Liberation of Hong Kong

This article is about Hong Kong resuming British rule following WWII. For the festival associated with this event, see Liberation Day (Hong Kong). For Hong Kong coming under PRC control, see Handover of Hong Kong.
Liberation of Hong Kong
Part of World War II
On 16 September 1945, Japanese military officials signed surrender documents to Allied representatives at the Hong Kong Government House. British, American, Chinese, and Canadian delegations were present.
Native name 香港重光
Date16 September 1945
OutcomeThe UK resumed its rule in Hong Kong
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese香港重光
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationheung1 gong2 chung4 gwong1
Jyutpinghoeng1 gong2 cung4 gwong1
Japanese name
Kanji香港の解放
Hiraganaほんこんのかいほう

The Liberation of Hong Kong[1][2] (Chinese: 香港重光), also known as the British Reoccupation of Hong Kong[3][4] (Chinese: 英國重佔香港) or the Resumption of British Sovereignty Over Hong Kong[5][6] (Chinese: 英國對香港恢復行使主權), refers to the end of Japanese occupation of Hong Kong[7] following Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, the arrival of the Royal Navy on 30 August, and the official surrender ceremony in Hong Kong on 16 September.[8] Prior to the surrender in the Cairo Conference, leader of Nationalist China Chiang Kai-Shek once requested that Hong Kong come under Nationalist control after the war, but the British rejected. As friction increased between Nationalists and Communists in China,[9] Chiang relented and agreed to resume British sovereignty instead. In the position of Supreme Commander of Allied forces in China Theater, Chiang delegated Admiral of the Royal Navy Cecil Harcourt to accept Japanese surrender.[10] As a result of British rule, Hong Kong was able to avoid the bloodshed of the Chinese Civil War and paved the way for economic growth.[11]

  • Major-General of the Imperial Japanese Army Umekichi Okada (岡田梅吉) placed his own tachi onto the hands of a British naval officer. This symbolizes the transfer of control from the Japanese forces to the British military.
  • On 16 September 1945, Vice-Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ruitaro Fujita (藤田類太郎) signed surrender documents under the supervision of Admiral of the Royal Navy Cecil Harcourt.
  • On 30 August 1945, British forces liberate camps holding British and Canadian POWs in Hong Kong.
  • British and foreign nationals were freed at Stanley Prison after being imprisoned for more than three years. With help from British forces, they left camp and headed to city center, where they bought the first newspaper since liberation.
  • A British soldier body searching a surrendered Japanese soldier.
  • Surrendered Japanese troops board a train at Fanling station under the watch of British forces.
  • British soldiers passing out supplies to the residents of Cheung Chau. During Japanese rule, Hong Kong suffered from malnutrition due to lack of food supplies, and the British needed to ship in supplies to relieve the situation.[12]
  • British forces conducting a victory march at the Cenotaph, flying both the Union Jack and the ROC flag.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Liberation Of Hong Kong. 30 August 1945, and after. Scenes after the Re-occupation of the Crown Colony". Imperial War Museum Photo A-30541. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2020-11-19. Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "VJ Day - 75th Anniversary Events". National Newsletter of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association. Autumn 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2020-11-19. Archived 2020-11-19 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Waters, Dan (1991). "The Re-occupation of Hong Kong in August 1945". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 31: 201–204. JSTOR 23891036. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2020-11-19. Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "The British Reoccupation of Hong Kong, 1945". Imperial War Museum Photo SE-4987. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2020-11-19. Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Lamport, Mark A. (2018). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 359. 1945 The Japanese surrender, ending World War II. The British resume sovereignty over Hong Kong. Churches are rebuilt.
  6. ^ Banham, Tony. "Hong Kong War Diary". p. Footnote 23. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2020-11-19. the British Army Aid Group smuggled the authorisation to resume British sovereignty over Hong Kong, to the Colonial Secretary Franklin Gimson in Stanley Internment Camp. Archived 2020-11-18 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "【香港重光】夏慤道背後的意義". 港識多史. 2019-06-25. Archived from the original on 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2021-03-04. Archived 2019-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Surrender Of Japan At Government House In Hong Kong 1945". British Pathé. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-26. Archived 2022-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Hau Pei-tsun (former Commander of ROC Army (2011). 郝柏村解讀蔣公日記一九四五~一九四九 [Hau Pei-tsun interprets Chiang Kai-Shek's diary, 1945–1949]. Taiwan: 天下遠見出版. p. 113,121. (p.113)英國重佔香港……(p.121)香港本屬中國戰區，英方一度堅持由蒙巴頓受降。蔣公僅在顧全中國戰區統帥面子的情勢下，授派英軍官受降。實質上，英國收回了香港殖民地。香港問題，蔣公在開羅會議曾提出。邱吉爾以開羅會議乃討論處理戰敗國日本問題，香港為英國領土，英國乃同盟國非戰敗國，故未談香港問題，故於日本投降後，急欲立即收回香港，以其海軍優勢捷足先登 [The UK reoccupied Hong Kong (p.113)... Hong Kong was originally part of China Theater of the Allied forces, and the British insisted that Lord Mountbatten receive [Japanese] surrender. Chiang Kai-Shek only relented and allowed for the British to accept surrender due to consideration of the situation of the China Theater as a whole. In reality, the British retained Hong Kong as a colony. Chiang Kai-Shek once raised the Hong Kong Question during the Cairo Conference. Churchill argued that the conference should be focused on resolving issues relating to Japan, and since the UK is an allied nation and Hong Kong was a British colony, he did not discuss Hong Kong. This is why the British forces speedily sent its navy to reach Hong Kong first and reclaim it following Japanese surrender. (p.121)]
  10. ^ "1945年香港重光：中英爭奪香港，如何收科？". www.watershedhk.com. 2020-08-28. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2021-03-04. Archived 2020-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "香港昔日奇蹟是「背靠祖國」還是「背靠大英」". 端傳媒. 2017-12-11. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Archived 2020-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "1945年香港重光：軍政府重建香港 以善治爭取認受". Watershed Hong Kong. 2020-07-04. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2022-02-10. Archived 2021-01-21 at the Wayback Machine

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