<P> In 1836, the Manchu Qing government undertook a major policy review of the opium trade . Lin Zexu volunteered to take on the task of suppressing opium . In March 1839, he became Special Imperial Commissioner in Canton, where he ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium stock . He confined the British to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies . Chief Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, complied with Lin's demands to secure a safe exit for the British, with the costs involved to be resolved between the two governments . When Elliot promised that the British government would pay for their opium stock, the merchants surrendered their 20,283 chests of opium, which were destroyed in public . </P> <P> In September 1839, the British Cabinet decided that the Chinese should be made to pay for the destruction of British property, either by the threat or use of force . An expeditionary force was placed under Elliot and his cousin, Rear - Admiral George Elliot, as joint plenipotentiaries in 1840 . Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston stressed to the Chinese government that the British government did not question China's right to prohibit opium, but it objected to the way this was handled . He viewed the sudden strict enforcement as laying a trap for the foreign traders, and the confinement of the British with supplies cut off was tantamount to starving them into submission or death . He instructed the Elliot cousins to occupy one of the Chusan islands, to present a letter from himself to a Chinese official for the Emperor, then to proceed to the Gulf of Bohai for a treaty, and if the Chinese resisted, blockade the key ports of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers . Palmerston demanded a territorial base in Chusan for trade so that British merchants "may not be subject to the arbitrary caprice either of the Government of Peking, or its local Authorities at the Sea - Ports of the Empire". </P> <P> In 1841, Elliot negotiated with Lin's successor, Qishan, in the Convention of Chuenpi during the First Opium War . On 20 January, Elliot announced "the conclusion of preliminary arrangements", which included the cession of Hong Kong Island and its harbour to the British Crown . Elliot chose Hong Kong instead of Chusan because he believed a settlement further east would cause an "indefinite protraction of hostilities", whereas Hong Kong's harbour was a valuable base for the British trading community in Canton . On 26 January, the Union Jack was raised on Hong Kong and Commodore James Bremer, commander - in - chief of British forces in China, took formal possession of the island at Possession Point . On 29 August 1842, the cession was formally ratified in the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong "in perpetuity" to Britain . </P> <P> The treaty failed to satisfy British expectations of a major expansion of trade and profit, which led to increasing pressure for a revision of the terms . In October 1856, Chinese authorities in Canton detained the Arrow, a Chinese - owned ship registered in Hong Kong to enjoy protection of the British flag . The Consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, claimed the hauling down of the flag and arrest of the crew were "an insult of very grave character". Parkes and Sir John Bowring, the 4th Governor of Hong Kong, seized the incident to pursue a forward policy . In March 1857, Palmerston appointed Lord Elgin as Plenipotentiary with the aim of securing a new and satisfactory treaty . A French expeditionary force joined the British to avenge the execution of a French missionary in 1856 . In 1860, the capture of the Taku Forts and occupation of Beijing led to the Treaty of Tientsin and Convention of Peking . In the Treaty of Tientsin, the Chinese accepted British demands to open more ports, navigate the Yangtze River, legalise the opium trade and have diplomatic representation in Beijing . During the conflict, the British occupied the Kowloon Peninsula, where the flat land was valuable training and resting ground . The area in what is now south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island was ceded in the Convention of Peking . </P>

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