The Barbarian Seas of Hong Kong: British Imperialism and Changing Perceptions of Maritime Space on the China Coast in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The colonisation of Hong Kong in 1841 established a territory of the British Empire off the coast of China. Qing officials initially struggled to understand the implications of the cession of Hong Kong and resisted British claims to sovereignty over Chinese on the island and in surrounding seas. The British upheld their claims with ships of the Royal Navy’s East Indies and China Station, for which Hong Kong served as a headquarters. The presence of the most powerful navy in the world off their shores pressured the Qing to reconsider their understanding of maritime space and sovereignty. Using both British and Chinese sources, this paper will discuss British attempts to recreate a European maritime order in the seas around Hong Kong as well as Chinese resistance and adaptation. It argues that limitations of the Royal Navy and colonial administration prevented the British from fully enforcing European standards of maritime control over Hong Kong’s surrounding waters. At the same time, the Chinese were unable to preclude the British imperial and naval presence off its coast. The two sides thus had to compromise with each other’s visions of control over maritime space. The British inability to impose order over the seas around Hong Kong, particularly over pirates and Chinese islands therein, led them to invite Chinese assistance, turning the administration of maritime space into a collaborative effort. The resulting modus vivendi produced a new understanding of maritime space and sovereignty in the China seas.