Summary: In part two of Laszlo's overview of the history of Hong Kong, we look at the Canton System and the leadup to hostilities that culminated in the Treaty of Nanjing that ceded Hong Kong in perpituity to the British crown. In this episode we'll get as far as the Convention of Chuenpi of January 20, 1841. Here, Hong Kong was ceded to Britain but neither side was satisfied with this temporary settlement. In Part 3 we'll see this Convention repudiated and hostilities will quickly resume which ultimately leads to the first of the despised (on the Chinese side anyways) unequal treaties.
