Britain signed a 99-year lease with the Qing Empire, adding the New Territories and islands to colonial Hong Kong.

Background

As imperial competition intensified, Britain sought to expand the buffer zone around Victoria Harbour. On 9 June 1898, the Second Convention of Peking granted Britain a 99-year lease of the New Territories – a broad area north of Kowloon and including numerous surrounding islands. The agreement was intended to secure military and strategic depth for the colony, not full sovereignty.

Legacy

– Defined Hong Kong’s modern territorial shape – Created the 1997 handover constraint – Brought rural villages and clans under colonial administration

Key Moment

Perspective & Relations

Narratives

		Britain signed a 99-year lease with the Qing Empire, adding the New Territories and islands to colonial Hong Kong.
		As imperial competition intensified, Britain sought to expand the buffer zone around Victoria Harbour. On 9 June 1898, the Second Convention of Peking granted Britain a 99-year lease of the New Territories – a broad area north of Kowloon and including numerous surrounding islands. The agreement was intended to secure military and strategic depth for the colony, not full sovereignty.
		1898-06-09 – The Qing court signed the lease agreement in Peking under diplomatic pressure.
		– Defined Hong Kong’s modern territorial shape – Created the 1997 handover constraint – Brought rural villages and clans under colonial administration
		Britain signed a 99-year lease with the Qing Empire, adding the New Territories and islands to colonial Hong Kong.
		As imperial competition intensified, Britain sought to expand the buffer zone around Victoria Harbour. On 9 June 1898, the Second Convention of Peking granted Britain a 99-year lease of the New Territories – a broad area north of Kowloon and including numerous surrounding islands. The agreement was intended to secure military and strategic depth for the colony, not full sovereignty.
		1898-06-09 – The Qing court signed the lease agreement in Peking under diplomatic pressure.
		– Defined Hong Kong’s modern territorial shape – Created the 1997 handover constraint – Brought rural villages and clans under colonial administration
	China	The Qing Dynasty, weakened and diplomatically cornered, signed the lease under duress – without foreseeing long-term consequences.
		Britain signed a 99-year lease with the Qing Empire, adding the New Territories and islands to colonial Hong Kong.

Interchanges

China

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China

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New Territories

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