China Came Very Close to Reclaiming Hong Kong in 1945

It is a well-established historical fact that Hong Kong was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, after 156 years of British rule; a period interrupted only by the three-year and eight-month Japanese occupation during the Second World War. Yet, that very war could have put a definitive end to the British presence in Hong Kong altogether, fifty years ahead of schedule.

The weeks following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively—were extremely chaotic regarding the future of Hong Kong. Although British Rear-Admiral Cecil Harcourt eventually landed in the city on August 30 of that year, effectively re-establishing British colonial rule, Hong Kong came very close to being reclaimed by China instead.

Throughout the Second World War, the Republic of China fought alongside the Allied Powers.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek argued that occupied Hong Kong should be returned to China. This claim was actively supported by US President Roosevelt, who pressured British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to hand over Hong Kong to China as a gesture of goodwill. In this regard, General Douglas MacArthur’s General Order No. 1 stated, in August 1945, that Japanese forces in China—including Hong Kong—should surrender to China.

However, after President Roosevelt died in April 1945, his successor, President Truman—under heavy diplomatic pressure from London—eventually shifted policies. Favoring a stable alliance with the British to counter Soviet and Communist influence in Europe and China, Truman ultimately left Great Britain free to reclaim its colony.