom, corruption etc. - a HK citizen born and raised in HK.
@@jackyeung3677 do you wanna go independent, go Independant wih macau, go with the ROC, join up with Macau, Singapore as a single nation join the usa, join Israel, join Kosovo?
@@mikeoxsmal8022 The thing is we can't. Us citizens can't make these decisions, and the president of Hong Kong is pro-Beijing, she supports what China is doing to us and isn't trying to stop it. So yes, although many citizens want independence, there's really not much we can do about it unfortunately.
@@mikeoxsmal8022 I can't imagine Hong Kong ever becoming a single nation with Singapore lol. But I do hope that the two countries can continue being good allies with one another whilst fostering a healthy competition between each other
Because in the past it was British Terretory and the People of Hong Kong had basically their own country. No Censorship, free speach, human rights, freedom of religion, and since there is no Censorship, not even a VPN is required. And now it is more and more becomming Part of China. Meaning, while they now still heve priviledges, they will pass. They will loose anything they loved about their country.
A correction: you don’t have to be born in HK to hold British National (overseas) passport But if one of your parents is Hong konger by origin and you were born before July 1st 97 then you are eligible to hold BNO passport I’m saying this cause my dad is Hong konger and I wasn’t born in HK and I got BNO passport....
What a great timing for this video! Currently studying abroad here in Hong Kong, at Hong Kong university taking some political science classes that go into great detail on this day. This is a very good description of it. The only thing slightly misleading is the fact you said Hong Kong was/is a democracy. Hong Kong has never been able to achieve full democracy, as the CE (kind of like a president) is not elected by the people, only some of the legislative branch is. Either way, interesting video!
B Davis yup, you're absolutely correct. The CE was elected by a small amount of super rich people or people have special status and China forced/ threatened them to vote for certain candidates. So basically the CE was elected by China not the HK citizen.
@@senselessnothing Those "democracy is the worst system of all" are bullshits argument But unfortunately some stupid guys in Hong Kong do believe that P.S. Hongkonger
@@chungonion This is not a matter of debate, every classical writer other than crazy rousseau knew that democracy was a trash system, including the founders of the US, that's why they didn't make a democracy.
If given a referendum tomorrow, would you vote to become British again(and I assume eventual independence) or remain part of China? As a Brit I would love to have you guys back! But it should of course go to the people, as it should of in the 90s!
Keith Watson my parents are hongkonger and i know that they would vote for british rule over chinese rule, but all three of us would vote for independence if that rederendum was a thing which it isint and never will be, home island is fimly under china’s thumb and there isnt much we can do about it, it is a simular situation to Norther Ireland you know so yeah.
@@keithwatson1384 "We would love to have you guys back..." Jesus, do you have any idea what the outcome could be? Anyone who possess a working brain wouldn't want that. Despite the immediate worse foreign diplomacy UK will have with China which will have a major impact on Britain's trade, UK simply can't afford to maintain HK's social welfare system such as Healthcare and the monetary contribution from HK will be significantly less than you expected since China does not rely on them anymore which really is now the opposite. Like it or not, HK need China more than their people imagined.
@@OryAlle Honour what deaL? The deal's already long gone the moment the protest for the security act became a riot for independence. I like how you only hold one side accountable for honouring a deal. The HKers who did not want to return to China, simply grew too desperate as the time neared. China doesn't even needa rush man. Just sit and wait till 2041, what's so hard about that? LOL. Even now, they can just let HK riot till 2041. They're already replacing HK as a financial hub for access into Chinese markets. And HK's already lost its special trading status. What need is there to rush into HK? lol. Pity the Hkers all you want. But none of us get to choose where we are born.
What a video! Probably one of the best videos about Hong Kong. Born in the 2000s, i never got a chance to experience the British rule of Hong Kong but this video let me know more about my homecity! Cheers guys well done👍
Good luck my friend The way things are looking I would not have a good feeling. Every time I would walk by that Chinese barracks I would feel like it’s an occupying force. Just a reminder of who’s boss
You SO should have talked about how people feel about it after - the accuracy of predictions, the effects it has on geo-politics to this day, and the percent of people who're happy -- who live in HK. No matter... thank you again, for an excellent episode within your excellent series. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious as to whether you [write] your scripts yourself..
@@bs2801 I'm pretty sure Hong-Kongers would have loved to have the Brits - and democracy/freedom - back. It's unfortunate for everyone - except the Chinese government - that the UK had to give up on Hong-Kong.
Very interesting. I love how you get into the nitty gritty. Could've been so much more of that though I reckon. I'd've gladly watched an episode an hour long about this.
Thanks for the video! My family was part of that immigration wave from Hong Kong to Australia in the early 80s. The year I moved Madonna’s like a Virgin LP came out :)
The Chinese government are already starting to become oppressive over the people of Hong Kong. Particularly on freedom of speech. Someone who published a book about the Tiananmen Square Massacre was taken away by Chinese authorities in the middle of night and never seen again.
One could argue the CCP is not the rightful government of China and making the treaties null for the CCP. It would make sense for Taiwan to get Hong Kong instead... idk that is something I heard. I find it interresting to think about.
Scottish: “ Let us be independent” England: “ not so fast...” Irish: “ we want to reunite with our Irish brother and sisters” England: “ I don’t think so...” Islanders thousands miles away from England all over the world :” we like independence” England: “How dare you?!”
Left anti pc It’s funny because they were referendums in both Scotland and Ireland but they the majority voted to stay in the U.K. So a minority resorted to blowing up school buses.
Your mum Is gay The funny one is you trying to confuse people. Referendum in both states need to be done frequently even annually. The false narrative UK feed Scotland was “you leave UK, you lost EU membership” look who has lost EU membership now. The scariest part of your democracy is Lies, uncontrollable lie and confusions from people like you feeding the public. Conduct referendums in all UK cities now, Scotland, Northern Ireland, even London will be independent.
@@TPerm-hj4sf I'm not really following. So you should have a referendum every year in Scotland and Northern Ireland for independence. So let's say they vote no for the next 5 years and then vote yes in the 6th year. Do you then have a referendum every year after that to see if they want to rejoin? What happens then? Depending on the mood they'll just rejoin and leave the rest of the UK over and over again. Doesn't make much sense to me...
That really made me emotional seeing the British leave Hong Kong. I remember when the handover took place but I dont remember seeing the flags lowering and raising and all of the symbolism involved.
My family is one of the 999,999+ people who moved to Vancouver just before the handover. My dad *loves* to rabble on about the HK of his childhood and having visited HK a few years ago, nostalgia aside, I see why he loves it so. I hope to be able to visit again before the total takeover (2047? Pfft ya rite, more like 2020)
One day the Communists in China will fall. You can't hide the truth forever. You can conceal it for 10, 15, 20, even 100 years or more but eventually it will come out.
@@scottkrafft6830 True, no country or system lasts forever. The same will happen to countries like the United States, Russia, etc. They will fall in future. All countries have their flaws.
@@scottkrafft6830 CCP :- No , I dont think i will They said China will fall in 1960 when Communist took all over Asia they said China will fall in 1980 when Dao Xi ping introduced Capitalism they said China will fall in 1991 after fall of another commie USSR they said China will fall in 2010 due to economic recession and pollution they still say China will fall in 2020 due to democracy movement in HK or Xinjing or Tibet
It was a traditional thing. 99 year lease was a nice way of saying this is ours forever and you can try and take it back if you'd like. Unfortunately for the UK, times change, and although they did consider it, they were in no position to fight over Hong Kong. There are a lot of other examples of 99 year leases, but Hong Kong is the most significant
You can throw that out the window the moment they turned a protest against the security act into a riot for independence. Also the civil rights of one city/state does not trump the entire country's. Unless you're telling me if Londoners voted to leave the UK, the UK will simply let them waltz out because they're a free nation and a democracy? If not, isn't that a double standard? Lol. Shame.
The expansion of Hong Kong into the Kowloon peninsula it was only ever leased for like 6 months but really was was ceded in perpetuity to Great Britain in October 1860 with Boundary Street marking the southern part of Kowloon that was ceded- in essence only the New Territories were ever leased by Britain!
If you look at many colonies at the time of independence, particularly in the Caribbean and surprisingly in Africa, many had thriving economies its just that they have declined since then and have gotten into the hands of socialists and dictators!
Colonies are stable because they are colonies, they use some of the stolen resources by the colonisers. However the UK doesn't have the money to hold these colonies anymore, that money has dried up and the new powers have stepped in.
Hong Kong isn't just a "colony". It is as autonomous as a "Republic of Hong Kong" remarked in humor by the Colonial Office. HK could have gone in the same path to full formal self-governence, democracy and independence as other dominions and Singapore, if not for the opposition from PRC and the CPC-staged 1967 Riots (basically state-sponsored terrorism) in the shadows of Cold War.
Interesting that so many Hong Kong citizens moved to Vancouver, BC, specifically. I was 9 in 1997, so I remember wrapping my head around that change in geography classes. More importantly than that, though: I grew up in the Vancouver area. Some of my closest friends were Hong Kong immigrants. Even when Hong Kong became part of China in 1997, those friends of mine whose families had come over years before continued to consider themselves *not* Chinese. This is in notable contrast to the international students we hosted just 5-8 years after the handover who had come from Hong Kong; they were Chinese. All of them, both the friends I grew up with and the students who lived with us in my teenage years, were born when Hong Kong was British.
Would you call yourselves "华人“ rather than “中国人” ？Like you weren't born in the People's Republic of China but like neither were the Chinese-Malaysians or any other foreign Chinese group.
It’s actually quite interesting to see the demographic of Chinese in GVA where the hk ppl will be in Richmond, mainland Chinese in burnaby Taiwanese in Fraser heights. They in general also don’t mix well with each other too.
Both of my parents were 2 of the 3 million HK people who moved away from HK to Seattle before 1997 in the 1970's 73' for my mom's family and 78' for my dad.
They didnt even talk about HOW Hong Kong was stolen by the British by poisoning Chinese. Their Psyops is really strong in HK when tricked the people living there to wave their colonial flag. Wow just wow. Stockholm syndrome. HKers being treated as second class citizens. And yeah I lived here for 10 years. It's sad. HKers need to be free from both but sticking with imperialists that killed your ancestors and poisoned them through hate, greed and racism? Learn your history!
@@mwtrolle Anything that contradicts to your belief must be :gasp: communists! lmao go pound sand, fitting as it comes from mw"troll". A danish dolt that trolls the internet that hasn't even stepped foot defending what europeans did to the rest of the world. HKers deserve freedom against against people like you and the chinese. Funny how only europeans could call the kettle black while killing the rest of the world full of brown and black people then wave their fingers at china and HK pretending to be on their side. Theyre pretending to be on their side because they hate the chinese more than anything and want to have the only threat for global hegemony eliminated. Do HKers really believe that theyre fighting for "democracy"? lol These countries arent even democratic (British, America) Consitutional Monarchy and US is a constitutional republic. Chinese couldnt even vote under british rule! lol Once this settles, it'll be something else. Being second class citizens in your own country because some white folks bombed them. Learn from brown and black people, theyre here to destroy your country from within as they have been doing for centuries and look at how they do the rest of us in the UK and US. Their whole country is founded on theft murder and exploitation of brown, yellow and black people around the world through colonization. This is them fighting against the one power that could possibly topple western white supremacy. That's why theyre fighting so hard, it isn't about democracy lol, since when were we ever a democracy. Lies that your teacher told ya!
A westerner would normally quickly point finger and say "you must be funded by CCP", to avoid a complete world view collapse, because deep down inside, they know they are evil.
@@GL-xe5vx So is that why Hong Kong has one of the highest inequality indexes in the entire world (Outranking even the USA and Singapore) and why so many people live in shitty box homes?
@@Odinsday because they choose to. They can move up to mainland and live in big empty houses. But HK is a city full of opportunities, so they choose to live in a cage instead.
@@natheniel Sure, it doesn't make it less important and it's not true that has less things to talk about. Plus, Portugal stayed for a much longer time in Macau than GB in Hong Kong.
No, I don't think so. By 2047, China will be the most powerful country in the world, exceeding the US. And China's GDP per capita will be as high as HongKong. China will be a developed nation and people will change their opinions about China.
One of the most detailed explanations of Hong Kong handover to China on RUclips one of my family friend moved Hong Kong to Toronto Canada during the handover in 1997.
Hey all, in case you don't know already, the numbers in the bottom, left corner of the video correspond to the sources of information at the bottom of the description. Many of those are good further reading on the topic.
Also, I just want to acknowledge one small narration slip-up. At 7:14 I say, "What was known was that the event would be centered around midnight on the night of July 30th, 1997." That should be *June* 30th, 1997.
NO WAY!!! Let me get this straight: You comment something that is unrelated to the fact that I smell like 100 dead orangutans? Considering that I am the unprettiest RUclipsr ever, smelling like 100 dead orangutans is really incredible. Yet you did not mention that at all. I am quite disappointed, dear wENDOVER
Hey, I love your videos. Keep it up!
As a HK citizen I'm really glad to see a video of us by one of my favorite RUclipsr :)
Wendover do you like the British or not...?
Wendover! PewDiePie is losing to T-series at a rapid rate! The sub gap is just 8500!!! We need your help!
I am one of the 110,000 that moved to Vancouver. I was 3 at the time. It's so fascinating how a seemingly arbitrary number, 99 years, shaped my whole life. Wonder how my life would be different if the number were 80, or 120.
捕捉野生Columbus lol.
99 doesn't really look arbitrary...
you hongkoners should've thought of that 99 years ago
@@davidsi5376 yikes.
哥倫布 Little Columbus I am one that went to America! But I’m still there, almost all my friends from Hong Kong went home. #freehongkong
As a Hongkonger, I really really appreciate that you devoted an entire video to us. I was not old enough to witness British Hong Kong myself. This video made me know just a little more, and it is kind of emotional for me. Thank you.
Being British, I'm interested to know what you think about both the past and the future?
@@tmarritt I second this, being British also.
If you had the option of making Hong Kong British again, would you?
Well I’m not really qualified to say this, I was born after the handover. But I think I can be quite confident to say that people are divided here. Most young people (like me) are against the Chinese. If given the chance, I’d probably want to make Hong Kong British again. But will it actually be better? Probably, but I cannot tell you.
@@WRGOP I am also a Hong Konger but ain't old enough to experience the British era. But I will say I want to go back to the British time because they gave us a lot, like business fortunes and sublime infrastructures, turning us from a small fishing village into a vibrant global city.
I guarantee whoever signed that 99 year deal never expected the Brits to actually ever give it back lol. They probably thought it would be forgotten in 100 years 😂
Then they greatly misunderstood the Chinese people. Like look at China's history. They don't seem like the type of people to just give land up. No shade.
Chinese always remember, especially things with numbers
...Pakistan...
Budget Bikes There were serious proposals to negotiate to make the lease permanent by the Governor of Hong Kong.
Yup
I really thought China would replace "royal" with "The people's"
I think it's part of the 'one country two systems' framework? I think that China or whoever involved in this process recognized that 'the People's' has been more or less same as socialism or communism, especially during the cold war (most E. European communists that the USSR installed call themselves 'people's'), although literally it's not really true.
That would be a worse circumstance...
nah, more likely 'our'
David Freeman unlike the Ameritards, who didn’t claim themselves as people’s in the first people.
@@ViolaGMidi what country are you from fam?
Such an interesting history of a region! Thanks for sharing the story as always Wendover!!!
Agreed!
Couldn't agree more
Got to give up opium forever. Damn!!
I can always count on Wendover Productions to produce a fascinating video. Love you.
jesus is on hongkongers side😂
Wendover is better than you
Holy Crap I wasn’t expecting to see you here Jesus.
jesus forgive my sins
Boy I see you to much on YT. Get outta here lolol
I went to Europe for a holiday via Hong Kong in 1997. It was British on my way there and Chinese on my way back :)
it was technically an invasion
@@starshiphopper7044 at least mass protests were fruitful back then and ppl actually trusted the police
@Sakkra101 , but Beijing is the rightful owner of Hong Kong.
@@nuzayerov No, Hong Kong is the rightful owner of Hong Kong.
@@turnpike9680 scotland is the rightful owner of scotland
Wales is the rightful owner of wales
Ireland is the rightful owner of whole Ireland
And the list goes on🙂
Kinda cool that Hong Kong still has double-decker buses.
Yeah, just not human rights or democracy or any of the other British things they used to have sadly.
@@aguamalone7615 HK never have democracy , man. It was rule by British. HK citizen never have right to vote for their destiny until the time UK had to return approach , So the Brit start a Lego council election plan. They never want HK democracy while they were ruler by Governer.
@@alexlo7708 Get history right. Britain wanted to give Hong Kong democracy even back in the 60s, but China threatened war with Britain.
isaac ng hey, I know this is probably the truth cuz I've heard this before. But is there any specific words or term I can search about the British government actually suggested the ...democracy ? Cuz I wanna hv my prove next time I hear anyone say the British didn't have us democracy too bullshit. Btw hker here
@@gordon4672 An article (with pictures of the actual documents) about Britain trying to push for democracy in HK but "China wished the present colonial status of Hong Kong to continue with no change whatever"
talk.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/2134476
Lord Patten also pushed for democracy in the final years of Hong Kong, including stepping down as the president of the legco and let legco elect its own president, and pushing for the first ever election for legco in 1995
zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AE%96%E6%B0%91%E5%9C%B0%E6%99%82%E6%9C%9F%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E6%94%BF%E6%B2%BB%E5%88%B6%E5%BA%A6%E6%94%B9%E9%9D%A9#%E5%BD%AD%E5%AE%9A%E5%BA%B7%E6%94%BF%E6%94%B9%E6%96%B9%E6%A1%88
zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995%E5%B9%B4%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E7%AB%8B%E6%B3%95%E5%B1%80%E9%81%B8%E8%88%89
having gone for a literary exchange trip to hong kong with significant focus on this exact event, this is a really good goddamn video
edit: the political and social impacts of the turnover in the years that followed are also really interesting as well. this video isn't exactly about that but hong kong's resultant dual identity is a very unique predicament that has some really interesting long term effects that extend past the turnover itself into present day.
Hey I'm currently doing the same thing! In Hong Kong studying political science and taking some interesting courses on Hong Kong Politics!
Wendover! If you see this, please consider the following: I’m sure many people would love to see a follow up video on Hong Kong’s complex political and cultural situation ever since. It’s a topic that is both incredibly interesting and relevant. Hope you consider it! As always, a fantastic video, can’t wait to see what you do next.
@@ellistolfvenstam1508 oh yeah yeah
Hey you make good Geometry Dash levels
In case you guys are interested, Vox did a pretty good short series called Borders in Hong Kong, feel free to check it out.
"99 years? We'll be dead by then anyway, LOL!"
That's exactly what they were thinking
@@LapisPebble more likely they thought that in 99 years the ever mighty British empire would just threaten them for an extension. They should have listened to Kipling
99 years is commonly used in the UK for 'forever'. It's a royal pain in the ass for those picking up the pieces.
- said every Keynesian, myoptically.
@@gwho "lets party now, whomever got to pay the bills is fucked, though, lol"
-they
Population of Hong Kong Island:
1842: 7,450
2011: 1,270,876
@@interestingusername2633 Urm Hong Kong Island is a region in Hong Kong. The population of HK is more than 7 million already.
Research before you swear lol
@@interestingusername2633 you are absurd. Hong Kong Island is part of Hong Kong.
Don't Mine Me, I'm Just Watching Freyals Getting Toasted
@mharris1270 Fun Fact: Hong Kong Island was not part of the 99 year lease and was ceded to the British "in perpetuity"(forever) but Margaret Thatcher was too cowardly to put up a fight against Communist China.
She couldn't even muster the courage to let them do a self determination vote because we all know how those results would have turned out.
@@JH-dl6vu "stolen" The word is 'conquered'. It's not our fault only white people are competent at waging war, it's everyone else's fault for being shit in comparison.
As a Hong Konger (my ancestors were actually one of the 7450), I thank you for this amazing video!
there will be no youtube for you soon.
@@DigitaIBot just 18 years and 4 months
I’m a Hong Konger too!
Lol enjoy the freedom of internet while you can! 12 years and counting
Get a Tattoo of "7450" to honor them all and let me know if you do. Would be interesting .. Cheers.
I remembered my school taught us the 'new' national anthem.
"What happened to the old one?" My classmate asked.
"Oh, we stopped singing that." My teacher answered.
Just like that. I guess that's why I never feel like I'm British nor Chinese; my nationality changed faster than I can change my mobile carrier.
You're Hong Kong Chinese. No one in the Anglosphere will mistake you for a Brit.
@AzerGhost16 Lol. Is that why the British amended their laws several times to make sure Hong Kong citizens would never have the right of abode in the UK, or a become British citizens, while granting it to the white Falklanders? The fact has been created by the White Brits, not by "the mainlanders".
Or, maybe you realized how meaningless it all was. Being British or Chinese means nothing more to you than the song they make you sing in class.
Oof, just be thankful if China considers you Chinese because Britain sure as hell won't see you as one of theirs
@AzerGhost16 Nah
My mom was a domestic worker in Hong Kong and was there to witness the handover. She brought home pictures of the parade and festivities from the streets of Kawloon. As a child I never really understood how significant how significant the event is but I'm glad I we got to keep a little piece of history in those pictures.
You should do a similar video with Macau
Yes plz
That's Good 👍👍👍 👏👏👏, I Want To See That As Well
It’s kind of the same, just substitute the UK with Portugal
Macau was not as symbolic. Macau was already controlled by Chinese loyalists since the Chinese riots in the 70s. That's why you never heard about Macau. Because there is actually nothing for the western media to complain about.
@@ranelgallardo7031 Except that it was overall smaller and less attention-grabbing. However what's noticeable for the Macau one was a very young girl that was invited to sing an emotional patriotic song, 'the song of 7 sons: Macau' (HK should have its version originally, but I don't think it went famous and was thus not performed)
Pre-1997 - Britain
1997- Britain't
pre~1841-China
1842~1997-Britain
1997~ China
@@ecthelionyoou8231
pre-1841 *Gong Jin-ou playing*
1842-1997 *God save the queen starts playing*
1997 *March of vollounteirs bass booster earrape plays*
I know that góng jin'ou was adopted in 1911, I needed something for Qing
@@CosmicDalmatian you're disrespectful to an anthem
@@ecthelionyoou8231 What do you mean?
@@CosmicDalmatian maybe I misunderstood the "earrape"?
The girl at 10:25 looking back one last time to her former home sums it all up really.
That girl is the daughter of Chris Patten.
I'm glad others have noticed her too. Have the same thoughts. How terrible can be knowing that it will turn to a s#!thole over time.
The end of Hong Kong's white ruling class. Whether that's a good or a bad thing probably depends on where you're from.
@@jeanbethencourt1506 i'm not sure why you made this a race thing but i can guess you're a lefty bot hehe.
@@jeanbethencourt1506 As it is. There´s always an asshole putting the race bullshit everywhere.
I'll be very curious to see what happens in 2047 when Hong Kong ceases to be semi-autonomous and is fully in the control of mainland China. How will it impact business and the citizens living there?
Well in fact Hong Kong is already changing in the past few years where the city is becoming more and more Chinese and less and less Hong Kong
That’s even if we make it to 2047 considering Hong Kong is already being oppressed as we speak!
china will absorb hong kong and hong kong will lose its way of life and its status. just another chinese city which will be the same as Guangzhou, shenzhen, and other chinese megacities. I believe that will be little to no negotiation as China has begin to absorb hong kong already, and with china's power on the rise, there will be no hope.
@@lauraqueentint There's always hope. It is the matter of the people, if people change, systems will change
@@battledroid224 I want to believe in Hong Kong, I do. after all, I live there. It's just that no matter what the people do, there's no escaping china or its system. China has become too powerful in the last 30 years or so that nobody, not even the US could stand up to China. The communist system is likely to stay, at least for another 60 years.
At least in my lifetime, I don't think there will be any big scale change in the systems currently in place.Particularly seen as the Communist system doesn't give the people a voice in how the elites are running the country.
That must have been so stressful for so many people...
And terrified.
for losers.
Bet is wasn't as stressful as right now in HK.
The rich left and the poor become opressed. The Chinese Communists are evil.
ØCCULT Bass extradition
As someone who lives in Hong Kong myself I am very grateful that you have dedicated an entire video to this small Asian powerhouse that often gets overlooked by most of the world Thank you for sharing and explaining in detail about one the most significant events in our history to the wider world
Arc Vortech HK was once the Asian tigers
Nobody overlooks HKG ever.
What's the public sentiment since the handover? Generally good? Anything bad? or due to the 50 year extension, no effects yet?
If it’s all good to ask, woukd you say this change is for the better, or would Hong Kong be better independent or as a British Overseas Territory
To think that it would still be the number #1 city in Asia if this handover hadn't happened that caused it to fade into obscurity.
I love how it is specified as Air China 747, British triple seven, rather than just calling them planes. Truly makes the video seem alot more professional.
That thumbnail is amazing.
I know, right?
I'm from Hong Kong and even though this place is getting more and more messed up I'm still super excited to see a video with so much views about us -A-
Hey Wendover big fan of your channel here I want to thank you for covering this! I'm from Hong Kong and I really appreciate the effort you've put into this video!
Than how are you watching this?
@@JWarrior_81 Hong Kong is a SAR and is not subject to internet censorship just Google it. Also I'm living in the UK so that's irrelevant.
Level 1 : Person emigrates from country
Level 100 : Entire City emigrates from country
_That’s how Hong Kong works_
Asians are better at everything.
@@rock3tcatU233 except having big pp
Level 999: Entire country emigrates from country
That’s how Hong Kong _really_ works now
@@pleasecallmetomato4924
With new advances in genetic engineering they'll soon beat us at that too.
@@rock3tcatU233 no.
Do one about Macau and how it became the Gambling capital of china
Macau became richer under Chinese Rule than Portagise Rule
if it wasnt for the portuguese, macau would be a fishing village
@Lin J opium is a British thing, the Portuguese didn't even use force. They bought it
@@teixeira476 Wrong! If it wasn't for the Portuguese, Macau would have been better than Shenzhen and Shanghai.
I’m Macanese, I ❤️ Portugal
'The Hong Kong Handover' why does that sound like it should be the name of a gta mission
there is already a hong kong combat game called sleeping dogs
The look on Prince Charles's face pretty much says it all.
@Jay Saenz "seems"
"Oh shit, we can't keep occupying land we robbed through drug trade and aggressive war" I guess it says that?
@@aliuli657 I mean Charles doesn't rule anything, he's a) a prince, and b) only going to be a King who's a figurehead not really a head of state.
Also from what I've read Charles is quite liberally minded so he probably didn't exactly agree with the British colonies either.
ali uli
Lol salty
I think the face of the governor's daughter says quite a bit more, but ... **shrug**
And so the sun truly set on the British Empire
They still have some scattered territories(colonies) in Atlantic ocean, Pacific ocean and Indian ocean
@@ankitchoudhary9858
A handful of nigh uninhabited islands an Empire does not make
@@HaydenLau. no, the name does. Japan has an Emperor.
@@alexanderhowarth6460
1. Does Japan have an empire anymore?
2.The Japanese word for emperor has no "empire" within it. 天皇 means heavenly king, not emperor. There's no implication that there is an empire.
@@alexanderhowarth6460 the only East Asian emperor was the Chinese one, as others agreed about 2000 to 1000 years ago, and so they took the Chinese language, some Chinese culture and develop their own. That's why royals in Bhutan, and Japan uses 4 claw dragon, not 5. Because 5 claws is the "true dragon" is for the emperor only.
Ok when is the first plane reference?
Edit: 9:15
I love how you use the satellite image from 1997 in order to accurately reflect what had happened
200 years ago: people fight for drugs
Today: people fight for drugs
We have evolved so much as a society
Today: people fight for drugs with modern guns*
We live in a society
Marcus Young so true
I think the real difference was that in the past we (the British) fought for the right to be international drug dealers and now that is _slightly_ more frowned upon....
So proud of this community
Can you make a similar video about the Macau Handover?
YES
jesus christ what is up with this profile pic
@@brandenr6073 I thought I was the ONLY one who noticed, everyone using that ugly ass profile pic.
Macau didn't quite have the significance that Hong Kong did. It is a very tiny bit of land.
@@olympia5758 It's not ugly, it's JC Denton from Deus Ex, one of the coolest videogame characters of all time. I do agree though that it's really fucking unoriginal that every 12 year old and his brother is using it as an avatar but humans are turning into sheep, everyone wants to be identical to everyone else.
Vancouver Productions
Handover Productions
@@quark-eisernunion4111 *Hilarious and Original*
Opium Production
ruclips.net/video/fxoUNzrt26Q/видео.html
1989 documentary on the early effects of the Hong Kong migration in Vancouver.
China Uncensored
Thanks for mentioning the passport. Nearly 2 million Hongkongers have a British Passport (BNO) but this passport does not allow the holder to live in the UK indefinitely. BUT, all ethnically non - Chinese residents of Hong Kong were given British citizenship. And now EU passport holders can live in the UK, including Macauese, a former Portuguese colony.
Something I do find funny is it does let you run for government positions in the UK as well as work in public sector roles such as police and military
As a Hong Konger, thanks for this video. It's a topic which although has been talked about for several times, is still very interesting and something which is needed to be covered to understand the current situation with Hong Kong.
I've been living in Hong Kong for 5 years now, you can really feel the British influence.
Águila701 If you’re not British you won’t notice it as much. Just things on the surface like red busses etc. If you are British though you’ll pick up more things. Like the exact same ice cream vans you see as a kid. Post boxes, plug sockets, driving on the left, street names are identical than ones found in London, pubs etc. It’s really quite bizarre as a Brit visiting Hong Kong because it’s so different than you’re used to but also exactly the same, if you get my meaning.
you can really feel the china influence.
@Águila701 I lived in HK for 9years, UK for 5 years and AU for 1 year... I can tell you that there are a lot of similarities you could find between these places, almost like if you are living in the same country, there is almost no difference on how the society works, how people behave, people's core value and so on...
Weirdly, as a Hong Konger who went to college in UK felts more or less the same. I know it’s the British influence, but somehow my brain tricked me into thinking “wow, the brits do this and that exactly the same way as us in HK” lol
ps. I wish HK the best and away from commies.
Hong Kong, from the product of Opium War, to "One of the Four Asian Tigers" :)
Sadly, after the hangover, HK is just a normal city of China, without much power and autonomy.
In the past, HK was f--ked by British, now HK is f--ked by Chinese Communist Party and people from mainland China
We simply don't need sex cuz we are f--ked everyday. (Before and after 1997)
And HK keeps deteriorating in terms of economy, freedom, corruption etc.
- a HK citizen born and raised in HK.
@@jackyeung3677 do you wanna go independent, go Independant wih macau, go with the ROC, join up with Macau, Singapore as a single nation join the usa, join Israel, join Kosovo?
@@mikeoxsmal8022 The thing is we can't. Us citizens can't make these decisions, and the president of Hong Kong is pro-Beijing, she supports what China is doing to us and isn't trying to stop it. So yes, although many citizens want independence, there's really not much we can do about it unfortunately.
@@mikeoxsmal8022 I can't imagine Hong Kong ever becoming a single nation with Singapore lol. But I do hope that the two countries can continue being good allies with one another whilst fostering a healthy competition between each other
for your reference, the tiger is dead now
"Britain was gone from Hong Kong, for good" in February 2019
"B R U H" in June, 2019
Bruh revolution moment wait is that the police NO-
Looks like something similar is happening to London now
Why is this so sad... I'm not even part of the UK or Hong Kong
@jappie jappo I'm not even part of China...
Because in the past it was British Terretory and the People of Hong Kong had basically their own country. No Censorship, free speach, human rights, freedom of religion, and since there is no Censorship, not even a VPN is required.
And now it is more and more becomming Part of China. Meaning, while they now still heve priviledges, they will pass. They will loose anything they loved about their country.
@jappie jappo Are you just guessing my nationality at this point?
@jappie jappo What does your 'we' refer to?
@jappie jappo Also, I think you're the one that needs to be re-educated
>change team?
Not at all, a change in the teams leadership, which a minimum of half the team was unsatisfied with, amd scared of!
YOU ARE NOW ON RED!
The teams have been auto-balanced
@@Eira_ AAAahaHHhHaHAHhHhhHHHHH
Like italy
Once upon a time there was an empire on which the sun never set, then the sun set. The End.
Actually considering the UK still owns territories across the world the sun still technically hasn't set...
@Lo C LOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL
@Wanderer628 it metaphorically set a long time ago.
@british intelligence, oh please, the British Empire met its inglorious end.
what-if.xkcd.com/48/
Relevant XKCD
The Sun never sets on the British Empire!! R U L E B R I T A N N I A
A correction: you don’t have to be born in HK to hold British National (overseas) passport
But if one of your parents is Hong konger by origin and you were born before July 1st 97 then you are eligible to hold BNO passport
I’m saying this cause my dad is Hong konger and I wasn’t born in HK and I got BNO passport....
Useless piece of paper
@@spacebjorn Useless? It allows you to live in a different country.
What a great timing for this video! Currently studying abroad here in Hong Kong, at Hong Kong university taking some political science classes that go into great detail on this day. This is a very good description of it. The only thing slightly misleading is the fact you said Hong Kong was/is a democracy. Hong Kong has never been able to achieve full democracy, as the CE (kind of like a president) is not elected by the people, only some of the legislative branch is. Either way, interesting video!
Did they tell you that democracy is the worst system of all?
B Davis yup, you're absolutely correct. The CE was elected by a small amount of super rich people or people have special status and China forced/ threatened them to vote for certain candidates. So basically the CE was elected by China not the HK citizen.
@@senselessnothing Those "democracy is the worst system of all" are bullshits argument
But unfortunately some stupid guys in Hong Kong do believe that
P.S. Hongkonger
@@chungonion This is not a matter of debate, every classical writer other than crazy rousseau knew that democracy was a trash system, including the founders of the US, that's why they didn't make a democracy.
@@senselessnothing man Switzerland must look like a shithole then with their direct democracy and multiple referendums every year. Oh wait...
Fascinating video, excellent job!!!
It was a great cover of Hong Kong even as a Hongkonger! Great job!
If given a referendum tomorrow, would you vote to become British again(and I assume eventual independence) or remain part of China? As a Brit I would love to have you guys back! But it should of course go to the people, as it should of in the 90s!
Keith Watson my parents are hongkonger and i know that they would vote for british rule over chinese rule, but all three of us would vote for independence if that rederendum was a thing which it isint and never will be, home island is fimly under china’s thumb and there isnt much we can do about it, it is a simular situation to Norther Ireland you know so yeah.
Unfortunately, The Chinese would not allow any referendums to be held and that is their policy right from the handover!
Mike wangsama what?
@@keithwatson1384 "We would love to have you guys back..." Jesus, do you have any idea what the outcome could be? Anyone who possess a working brain wouldn't want that. Despite the immediate worse foreign diplomacy UK will have with China which will have a major impact on Britain's trade, UK simply can't afford to maintain HK's social welfare system such as Healthcare and the monetary contribution from HK will be significantly less than you expected since China does not rely on them anymore which really is now the opposite. Like it or not, HK need China more than their people imagined.
Those 35% who were uncertain about Hong Kong's future were right
Wow, you're good at Cities: Skylines!
yesdrop
ahhahaha only we get it xD
lmaooo
wait what
I dont get it and I play CSL :(
9:24 that's probably the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.
Really?
@@lifeinpast999 lol its not usually like that over here, its pretty average
You need to get out more
Go to Manila on a clear day then wait for the sunset.
You mean saddest one.
Hong Kong could have kept communism out by using Dashlane
Or use nordvpn
wut...
jack chung holy shit mate, calm down, it’s just a joke
Even by brute force
@@SniperBoy-hp6xr Hong Kongers gotta escape the Great Censorwall of China somehow to regain their dignity.
Only 18 more years of being able to access RUclips my Hong Kong brothers.
A bit longer than that, it supposed to be 28 more years.
@@supawathorsuwan9306 1 2 3 quick maffs!
You'll be lucky to get another 2 years at the rate things are going. Never trust the Chinese to honour a deal.
Only a few more months*
@@OryAlle Honour what deaL? The deal's already long gone the moment the protest for the security act became a riot for independence.
I like how you only hold one side accountable for honouring a deal. The HKers who did not want to return to China, simply grew too desperate as the time neared. China doesn't even needa rush man. Just sit and wait till 2041, what's so hard about that? LOL.
Even now, they can just let HK riot till 2041. They're already replacing HK as a financial hub for access into Chinese markets. And HK's already lost its special trading status. What need is there to rush into HK? lol.
Pity the Hkers all you want. But none of us get to choose where we are born.
What a video! Probably one of the best videos about Hong Kong. Born in the 2000s, i never got a chance to experience the British rule of Hong Kong but this video let me know more about my homecity! Cheers guys well done👍
I waa Born in the 80s, We had British style Birth Certificate.
Young people are emigrating from HK, including me.
Good Luck
Good luck my friend The way things are looking I would not have a good feeling. Every time I would walk by that Chinese barracks I would feel like it’s an occupying force. Just a reminder of who’s boss
cococly chinese are glad to hear it ! chinese territory is for chinese people
@@TheJoeSwanon you dumb fuck.
Wow. That's an damn excellent video!
Lmao i first read: The Hong Kong Hangover
So alcoholic of you
“The story of Carrie Lam getting drunk on Baijiu.”
As long as its not Hongkong Wendover
i finally know why my family has decided to move to nz now. history is amazing!
Hong Kongxit
As a Brit, I say double-RIP
MAKE IRELAND UNITED AGAIN
You mean Chinentry...
@@tronalddump5447 Ulster is British
Technicality never would happen cuz China would just start war
why the British royals sailed instead of fly in 1997?
because they arrived a hundred years ago in ships?
Yes they arrived in Canton as trading ships in 18th century
Because they are the british royals, why fly when they own the waves.
It's just a waste.
@@Tom-eq7eh they don't own the waves. The waves belong to the United States Navy.
Jean Bethencourt it is called, a joke -fellow US citizen
**RULE BRITTANIA plays**
that's why
You SO should have talked about how people feel about it after - the accuracy of predictions, the effects it has on geo-politics to this day, and the percent of people who're happy -- who live in HK. No matter... thank you again, for an excellent episode within your excellent series. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious as to whether you [write] your scripts yourself..
My Hong Konese friends are very worried.They trusted the communists.
@@capcompass9298 They are yellow skin black hair, the white doesn't give a shit about them but just use them to constraint China.
@@bs2801 I'm pretty sure Hong-Kongers would have loved to have the Brits - and democracy/freedom - back. It's unfortunate for everyone - except the Chinese government - that the UK had to give up on Hong-Kong.
@@ZiggyMercuryHong Kong is like 90% dependent on mainland
Very interesting. I love how you get into the nitty gritty. Could've been so much more of that though I reckon. I'd've gladly watched an episode an hour long about this.
Thanks for the video! My family was part of that immigration wave from Hong Kong to Australia in the early 80s. The year I moved Madonna’s like a Virgin LP came out :)
I remember the handover, I was watching Jackie Chan movies on the lead up to the event, I am a massive HK cinema buff of the 70's - 90's era
‘At 7:11, the sunset for the last time in British Hong Kong’
*Saddest Phrase Ever*
Didn't realize ending colonialism is sad but okay
@@heatherswanson1664 yeah because they are doing SO WELL NOW aren't they you Liberal berk
@@Infern0121 Colonialism is fine so long as authoritarian dictatorships are doing it, apparently.
Does anyone else kinda feel sad watching this?
Kieron Reid nope, think it like this, 1.britain op takes a piece of china
2.china recover his own land
3. britain becomes the victim
Just a bit
The Chinese government are already starting to become oppressive over the people of Hong Kong. Particularly on freedom of speech. Someone who published a book about the Tiananmen Square
Massacre was taken away by Chinese authorities in the middle of night and never seen again.
The same way I feel sad when watching a burglar having to return a TV he stole.
One could argue the CCP is not the rightful government of China and making the treaties null for the CCP. It would make sense for Taiwan to get Hong Kong instead... idk that is something I heard. I find it interresting to think about.
Hong Kong: "Lets be independent."
China: "Oh I don't think so."
Scottish: “ Let us be independent”
England: “ not so fast...”
Irish: “ we want to reunite with our Irish brother and sisters”
England: “ I don’t think so...”
Islanders thousands miles away from England all over the world :” we like independence”
England: “How dare you?!”
Left anti pc It’s funny because they were referendums in both Scotland and Ireland but they the majority voted to stay in the U.K. So a minority resorted to blowing up school buses.
Your mum Is gay The funny one is you trying to confuse people. Referendum in both states need to be done frequently even annually. The false narrative UK feed Scotland was “you leave UK, you lost EU membership” look who has lost EU membership now.
The scariest part of your democracy is Lies, uncontrollable lie and confusions from people like you feeding the public.
Conduct referendums in all UK cities now, Scotland, Northern Ireland, even London will be independent.
Marek Tužák You really don’t know much about any political system. To be both counted as only one vote with you is an insult.
@@TPerm-hj4sf I'm not really following. So you should have a referendum every year in Scotland and Northern Ireland for independence. So let's say they vote no for the next 5 years and then vote yes in the 6th year. Do you then have a referendum every year after that to see if they want to rejoin? What happens then? Depending on the mood they'll just rejoin and leave the rest of the UK over and over again. Doesn't make much sense to me...
That really made me emotional seeing the British leave Hong Kong. I remember when the handover took place but I dont remember seeing the flags lowering and raising and all of the symbolism involved.
Represents the revival of China.
The day democracy died in Hong Kong
@@hugostiglitz9149 British HK has no democracy. White governors were directly sent from U.K. Get your facts right
Though Britain has been a plague to its colonies. Still it's better than China
@@zhiliaop3616 "revival"
This is one of my favourite videos of yours. Your channel rocks!
Hong kong is such a unique place. Unfortunatly, it is geting less so.
Major China cites copied the Hong Kong model since the hand over and Hong Kong Is slowly losing their sovereignity
Never like there when it was under uk. never like it there when it a chinese.
Shanghai Shenzhen MUCH BETTER than Hong-Kong
Born in HK, seeing how China spoil HK
@@Matanumi china always copying other stuffs
idk why, but this video made me really sad
brainwashing does that to people. maybe consume less western propaganda and there's still hope for you
@@Fuzzsaphire I'm not gonna argue with a Chinese troll account.
@@lego501stTrigger Shame i haven't born under the period of british hong kong.
@@lego501stTrigger i'm not even chinese dumbass lol
Same, Exter.
I almost cry this is so sad :'(
I've never learned so much about Hong Kong as I did today.
Thank you so much for this video.
wait 'til you learn about hong kong protests
My family is one of the 999,999+ people who moved to Vancouver just before the handover. My dad *loves* to rabble on about the HK of his childhood and having visited HK a few years ago, nostalgia aside, I see why he loves it so. I hope to be able to visit again before the total takeover (2047? Pfft ya rite, more like 2020)
One day the Communists in China will fall. You can't hide the truth forever. You can conceal it for 10, 15, 20, even 100 years or more but eventually it will come out.
@@scottkrafft6830 True, no country or system lasts forever. The same will happen to countries like the United States, Russia, etc. They will fall in future. All countries have their flaws.
@@scottkrafft6830 CCP :- No , I dont think i will
They said China will fall in 1960 when Communist took all over Asia
they said China will fall in 1980 when Dao Xi ping introduced Capitalism
they said China will fall in 1991 after fall of another commie USSR
they said China will fall in 2010 due to economic recession and pollution
they still say China will fall in 2020 due to democracy movement in HK or Xinjing or Tibet
@@scottkrafft6830 You speak like ur government never hides the truth
@@scottkrafft6830 OMG how many times do i have to tell u peeps, china does not any communism left after the 21th century lol.
*Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves*
Also as good as forever? I don’t think they know what forever means
It was a traditional thing. 99 year lease was a nice way of saying this is ours forever and you can try and take it back if you'd like. Unfortunately for the UK, times change, and although they did consider it, they were in no position to fight over Hong Kong. There are a lot of other examples of 99 year leases, but Hong Kong is the most significant
Should have said "100" year lease... Then they would have been ultimate boss
From a Libertarian point of view, no country should rule over another country. But in the real world it does not work that way.
Should write 9999 years.
@@chongjunxiang3002 That's over 9000!
Now look. What an absolute abysmal shame. Thoughts in support for Hong Kong and it's civil right to maintain it's own justice system until 2047
You can throw that out the window the moment they turned a protest against the security act into a riot for independence.
Also the civil rights of one city/state does not trump the entire country's.
Unless you're telling me if Londoners voted to leave the UK, the UK will simply let them waltz out because they're a free nation and a democracy? If not, isn't that a double standard? Lol. Shame.
The expansion of Hong Kong into the Kowloon peninsula it was only ever leased for like 6 months but really was was ceded in perpetuity to Great Britain in October 1860 with Boundary Street marking the southern part of Kowloon that was ceded- in essence only the New Territories were ever leased by Britain!
10:24 Her look says it all
One of the few times being a colony was preferable, at least to some.
If you look at many colonies at the time of independence, particularly in the Caribbean and surprisingly in Africa, many had thriving economies its just that they have declined since then and have gotten into the hands of socialists and dictators!
A referendum pre-Thatcher-Tang talk shows > 80% prefer status quo, only < 10% looks forward to a then hypothetical handover.
Colonies are stable because they are colonies, they use some of the stolen resources by the colonisers. However the UK doesn't have the money to hold these colonies anymore, that money has dried up and the new powers have stepped in.
Hong Kong isn't just a "colony". It is as autonomous as a "Republic of Hong Kong" remarked in humor by the Colonial Office. HK could have gone in the same path to full formal self-governence, democracy and independence as other dominions and Singapore, if not for the opposition from PRC and the CPC-staged 1967 Riots (basically state-sponsored terrorism) in the shadows of Cold War.
@@koverpy426 We run like dominion or a semi-state if you may. But all thanks to China, we are now going down.
I can't believe it's been fifty years since 1997.
Wendover forgot Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) was fighting gangs on the harbour, on the same night of the handover.
The original Brexit.
Look lads, that's how you negosiate a good withdrawl
Hahaha... A good withdraw. (crying in Cantonese)
(Hongkongese crying)
Sorry 😥
Interesting that so many Hong Kong citizens moved to Vancouver, BC, specifically. I was 9 in 1997, so I remember wrapping my head around that change in geography classes. More importantly than that, though: I grew up in the Vancouver area. Some of my closest friends were Hong Kong immigrants. Even when Hong Kong became part of China in 1997, those friends of mine whose families had come over years before continued to consider themselves *not* Chinese. This is in notable contrast to the international students we hosted just 5-8 years after the handover who had come from Hong Kong; they were Chinese. All of them, both the friends I grew up with and the students who lived with us in my teenage years, were born when Hong Kong was British.
Would you call yourselves "华人“ rather than “中国人” ？Like you weren't born in the People's Republic of China but like neither were the Chinese-Malaysians or any other foreign Chinese group.
It’s actually quite interesting to see the demographic of Chinese in GVA where the hk ppl will be in Richmond, mainland Chinese in burnaby Taiwanese in Fraser heights. They in general also don’t mix well with each other too.
My aunt lives at Hong Kong, AND I WISH TO GO THERE JUST TO RIDE THE MTR ALL DAY EVERYDAY 365 DAYS A YEAR
When I was still in kindergarten, we had a day-off, only that we all could watch live handover at home.
Last time I was this early Justin Y hadn’t commented yet
didnt know how interesting the handover of hong kong was, as a british person i am slightly salty about it but it's still very interesting
As a Fellow Asian it saddens me about the parting.
@@mlx39996 and it sadly gets worse in 2047 unless something changes.
Both of my parents were 2 of the 3 million HK people who moved away from HK to Seattle before 1997 in the 1970's 73' for my mom's family and 78' for my dad.
yass #10 on trending here in england
6:54. Painted green, but still with the crown and "ER" (no, not 'Er in the Palace, but Elizabeth Regina)
That's 'er.
You have got a subscriber from Hong Kong :)
They didnt even talk about HOW Hong Kong was stolen by the British by poisoning Chinese. Their Psyops is really strong in HK when tricked the people living there to wave their colonial flag. Wow just wow. Stockholm syndrome. HKers being treated as second class citizens. And yeah I lived here for 10 years. It's sad. HKers need to be free from both but sticking with imperialists that killed your ancestors and poisoned them through hate, greed and racism? Learn your history!
@@JH-dl6vu So you are part of the CCP's infiltration?
Sure sounds like it!
@@mwtrolle Anything that contradicts to your belief must be :gasp: communists! lmao go pound sand, fitting as it comes from mw"troll". A danish dolt that trolls the internet that hasn't even stepped foot defending what europeans did to the rest of the world. HKers deserve freedom against against people like you and the chinese.
Funny how only europeans could call the kettle black while killing the rest of the world full of brown and black people then wave their fingers at china and HK pretending to be on their side. Theyre pretending to be on their side because they hate the chinese more than anything and want to have the only threat for global hegemony eliminated.
Do HKers really believe that theyre fighting for "democracy"? lol These countries arent even democratic (British, America) Consitutional Monarchy and US is a constitutional republic. Chinese couldnt even vote under british rule! lol Once this settles, it'll be something else. Being second class citizens in your own country because some white folks bombed them.
Learn from brown and black people, theyre here to destroy your country from within as they have been doing for centuries and look at how they do the rest of us in the UK and US. Their whole country is founded on theft murder and exploitation of brown, yellow and black people around the world through colonization. This is them fighting against the one power that could possibly topple western white supremacy. That's why theyre fighting so hard, it isn't about democracy lol, since when were we ever a democracy. Lies that your teacher told ya!
A westerner would normally quickly point finger and say "you must be funded by CCP", to avoid a complete world view collapse, because deep down inside, they know they are evil.
Stockholm syndrome?
I really appreciate this video!
-a fellow hongkonger
The quality of Wendover Productions is astonishing. THIS is how it should be done.
What if the UK gave Hong Kong to Taiwan
@@GL-xe5vx So is that why Hong Kong has one of the highest inequality indexes in the entire world (Outranking even the USA and Singapore) and why so many people live in shitty box homes?
WWIII.
@@Odinsday because they choose to. They can move up to mainland and live in big empty houses. But HK is a city full of opportunities, so they choose to live in a cage instead.
That would be like England spitting in China's face and may have started a war lol.
Then you won't be here and typing this innocent sentence.
Man, this video gave me goosebumps!
this is a very good video i am from hong kong and i didn't know this. This is so useful thank you very much wendover productions
This deservers a sub
Hey wendover, could you make a video about macau handover?
Macau as I know doesn't have a lot of fuss.
The biggest difference was that Portugal lost control over Macau's Chinese community long before the handover. Most of Macau was run by trade unions.
now please do the same, but with Macua!
(There are less to talk about. They basically copied us.)
Macau*
@@natheniel Sure, it doesn't make it less important and it's not true that has less things to talk about. Plus, Portugal stayed for a much longer time in Macau than GB in Hong Kong.
you know what is funny is that Portugal begged to let go of Macau but China denied it until 1999.
@@exoticredtadpole2713 You know what's funny?... Is that you believe in such cancerous bs. Go learn some history and then come back...
2047 is going to be chaos
Yes, I agree with you. It's going to be chaos.
I don’t think we need to wait till 2047 😔
They already took it back. There's no waiting. Mandarin has already surpassed English over there.
how many immigrants do you think?
No, I don't think so. By 2047, China will be the most powerful country in the world, exceeding the US. And China's GDP per capita will be as high as HongKong. China will be a developed nation and people will change their opinions about China.
One of the most detailed explanations of Hong Kong handover to China on RUclips one of my family friend moved Hong Kong to Toronto Canada during the handover in 1997.
9:18 you found a way to mention planes, of course you did\