04:37 As a Hongkonger, I do really appreciate the nuance. Recent Chinese transgressions into HK's political processes have made many nostalgic for the colonial era, but it's so important to understand that HK's problems do not start and end with China. Britain's hands are not clean.
My parents and grandparents were born in British Guyana. I find people from "smaller colonies" tend to have more positive feelings, perhaps because they associate Britishness with their childhood or maybe it's because being part of the mighty British Empire (even as a racially inferior "subject") felt better than being a minnow in a new world? Listening to them recounting the past, it's hard not to see a lot of the social problems as an obvious result of British "divide and conquer" tactics, but they just don't see it that way.
@@dunnowy123Thanks for sharing this, it really does show how colonial struggles are globally interconnected. Many here feel that the British "gave" Hong Kong its rule of law, scientific and economic advancement, civilisation ... without considering all the historical pains of colonialism. That being said, I do see that Guyana has been trying to chart its own path after independence, despite all of the instability, which I think is very admirable.
Historically Hong Kong didn’t have democracy under British rule , but at the end of the British era, democracy was being put into place. If Hong Kong was still British today it would have, strong legal and democratic institutions and practical devolution in matters of self governance. And even during British rule in Hong Kong the people enjoyed more personal rights and freedoms than they have or will under Chinese rule. What china is doing in Hong Kong today is worse than what the British have done in Hong Kong in the past.
@@benwinter5871Interesting point, on the whole I won't dispute that substantive progress was made in the final decades of colonial rule. But to say that HK would've gotten democracy had Britain stayed a bit longer is ... reductive at best. Let's not forget that British rule lasted 156 years, and for the majority of it, the grassroots experience was draconian and racist I invite you to watch my latest video on Hong Kong's colonial laws, which explores how British rule is at least partly to blame for the present day erosion of HK's rule of law. Happy to see you there
If Hong Kong remained British, mainlander Chinese would be seeking Asylum in Hong Kong. The UK could not afford the legal payment in granting Asylum. They already were facing the problem at the Monster Building in Kowloon, where many chinese came in to habitat. So in order to prevent the Financial loss they had the handback. Chinese are unable now to acquire asylum in Hong Kong, and the UK relieved of financial loss. Even today the British face this same problem for people seeking Asylum in the UK.
TIL: Whenever I rented a car and returned it; Avis was 'Stealing' it back fro me. When my 1 year lease expires and I moved out from a rental; the property owner is 'Stealing it back', Whenever I loaned my neighbour my whipper snipper; and he gave it back after as agreed; I was 'Stealing' it back. What a trash headline.
Your argument makes sense when you treat the humans that live on the land like objects. I heard people used to do that in the 16th to 19th centuries. Thankfully it's illegal now.
The analogy only makes sense if no one lives on the land. That or OP thinks it's okay to treat humans as property and therefore the inhabitants opinions don't matter.
Maybe like watch the video before commenting? Because when he says China stole Hong Kong back he explicitly says he’s not saying they stole it from the British. He’s saying they stole it from the people of Hong Kong.
@@arkan2833 I wasn't aware of this nuance. It sounds like, from the last video, the New Territories were leased, but even Britain understood that without the NT, the territory would not be self sufficient anyway. So, the least populous areas were key to all of this.
@@arkan2833 That was the former agreement. In 1984, in the "Sino-British Joint Declaration", UK and China sign the new agreement that says UK will handover the entire HongKong, including the perpetuity area. Since there is a new ageement between UK and China, which override the pervious one. It is not suppose to be deemed as China stealing HongKong.
This whole thing is so ridiculous. Just imagine if instead of Hong Kong it was New York and it immediately becomes obvious how stupid it is to say anything other than Hong Kong is Chinese.
But what do you mean by ‘Chinese’. Many would argue that the current Government of mainland China is illegitimate and they’re certainly not the same entity that Britain made their treaty with. Britain could rightly argue that the closest entity to the Government that they made the agreement with is in fact Taiwan, or that since the China that the treaty was made with fell, that the treaty was no longer binding and that in practice they should continue their British governorship.
The Chinese can word it how they want to save face but the British had Hong-Kong & Chinese cudnt do anything about it, the ppl of Hong-Kong have a fond memory of the British for a reason & doesn't really matter what anyone else's opinion is & theres also a very good reason why the laws where not the same as the Chinese & such a fuss over the handover
I’m originally from Vancouver, Canada, and we have a massive Hong Konger community. They’ve arrived in a couple of waves, but mainly 2: 1 in 1997 at the handover and the second in 2019 when the big crackdowns really got going. A lot of the 97 immigrants came in order to stay long enough to get Canadian citizenship but go back to Hong Kong and have it as a fall back. A lot of them came back in and after 2019
Historically Hong Kong didn’t have democracy under British rule , but at the end of the British era, democracy was being put into place. If Hong Kong was still British today it would have, strong legal and democratic institutions and practical devolution in matters of self governance. And even during British rule in Hong Kong the people enjoyed more personal rights and freedoms than they have or will under Chinese rule. What china is doing in Hong Kong today is worse than what the British have done in Hong Kong in the past.
It's pretty accurate.. But the emotion of the local HK people is very mixed also. Usually younger people favors full democracy while not having lived through the colonial days themselves, they had this imagination that HK used to have democracy, while HK NEVER had democracy and especially during UK rule. I know what they are upset about though, lack of housing is one. When young people day after day seeing so many poor mainland people coming into HK and compete against the local HK people for housing, there is a strong negative sentiment towards them, despite there are lots of rich ones coming to hk also and buying even more private properties. The young people of HK needed to find a scapegoat of the bad economic issue - lack of housing, and they blame China. So they wanna get away from them as much as possible. It is fair to blame those poor Mainland CHina people coming to HK to compete with HK people for social assistance. But instead of fighting for that cause, they were fighting for the wrong thing - democracy and fair election and free speech. All these dont help with solving housing issue. Look at singapore, very little housing issue and the country has no democracy either essentially, yet people are somewhat satisfied with their lives and government, because they have housing!. When in HK no matter how hard you work, if u didnt come from a middle class or upper class families, u r doomed. They are sad, and vent towards China. So, it's a complicated issue, but bottomline is, young people feel there is no hope for them.
If you actually watched the video you would know China didn't steal Hong Kong from the colonizer. They stole it from the people of Hong Kong who are entitled to human rights like you and I do.
@@KevinYeh-b2zself-determination is a slippery slope. I'm from Nigeria and people from my ethnic group want to secede. I understand why the government won't allow that, although I too want it. No big and strong nation will allow others to secede unabated. The US went to war for it, as has China many many times over the centuries
@@okene I hope your society can find a way to resolve the situation between your ethnic group and the government. It's messed up that tribes that had distinctly different ways of lives were forced into the same border because some colonizer from far away decided so for their own greed.
China absolutely did, as mentioned in the video Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula were ceded in perpetuity (that means forever). If China wanted the whole of Hong Kong back it had to agree to terms with the nation that held sovereignty over that area for 150 years.
04:37 As a Hongkonger, I do really appreciate the nuance. Recent Chinese transgressions into HK's political processes have made many nostalgic for the colonial era, but it's so important to understand that HK's problems do not start and end with China. Britain's hands are not clean.
My parents and grandparents were born in British Guyana. I find people from "smaller colonies" tend to have more positive feelings, perhaps because they associate Britishness with their childhood or maybe it's because being part of the mighty British Empire (even as a racially inferior "subject") felt better than being a minnow in a new world? Listening to them recounting the past, it's hard not to see a lot of the social problems as an obvious result of British "divide and conquer" tactics, but they just don't see it that way.
@@dunnowy123Thanks for sharing this, it really does show how colonial struggles are globally interconnected. Many here feel that the British "gave" Hong Kong its rule of law, scientific and economic advancement, civilisation ... without considering all the historical pains of colonialism. That being said, I do see that Guyana has been trying to chart its own path after independence, despite all of the instability, which I think is very admirable.
Historically Hong Kong didn’t have democracy under British rule , but at the end of the British era, democracy was being put into place. If Hong Kong was still British today it would have, strong legal and democratic institutions and practical devolution in matters of self governance. And even during British rule in Hong Kong the people enjoyed more personal rights and freedoms than they have or will under Chinese rule. What china is doing in Hong Kong today is worse than what the British have done in Hong Kong in the past.
@@benwinter5871Interesting point, on the whole I won't dispute that substantive progress was made in the final decades of colonial rule. But to say that HK would've gotten democracy had Britain stayed a bit longer is ... reductive at best.
Let's not forget that British rule lasted 156 years, and for the majority of it, the grassroots experience was draconian and racist
I invite you to watch my latest video on Hong Kong's colonial laws, which explores how British rule is at least partly to blame for the present day erosion of HK's rule of law. Happy to see you there
If only HK could have gained full independence during the 60s
Before the PRC was strong enough to demand its return
😂 that is assuming the British would ever let people get their freedom until they fight for it. ask India
@ most of their colonies, gained independence with minimal violence
For example, Jamaica
So you are breaking the law right now by making this video
As would commenting, participating, sharing...let's not remember, extra 30% prison time for those identified as "foreign forces".
social credit -69
If Hong Kong remained British, mainlander Chinese would be seeking Asylum in Hong Kong. The UK could not afford the legal payment in granting Asylum. They already were facing the problem at the Monster Building in Kowloon, where many chinese came in to habitat. So in order to prevent the Financial loss they had the handback. Chinese are unable now to acquire asylum in Hong Kong, and the UK relieved of financial loss. Even today the British face this same problem for people seeking Asylum in the UK.
TIL: Whenever I rented a car and returned it; Avis was 'Stealing' it back fro me. When my 1 year lease expires and I moved out from a rental; the property owner is 'Stealing it back', Whenever I loaned my neighbour my whipper snipper; and he gave it back after as agreed; I was 'Stealing' it back.
What a trash headline.
Even worse. You didnt rent it. You took it first. Then claimed youll be renting it for 100 years.
Hong Kong wasn't stolen from the car renter but from the Hong Kong and it's people itself
Your argument makes sense when you treat the humans that live on the land like objects. I heard people used to do that in the 16th to 19th centuries. Thankfully it's illegal now.
The analogy only makes sense if no one lives on the land. That or OP thinks it's okay to treat humans as property and therefore the inhabitants opinions don't matter.
Maybe like watch the video before commenting? Because when he says China stole Hong Kong back he explicitly says he’s not saying they stole it from the British. He’s saying they stole it from the people of Hong Kong.
Not really theft if they were leasing it to the UK. Sounds like the kept their end of the deal, begrudgingly.
Not all of it was leased - the most populous areas were ceded to Britain in perpetuity
@@arkan2833 I wasn't aware of this nuance. It sounds like, from the last video, the New Territories were leased, but even Britain understood that without the NT, the territory would not be self sufficient anyway. So, the least populous areas were key to all of this.
@@arkan2833 That was the former agreement. In 1984, in the "Sino-British Joint Declaration", UK and China sign the new agreement that says UK will handover the entire HongKong, including the perpetuity area. Since there is a new ageement between UK and China, which override the pervious one. It is not suppose to be deemed as China stealing HongKong.
This whole thing is so ridiculous. Just imagine if instead of Hong Kong it was New York and it immediately becomes obvious how stupid it is to say anything other than Hong Kong is Chinese.
But what do you mean by ‘Chinese’. Many would argue that the current Government of mainland China is illegitimate and they’re certainly not the same entity that Britain made their treaty with. Britain could rightly argue that the closest entity to the Government that they made the agreement with is in fact Taiwan, or that since the China that the treaty was made with fell, that the treaty was no longer binding and that in practice they should continue their British governorship.
@@MattDW45no they could not argue that.
That just speaks to how monocultural America is 😂😂😂
"Imagine if this situation was a completely different situation" are you braindead?
Hong Kong is Chinese… but it’s still a place with humans who live there and deserve to have a democratic government and their rights respected.
The Chinese can word it how they want to save face but the British had Hong-Kong & Chinese cudnt do anything about it, the ppl of Hong-Kong have a fond memory of the British for a reason & doesn't really matter what anyone else's opinion is & theres also a very good reason why the laws where not the same as the Chinese & such a fuss over the handover
I’m originally from Vancouver, Canada, and we have a massive Hong Konger community. They’ve arrived in a couple of waves, but mainly 2: 1 in 1997 at the handover and the second in 2019 when the big crackdowns really got going. A lot of the 97 immigrants came in order to stay long enough to get Canadian citizenship but go back to Hong Kong and have it as a fall back. A lot of them came back in and after 2019
Awesome video and shirt!
Brits only talk about democracy,no elections in HK for 150years😢
Historically Hong Kong didn’t have democracy under British rule , but at the end of the British era, democracy was being put into place. If Hong Kong was still British today it would have, strong legal and democratic institutions and practical devolution in matters of self governance. And even during British rule in Hong Kong the people enjoyed more personal rights and freedoms than they have or will under Chinese rule. What china is doing in Hong Kong today is worse than what the British have done in Hong Kong in the past.
ITT: people ignoring 訓政…
Oh, so CCP tryanny and oppression is cool?
It's pretty accurate.. But the emotion of the local HK people is very mixed also. Usually younger people favors full democracy while not having lived through the colonial days themselves, they had this imagination that HK used to have democracy, while HK NEVER had democracy and especially during UK rule. I know what they are upset about though, lack of housing is one. When young people day after day seeing so many poor mainland people coming into HK and compete against the local HK people for housing, there is a strong negative sentiment towards them, despite there are lots of rich ones coming to hk also and buying even more private properties.
The young people of HK needed to find a scapegoat of the bad economic issue - lack of housing, and they blame China. So they wanna get away from them as much as possible. It is fair to blame those poor Mainland CHina people coming to HK to compete with HK people for social assistance. But instead of fighting for that cause, they were fighting for the wrong thing - democracy and fair election and free speech. All these dont help with solving housing issue.
Look at singapore, very little housing issue and the country has no democracy either essentially, yet people are somewhat satisfied with their lives and government, because they have housing!. When in HK no matter how hard you work, if u didnt come from a middle class or upper class families, u r doomed. They are sad, and vent towards China.
So, it's a complicated issue, but bottomline is, young people feel there is no hope for them.
Can you do a video about Catalunya?
TIL: Taking my own belongings back = "Stealing" 😂
If you actually watched the video you would know China didn't steal Hong Kong from the colonizer. They stole it from the people of Hong Kong who are entitled to human rights like you and I do.
@@KevinYeh-b2zself-determination is a slippery slope. I'm from Nigeria and people from my ethnic group want to secede. I understand why the government won't allow that, although I too want it.
No big and strong nation will allow others to secede unabated. The US went to war for it, as has China many many times over the centuries
@@okene I hope your society can find a way to resolve the situation between your ethnic group and the government. It's messed up that tribes that had distinctly different ways of lives were forced into the same border because some colonizer from far away decided so for their own greed.
@@KevinYeh-b2z
What’s your take on Ukraine’s Donbas since you love self determination? 😊
China did not really need to accept any conditions but they obliged ❤
China absolutely did, as mentioned in the video Hong Kong island and the Kowloon peninsula were ceded in perpetuity (that means forever). If China wanted the whole of Hong Kong back it had to agree to terms with the nation that held sovereignty over that area for 150 years.
Downfall
80 percent of HK against the West😂