Hong Kong Chronology

1842 Signing of the Treaty of Nanjing - the island of Hong Kong is ceded to Britain by China.

1858-60 The Second Opium War

1860 The end of the Second Opium War leads to the first Peking Convention, which cedes the Kowloon peninsula and Stonecutters Island to Britain.

1898 The Second Convention of Peking in 1898 leases the "New Territories", (which make up approximately 92% of the territory of Hong Kong), to Britain for 99 years.

1941 Britain surrenders Hong Kong to Japan.

1945 Britain regains control over Hong Kong.

1949 Communists take over in China - under Chairman Mao Zedong.

1976 Chairman Mao's death

1978 Deng Xiaoping emerges as the Chinese Communist Party's unassailable leader.

1982 Discussions between Britain and China over the future of Hong Kong begin.

September 22-24 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visits Deng and Zhao in Beijing. Deng rejects Thatcher's proposal for continued British administration after 1997.

1983 First round of formal talks in July between Britain and China over Hong Kong begin in the Chinese capital, Beijing. Seven more rounds of formal talks are held and lead to Britain being forced to back down over its insistence that it should continue to administer the whole of Hong Kong after 1997.

1984

December 19 British Prime Minister Thatcher and Chinese Prime Minister Zhao sign the Joint Declaration during a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People. It has taken twenty two rounds of formal talks.

1989

June 4 Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of demonstrators were massacred.

1990

April 4 The Basic Law is promulgated by the Seventh Chinese National People's Congress. It implements the provisions of the Joint Declaration and provides a constitutional basis for Hong Kong.

1992

July 9 Chris Patten is sworn in as Hong Kong's 28th and last colonial Governor.

October 7 Governor Patten announces proposals for the democratic reform of Hong Kong's institutions, for the 1994 local and 1995 legislative elections. China is outraged and breaks off contact with him.

December 1 & 3 The Hong Kong stock market crashed following Chinese threats to tear up business contracts and renege on the Joint Declaration.

1994

February 23 Legislators pass the first stage of the reform bill containing less controversial clauses such as lowering the voting age, despite the fact that no agreement has been reached with China.

February 24 A "second stage" bill is introduced, containing more controversial measures.

June The Chinese Government announces it will resume co-operation over Hong Kong with Britain.

June 30 The Hong Kong Legislative Council approves the final reform bill.

1995

September 17 Democratic elections to Hong Kong's Legislative Council take place. Independents win 20 of the 60 seats and the Democratic Party wins 19 seats and 65% of the vote.

1996

December 11 Tung Chee-hwa is appointed Chief Executive-designate of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.

December 21 A provisional legislature which will replace the elected Legislative Council is elected by a 400-person selection committee, which is itself selected by China. All the appointees are pro-Beijing and the Democratic Party is not represented.

1997

February 20 Chief Executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa announces his Team Designate, of principal officials and civil servants.

April 18 Democratic Party leader Martin Lee meets US President Bill Clinton in Washington.

June 30 (midnight) Hong Kong is handed back to China.