The Colonial State and Rural Protests in Hong Kong

The Colonial State and Rural Protests in Hong Kong From the British colonization of the New Territories in 1899 to the 1970's, the attitudes of the rural residents towards the colonial government appeared to change dramatically from armed resistance to active support. In this paper, we are going to take a fresh look at this question and examine the basis for the political stability in the rural areas of the Colony of Hong Kong. By tackling this issue, we also hope to contribute to the understanding of broader issues of colonial governance in Hong Kong and the relationship between state and society under British colonialism. We shall first review past attempts to answer the question of rural stability and pinpoint some of their shortcomings. Then, we shall delineate the development of colonial rule in the New Territories since the late nineteenth century. We shall divide our discussion into four different parts. The first looks at the situation of the New Territories prior to the imposition of British colonial rule. The second describes the process of colonization and the establishment of colonial governance over the area before the outbreak of the Pacific War. A third section turns to the postwar period and discusses the critical period of rapid socio-economic transformation in the New Territories. The fourth section then uses several cases to illustrate our arguments.