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(6) The Japanese Surrender and the Restoration of the British Rule of Hong Kong

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Japan announced its unconditional surrender after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on 15 August 1945. When the news of the Japanese surrender reached Hong Kong, F. C. Gimson, the Colonial Secretary of the Hong Kong Government imprisoned at Stanley Internment Camp, immediately returned to the urban area. He was ordered by Britain to organise a provisional government to resume British sovereignty over the territory after the war. As he did not have any armed forces, he had to let the Japanese forces maintain public order temporarily until the British forces arrived. On 30 August 1945, British Rear-Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt led the Royal Navy task force into Victoria Harbour and took over Hong Kong from the Japanese.

Accompanied by China representative Major-General Pan Huaguo (潘華國), the U.S. Representative Colonel Adrian Williamson, and representatives from other nations in the Allies, Rear-Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt officially accepted Japan’s surrender by Major Okada Umekichi, the Commander of the Japanese army in Hong Kong, and Vice Admiral Fujita Ruitaro, the Commander of the Japanese fleet in South China, at the Hong Kong Government House on 16 September 1945. This marked the end of the Japanese occupation. The British rule of Hong Kong restored after Hong Kong fell to Japan for three years and eight months. Later, an all-out civil war broke out between the Kuomintang of China (KMT, 中國國民黨) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP, 中國共產黨) in the Chinese mainland. A large number of Chinese refugees flocked to Hong Kong between the late 1940s and the early 1950s. Hong Kong entered a new era.

After Japan surrendered, why was Hong Kong taken over by the British instead of the government of the Republic of China?

See answer below.

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                          A task force of the British Pacific Fleet sailing from the Philippines to Hong Kong to take over the city.

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mainsite_psd_rizhan06_2

                               The British task force arrived in Hong Kong on 30 August 1945. One of the troops landed at Kowloon Wharves.

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The British task force Commander Rear-Admiral C. H. J. Harcourt (first from right) broadcasting to Hong Kong residents using the radio station of the fleet the next day after his arrival.

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                               Some Japanese war criminals were taken captive by the British.

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Vice Admiral Fujita Ruitaro, the Representative of the Japanese forces stationed in Hong Kong, officially signed the instrument of surrender to the Allies at the Hong Kong Government House on 16 September 1945.

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                       A ceremony was held in front of the Cenotaph, Central, Hong Kong, to commemorate the victory after Japan surrendered.

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                                    Mark Young returned to Hong Kong and resumed his post as the Hong Kong Governor on 30 April 1946.

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Chinese immigrants crossing the border and entering Hong Kong after the war. Since the KMT-CCP civil war broke out in the Chinese mainland, a large number of refugees crossed the border to flee to Hong Kong.

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Two photos of Hong Kong taken in 1949. Left: new immigrants living in an abandoned building; Right: children studying in a community hall at Morrison Hill. Chinese immigrants settled in Hong Kong after the war. Their descendants continued to stay in Hong Kong and called it home.

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A street scene of San Po Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, in the late 1950s. The mountain shown is Lion Rock, which is a symbol of Hong Kong. After the war, Hong Kong people worked hard to break new ground for the city.

After Japan surrendered, why was Hong Kong taken over by the British instead of the government of the Republic of China?

During World War II, China was an ally of anti-fascist countries such as the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France. These countries eventually won the war. Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August 1945. Hong Kong did not belong to the Southeast Asia War Zone under the command of British Louis Mountbatten. Instead, it was part of the Guangdong (廣東) War Zone under China War Zone. The Japanese forces stationed in Hong Kong should have surrendered to China, but the British insisted on sending a fleet to Hong Kong to accept the surrender. China and Britain carried out many diplomatic negotiations over this matter before and after Japan’s surrender. Considering its global strategy, the United States supported Britain to take over Hong Kong again. Meanwhile, relations between the two Chinese parties were tense after the war. Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was anxious for transferring troops northwards. After Britain agreed to let the KMT use Hong Kong as a transit point for sending troops northwards, and hand over the military equipment left behind by the Japanese stationed in Hong Kong, Chiang finally acquiesced in the fact that Britain took over Hong Kong.

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