Britain returned two cities, one of which is Hong Kong, and the other is now enviably richer?
But everyone who knows China's history knows that Hong Kong was once a British colony, and due to China's comprehensive strength and the improvement of its international status, Hong Kong smoothly returned to the embrace of the motherland in 1997. But in addition to Hong Kong, there is another city that has also been occupied by the British, and now the city can be said to be very rich, which city is it?
It is Weihai City, this name is estimated that many people feel strange, Weihai City was originally called Weihaiwei, in 1930 the United Kingdom will be forced to lease the city for thirty-two years after the return to China, China re-gave it a name. Before talking about Weihai, let's first review the history of British occupation of Hong Kong. In the late Qing Dynasty, China adopted a policy of closing the country to the outside world, and the Western countries launched the Opium War in order to open the door of China, so that the decadent Qing government at that time could not resist this surprise attack, so it finally surrendered and was forced to sign an unequal treaty, the Treaty of Nanjing. One of the treaties stated that Hong Kong Island, with an area of 80 square kilometres, would be ceded to Britain. It took 150 years for Hong Kong to truly return to China. But before returning Hong Kong, britain will also return the current city of Weihai to China. So how did the UK get it before it was returned to Weihai?
As a result, Japan also began to fidget, and in the Sino-Japanese War, China's Beiyang Marine Division was completely destroyed, marking the bankruptcy of the foreign affairs movement. The Qing government also signed an unequal treaty with Japan, the Treaty of Maguan, which occupied Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula and paid huge amounts of japanese money. Tsarist Russia also began to envy and hate, so it cooperated with other countries and forced Japan to return Weihaiwei to China. At this time, you may not be able to help but praise Tsarist Russia, thinking that it is a roar of uneven roads, drawing a sword to help, in fact, it is all for the sake of self-interest. Russia wanted to own China's Lushun and Dalian, and after Japan returned Weihaiwei to China, Russia also successfully obtained these two places. East Asia was a region of contention between Russia and Britain, and Russia's acquisition of Lushun and Dalian meant that it controlled the northeast region, and Britain was red-eyed. How is the UK doing it?
The British quickly marched to Yantai as a threat to the Qing government, forcing it to cede the Weihaiwei region that belonged to China at the time, and to make it clear when Russia would return Lushun and Dalian to China, and when Weihaiwei would return it. The Qing government had no right to refuse, but could only compromise, so that in 1898 it signed the "Special Articles for Renting Weihaiwei" with the British, and since then, the British have carried out a long colonial rule in Weihaiwei. What attracted the British to Weihaiwei? Britain has only developed it into a military focus, but the economic aspect has not improved much, so its development is not as good as Hong Kong. This shows that the geographical location of Weihaiwei should not be underestimated. How did the British train Weihaiwei to become the military powerhouse they served?
What everyone does not know is that Weihaiwei has always been a coastal defense center, because it is located at the mouth of the Yellow River, which can be called the gateway to northern China, and controlling it here also controls the political center of China. The British trained local Chinese to serve as police officers, and also established various training grounds for the British navy. At that time, Weihaiwei was also known as the back garden of the United Kingdom, because there were countless nursing homes there. After that, Weihaiwei's road back to China is also very tortuous, the Beiyang government has put the recovery of Weihaiwei as a condition to negotiate with the United Kingdom, of course, the United Kingdom refused, the Chinese side is not willing to give up, in the 8 years of you and me in the fight also let the other side make certain concessions, the original only 25 years of Weihaiwei delayed for 7 years before it was willing to return to China. Why is Weihaiwei so rich today?
As mentioned above, Weihaiwei's geographical location is very superior, and it also plays the role of a port. Usually the economy of the port is very developed, here is indeed bright and prosperous, the local people are also very happy, many people are eager to move to Weihai City to live. If you have the opportunity to travel to Weihai City, you will find that there are many historical buildings there, and seeing these buildings can remind us of the disgraceful history of that year. Therefore, we must remember history and do not forget our mission, and only by making the country strong can we make every territory of our country safe and sound. How much do you know about Weihai City?
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