Language policy in Hong Kong during the colonial period before July 1, 1997

Abstract

Hong Kong was a small Chinese town with a population of 7,450 in 1841 when it was occupied by British troops during the Opium War (1840-1842). It was ceded to the British in the next year after China lost the war and was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing. It returned to the sovereignty of China on July 1, 1997, and has become a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong has undergone tremendous growth during the past one and a half centuries. According to the latest census in 1996, it has a population of 6,218,000, with ethnic Chinese comprising about 98 per cent (d. Bacon-Shore and Bolton 1998 for a historical profile).