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129-670: The gang established in the prison camps of China in the late 1960s before relocating to Hong Kong in the 1970s. They were given the moniker "Big Circle Gang" and were formed by former members of the Red Guards , a paramilitary organization established by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution . After Mao eventually ordered a crackdown on the Red Guards using the People's Liberation Army (PLA), many former members of

258-778: A colony of the British Empire after the Qing dynasty ceded Hong Kong Island in 1841–1842 as a consequence of losing the First Opium War . The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and was further extended when the United Kingdom obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898. Hong Kong was occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II . The territory

387-463: A proposed extradition amendment bill permitting the extradition of fugitives to mainland China. The protests are the largest in Hong Kong's history, with organisers claiming to have attracted more than three million Hong Kong residents. The Hong Kong regional government and Chinese central government responded to the protests with a number of administrative measures to quell dissent. In June 2020,

516-399: A "Country Commercial Guide", which states "Exports of opiates alone appear to be worth about as much as all legal exports." It goes on to say that investments in infrastructure and hotels are coming from major opiate-growing and opiate-exporting organizations and from those with close ties to these organizations. A four-year investigation concluded that Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)

645-402: A 2021 thematic report by the Hong Kong government, after excluding foreign domestic helpers, the real number of non-Chinese ethnic minorities in the city was 301,344, or 4% of Hong Kong's population. About half the population have some form of British nationality , a legacy of colonial rule; 3.4 million residents have British National (Overseas) status, and 260,000 British citizens live in

774-409: A D.E.A. 18 month undercover investigation into a Nigerian led international drug trafficking gang that smuggled an estimated $ 200 million worth of heroin from Singapore to America via drug mules , with defendants facing federal indictments relating to drug conspiracy & distribution, racketeering and money-laundering. Earlier on that day, Dutch national Johannes van Damme , who was employed by

903-757: A crackdown by the Taliban reduced opium production by approximately 95% to 330 t (320 long tons; 360 short tons) in Afghanistan for the same year. The following districts make up the approximate geographical area of the Golden Triangle: In the late 1940s, as the Chinese Communist Party gained power, it ordered ten million addicts into compulsory treatment, had dealers executed, and opium-producing regions planted with new crops. Consequently, opium production shifted south of

1032-524: A diverse ecosystem; over 3,000 species of vascular plants occur in the region (300 of which are native to Hong Kong), and thousands of insect, avian, and marine species. Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ), characteristic of southern China, despite being located south of the Tropic of Cancer , although closely bordering on a tropical climate . Summers are long, hot and humid, with occasional showers and thunderstorms and warm air from

1161-845: A four-year term. Twenty are directly elected from geographical constituencies , thirty-five represent functional constituencies (FC), and forty are chosen by an election committee consisting of representatives appointed by the Chinese central government. Thirty FC councillors are selected from limited electorates representing sectors of the economy or special interest groups, and the remaining five members are nominated from sitting district council members and selected in region-wide double direct elections . All popularly elected members are chosen by proportional representation . The 30 limited electorate functional constituencies fill their seats using first-past-the-post or instant-runoff voting. Twenty-two political parties had representatives elected to

1290-587: A gang that competed with the millions of other prisoners for food. In Chinese maps, prison camps were marked with red circle, which to the gang adopting the red circle as their symbol. The nickname of the gang in Cantonese Dai Huen translates as "Big Circle". Between 1969-1975, a number of the "reeducated" former Red Guards turned Big Circle Boys were released or escaped; most fled to the British colony of Hong Kong . The general amorality and cynicism of

1419-784: A lengthy prison term. Both couriers worked for Kon. Kon was arrested in 1988 and charged with smuggling 453 kilograms of heroin into the United States between 1984-1987. In December 1990, the Vancouver police broke up a human smuggling ring led by the Big Circle Boys were bringing in illegal immigrants from China to Canada. The Big Circle Boys were manufacturing false passports in Canada, which were mailed to China with fraudulent entry stamp. The Big Circle Boys charged $ 20, 000 Canadian dollars for each forged passport. Almost all of

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1548-436: A neutral zone to safeguard its status as a free port. The colonial government prepared for a possible attack, evacuating all British women and children in 1940. The Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941 , the same morning as its attack on Pearl Harbor . Hong Kong was occupied by Japan for almost four years before the British resumed control on 30 August 1945. Its population rebounded quickly after

1677-525: A price of $ 4,200 per kilogram compared to the $ 50,000 each that the New York Mafia charged), Atkinson used his contacts within the US military to smuggle the narcotics via US Air Force planes back to the eastern United States. It was then collected, cut to 10% purity, repackaged and distributed on the streets of Harlem by dealers controlled by Lucas for a vast profit. This smuggling route operated up until

1806-409: A second language. Slightly over half the population (58.7%) speaks English , the other official language; 4.6% are native speakers, and 54.1% speak English as a second language. Code-switching , mixing English and Cantonese in informal conversation, is common among the bilingual population. Post-handover governments have promoted Mandarin , which is currently about as prevalent as English; 54.2% of

1935-531: A series of protests in 2014 which became known as the Umbrella Revolution. Discrepancies in the electoral registry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016 Legislative Council elections and enforcement of national law in the West Kowloon high-speed railway station raised further concerns about the region's autonomy. In June 2019, mass protests erupted in response to

2064-432: A severe amount of income inequality, which has risen since the handover, as the region's ageing population has gradually added to the number of nonworking people. Although median household income steadily increased during the decade to 2021, the wage gap remained high; the 90th percentile of earners receive 41% of all income. The city has the most billionaires per capita, with one billionaire per 109,657 people, as well as

2193-503: A small inlet located between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Although the source of the romanised name is unknown, it is generally believed to be an early phonetic rendering of the Cantonese (or Tanka Cantonese ) phrase hēung góng . The name translates as "fragrant harbour" or "incense harbour". "Fragrant" may refer to

2322-553: A source of drug mules, by the early 1990s West African criminal organizations had emerged as major traffickers themselves of Southeast Asian heroin, with 660 West Africans being arrested in the United States for heroin trafficking in the year 1991. The issue became so widespread that in 1992 the Nigerian government enacted a law that required its citizens to first obtain an official Clearance Certificate to prove they have no previous convictions for any drug-related offences issued by

2451-592: A tourist attraction, with the House of Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, and a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation. The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium -producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when opium production in Afghanistan increased. Myanmar was the world's second-largest source of opium after Afghanistan up to 2022, producing some 25% of

2580-431: Is a special administrative region of China , with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government . The Sino-British Joint Declaration provided for economic and administrative continuity through the handover, resulting in an executive-led governing system largely inherited from the territory's history as a British colony. Under these terms and the "one country, two systems" principle,

2709-542: Is a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km (77,000 sq mi) in northeastern Myanmar , northwestern Thailand and northern Laos , centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green , a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak , has become

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2838-698: Is active in a variety of countries in addition to Myanmar, including Thailand, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and Taiwan. The Chinese Muslim Panthay are the same ethnic group as the Muslims among the Chinese Chin Haw . A Panthay from Burma, Ma Zhengwen, assisted the Han Chinese drug lord Khun Sa in selling his heroin in north Thailand. The Panthay monopolized opium trafficking in Burma. They also created secret drug routes to reach

2967-410: Is governed by a hybrid regime that is not fully representative of the population. Legislative Council members elected by functional constituencies composed of professional and special interest groups are accountable to these narrow corporate electorates and not the general public. This electoral arrangement has guaranteed a pro-Beijing camp majority in the legislature since the handover. Similarly,

3096-580: Is irrigating every economic activity in Myanmar, and big foreign partners are also seen by the State Law and Order Restoration Council as big shields for money laundering." Banks in Rangoon offered money laundering for a 40% commission. A United Nations report also cites corruption, poverty and a lack of government control as typical causes for impoverished farmers to engage in drug production. In 1992,

3225-490: Is now one of the world's leading areas for the production of synthetic drugs and particularly methamphetamine as production has scaled up of Yaba tablets and crystalline methamphetamine , including for export to Australia, New Zealand, and across East and Southeast Asia. With respect to the accelerating synthetic drug production in the region, and specifically in Shan State, Myanmar, Sam Gor , also known as "The Company",

3354-688: Is understood to be one of the main international crime syndicates responsible for this shift. Made up of members of five different triads and understood to be headed by Tse Chi Lop , a Canadian gangster born in Guangzhou , China , the Cantonese Chinese syndicate is primarily involved in drug trafficking, potentially earning up to $ 8 billion per year. Sam Gor is alleged to control 40% of the Asia-Pacific methamphetamine market, while also trafficking heroin and ketamine . The organization

3483-594: The Ah Kong took control of the European heroin trade by smuggling heroin using couriers via airplane from Thailand and Malaysia to their headquarters in Amsterdam , where it was then distributed to other major cities in western Europe. So successful were the gang that they muscled in on and ultimately took over the European territory of the 14K and Wo Shing Wo groups of triads . Heroin from Southeast Asia

3612-655: The American Midwest , that was believed to have supplied over 200 kg (440 lb) with an estimated retail price of $ 100 million a year to various street gangs in the region. Poppy cultivation in the country decreased more than 80 percent from 1998 to 2006 following an eradication campaign in the Golden Triangle. Officials with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime have confirmed that opium poppy farming has decreased since 2014, as synthetic drug production has expanded. The Golden Triangle

3741-542: The Basic Law of Hong Kong for 50 years after the handover. It does not specify how Hong Kong will be governed after 2047, and the central government's role in determining the territory's future system of government is the subject of political debate and speculation. Hong Kong's political and judicial systems may be integrated with China's at that time, or the territory may continue to be administered separately. However, in response to large-scale protests in 2019 and 2020 ,

3870-591: The Basic Law of Hong Kong is the regional constitution. The regional government is composed of three branches: The chief executive is the head of government and serves for a maximum of two five-year terms. The State Council (led by the Premier of China ) appoints the chief executive after nomination by the Election Committee , which is composed of 1500 business, community, and government leaders. The Legislative Council has 90 members, each serving

3999-604: The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference appointed by the central government. Chinese national law does not generally apply in the region, and Hong Kong is treated as a separate jurisdiction. Its judicial system is based on common law , continuing the legal tradition established during British rule. Local courts may refer to precedents set in English law and overseas jurisprudence. However, mainland criminal procedure law applies to cases investigated by

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4128-563: The Chinese central government 's adherence to the "one country, two systems" principle. After reversal of the last colonial era Legislative Council democratic reforms following the handover, the regional government unsuccessfully attempted to enact national security legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law . The central government decision to implement nominee pre-screening before allowing chief executive elections triggered

4257-670: The Former Marine Police Headquarters was redeveloped into a commercial and retail complex, and Béthanie (built in 1875 as a sanatorium ) houses the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts . The Tin Hau Temple , dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu (originally built in 1012 and rebuilt in 1266), is the territory's oldest existing structure. The Ping Shan Heritage Trail has architectural examples of several imperial Chinese dynasties, including

4386-466: The Hong Kong dollar , is the ninth most traded currency in the world. Home to the seventh-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, Hong Kong has the largest number of ultra high-net-worth individuals . Although the city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, severe income inequality exists among the population. Despite being the city with the most skyscrapers in

4515-590: The Lahu people of Kengtung State testified that the KMT tortured the Lahu for failing to comply with their regulations. Annual production increased 20 times, from 30 tons at the time of Burmese independence to 600 t (590 long tons; 660 short tons) in the mid-1950s. Myanmar is the world's largest producer of illicit opium, and has been a significant cog in the transnational drug trade since World War II . According to

4644-803: The Middle Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago, the region had been widely occupied by humans. Neolithic to Bronze Age Hong Kong settlers were semi-coastal people. Early inhabitants are believed to be Austronesians in the Middle Neolithic period and later the Yue people. As hinted by the archaeological works in Sha Ha, Sai Kung, rice cultivation had been introduced since Late Neolithic period. Bronze Age Hong Kong featured coarse pottery, hard pottery, quartz and stone jewelry, as well as small bronze implements. The Qin dynasty incorporated

4773-572: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency before they could apply for a Thailand travel visa . Instead of attempting to smuggle a single large shipment, Nigerian traffickers would typically recruit many low level non-Nigerian couriers to transport a couple of kilograms of heroin at a time via regular airline routes from transshipment points in Asia, such as Singapore, to western Europe or the eastern United States. Once

4902-734: The Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR . Interpretative and amending power over the Basic Law and jurisdiction over acts of state lie with the central authority, making regional courts ultimately subordinate to the mainland's socialist civil law system. Decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress override any territorial judicial process. Furthermore, in circumstances where

5031-665: The People's Liberation Army is responsible for the region's defence. Although the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is supreme commander of the armed forces, the regional government may request assistance from the garrison. Hong Kong residents are not required to perform military service, and current law has no provision for local enlistment, so its defence is composed entirely of non-Hongkongers. The central government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle diplomatic matters, but Hong Kong retains

5160-595: The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council to grant officials "even more powers to crack down on opposition to Beijing and the Hong Kong government" and includes penalties such as life imprisonment for political crimes such as treason and insurrection . Critics state that this expansion "will strike a lasting blow to the partial autonomy the city had been promised by China [in

5289-713: The Shanghai Street shophouses in Mong Kok . Mass-produced public-housing estates , built since the 1960s, are mainly constructed in modernist style . The Census and Statistics Department estimated Hong Kong's population at 7,413,070 in 2021. The overwhelming majority (91.6%) is Han Chinese , most of whom are Taishanese , Teochew , Hakka , and other Cantonese peoples . The remaining 8.4% are non-ethnic Chinese minorities, primarily Filipinos , Indonesians , and South Asians . However, most Filipinos and Indonesians in Hong Kong are short-term workers. According to

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5418-502: The Sino-British Joint Declaration ]." Hong Kong's administrative divisions are divided into three levels: Areas (區域), Districts (地區), and Sub-districts (分區). Hong Kong is administratively divided into three areas: Hong Kong Island , Kowloon , and the New Territories . They are further divided into 18 districts. The area of Hong Kong Island has four districts, the area of Kowloon has five districts, and

5547-457: The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the controversial Hong Kong national security law . The law criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign elements and establishes the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR, an investigative office under Central People's Government authority immune from HKSAR jurisdiction. Some of

5676-615: The Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda (Hong Kong's only remaining pagoda). Tong lau , mixed-use tenement buildings constructed during the colonial era, blended southern Chinese architectural styles with European influences. These were especially prolific during the immediate post-war period, when many were rapidly built to house large numbers of Chinese migrants. Examples include Lui Seng Chun , the Blue House in Wan Chai , and

5805-785: The UNODC it was estimated that in 2005 opium was cultivated in an area of 430 km (167 sq mi) in Myanmar. Opium and heroin base produced in northeastern Myanmar are transported by horse and donkey caravans to refineries along the Thailand–Burma border for conversion to heroin and heroin base. Most of the finished products are shipped across the border into various towns in North Thailand and down to Bangkok for further distribution to international markets. The surrender of drug lord Khun Sa 's Mong Tai Army in January 1996

5934-514: The United States Department of Justice released a report detailing the typical process in which raw opium extracted from poppy plants is converted to morphine and then to heroin: In the same year, the U.S. Department of Justice published a separate report with estimated prices for Southeast Asian heroin at various stages from point of production to final street sale: After hearing about African American soldiers serving in

6063-539: The Vietnam War becoming addicted to heroin while on R&R in Thailand, American drug lord Frank Lucas travelled to Bangkok in the early 1970s in an attempt to set up a new trafficking route with his associate Ike Atkinson . After Lucas visited the Golden Triangle region and made an initial purchase of 132 kilograms of uncut heroin (98–100% pure) from remnants of Chiang Kai-shek defeated Kuomintang army (for

6192-617: The central government in Beijing in June 2020 resulted in the suspension of bilateral extradition treaties by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, and Ireland. The United States ended its preferential economic and trade treatment of Hong Kong in July 2020 because it was no longer able to distinguish Hong Kong as a separate entity from the People's Republic of China. In 2024,

6321-430: The second-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, the highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia, and the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals of any city in the world. Despite government efforts to reduce the growing disparity, median income for the top 10% of earners is 57 times that of the bottom 10%. Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia) The Golden Triangle

6450-669: The tallest buildings in Hong Kong and are among the tallest in the Asia-Pacific region. Other distinctive buildings lining the Hong Kong Island skyline include the HSBC Main Building , the anemometer -topped triangular Central Plaza , the circular Hopewell Centre , and the sharp-edged Bank of China Tower . Demand for new construction has contributed to frequent demolition of older buildings, freeing space for modern high-rises. However, many examples of European and Lingnan architecture are still found throughout

6579-424: The "patriotic societies". The Canadian criminologist Steven Schneider wrote: "They are devoid of the structure, initiation ceremony, formal membership or rituals that characterize the traditional triads." The Big Circle Boys are more of a brand than a formal gang, consisting of numerous gangs made up of 10-30 people scattered around the world that are united by their common use of the red circle symbol. The strength of

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6708-636: The 1279 Battle of Yamen by the Yuan Dynasty. By the end of the Yuan dynasty , seven large families had settled in the region and owned most of the land. Settlers from nearby provinces migrated to Kowloon throughout the Ming dynasty . The earliest European visitor was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares , who arrived in 1513. Portuguese merchants established a trading post called Tamão in Hong Kong waters and began regular trade with southern China. Although

6837-503: The Big Circle Boys is in the international networking as the Big Circle Boys have members in China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and all over the world. By the early 1990s, the Big Circle Boys had moved up from robberies to more profitable crimes as prostitution, human trafficking, drug smuggling, loansharking, credit card fraud, and the counterfeiting of currency, computer software, and films. The Big Circle Boys dominate digital piracy of films and music in Canada along with

6966-472: The Big Circle Boys relates to their disillusionment with Communism for being sent to prison camps for merely following their orders. In Hong Kong, the Big Circle Boys were known for their clannish qualities formed out of common experiences in the Red Guard and in the prison camps; for their well planned raids; their use of guns in their crimes and their extreme violence. The gang targeted jewelry stores; payroll offices; and casinos. The Royal Hong Kong Police gave

7095-403: The Big Circle Boys were involved in smuggling heroin from the " Golden Triangle " nations of Burma, Thailand and Laos into Canada, the United States and Europe. The Big Circle Boys would sell the heroin at a markup to Chinese or Vietnamese street gangs who performed the most dangerous and least profitable part of the drug trade. Kon Yu-lueng, aka "Johnny Kon", a Big Circle Boy based in New City city

7224-400: The Chinese border into the Golden Triangle region. Small-scale opium production in Myanmar dated back to the Konbaung dynasty in 1750, chiefly for the consumption of foreigners. The Chinese troops of the Kuomintang in Burma (KMT) were in effect the forebears of the private narcotic armies operating in the Golden Triangle. In 1949, thousands of the defeated Kuomintang troops crossed over

7353-456: The Hong Kong area into China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conquering the indigenous Baiyue . The region was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam ) after the Qin collapse and recaptured by China after the Han conquest . During the Mongol conquest of China in the 13th century, the Southern Song court was briefly located in modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before its final defeat in

7482-422: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). Earliest known human traces in what is now Hong Kong are dated by some to 35,000 and 39,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period. The claim is based on an archaeological investigation in Wong Tei Tung , Sai Kung in 2003. The archaeological works revealed knapped stone tools from deposits that were dated using optical luminescence dating . During

7611-406: The Legislative Council and the requirement that all candidates be vetted and approved by a Beijing-appointed Candidate Eligibility Review Committee . In May 2023, the Legislative Council also introduced legislation to reduce the number of directly elected seats in the district councils, and a District Council Eligibility Review Committee was similarly established to vet candidates. Hong Kong

7740-484: The Legislative Council in the 2016 election . These parties have aligned themselves into three ideological groups: the pro-Beijing camp (the current government), the pro-democracy camp , and localist groups . The Chinese Communist Party does not have an official political presence in Hong Kong, and its members do not run in local elections. Hong Kong is represented in the National People's Congress by 36 deputies chosen through an electoral college and 203 delegates in

7869-432: The Legislative Council passed the National Anthem Ordinance , which criminalised "insults to the national anthem of China". The Chinese central government meanwhile enacted the Hong Kong national security law to help quell protests in the region. Nine months later, in March 2021, the Chinese central government introduced amendments to Hong Kong's electoral system , which included the reduction of directly elected seats in

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7998-438: The New Territories. Much of this is built on reclaimed land ; 70 km (27 sq mi) (6% of the total land or about 25% of developed space in the territory) is reclaimed from the sea. Undeveloped terrain is hilly to mountainous, with very little flat land, and consists mostly of grassland, woodland, shrubland, or farmland. About 40% of the remaining land area is country parks and nature reserves. The territory has

8127-418: The Philippines and Indonesia, have little protection under regional law. Although they live and work in Hong Kong, these workers are not treated as ordinary residents and do not have the right of abode in the territory. Sex trafficking is also an issue, local, mainland Chinese, and foreign women have been trafficked for sex in brothels , homes, and businesses in the city. The Joint Declaration guarantees

8256-406: The Standing Committee declares a state of emergency in Hong Kong, the State Council may enforce national law in the region. The territory's jurisdictional independence is most apparent in its immigration and taxation policies. The Immigration Department issues passports for permanent residents which differ from those of the mainland or Macau, and the region maintains a regulated border with

8385-402: The UN's Office on Drugs and Crime putting the larger syndicate's turnover at $ 8-18 billion in 2018. Hong Kong Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China . With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the world. Hong Kong was established as

8514-435: The ability to maintain separate economic and cultural relations with foreign nations . The territory actively participates in the World Trade Organization , the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the International Olympic Committee , and many United Nations agencies. The regional government maintains trade offices in Greater China and other nations. The imposition of the Hong Kong national security law by

8643-402: The aforementioned acts were previously considered protected speech under Hong Kong law. The United Kingdom considers the law to be a serious violation of the Joint Declaration. In October 2020, the Hong Kong Police arrested seven pro- democracy politicians over tussles with pro-Beijing politicians in the Legislative Council in May. They were charged with contempt and interfering with members of

8772-505: The agreement. After more than a year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the United Kingdom in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking . Administrative infrastructure was quickly built by early 1842, but piracy, disease, and hostile Qing policies initially prevented the government from attracting commerce. Conditions on the island improved during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s, when many Chinese refugees, including wealthy merchants, fled mainland turbulence and settled in

8901-399: The area of the New Territories has nine districts. Each district is represented by a district council . The district councils advise the government on local issues such as public facility provisioning, community programme maintenance, cultural promotion, and environmental policy. As of 2024, there are a total of 470 district council seats, 88 of which are directly elected. In May 2023,

9030-695: The arrest of Frank Lucas by the Drug Enforcement Administration in January 1975. In 1972, traditional European supply routes for American-consumed heroin (known as the French Connection ) were disrupted after Turkey banned the growing of opium poppies, which led to an increase in production in South East Asia. With an existing Triad organized crime infrastructure to service a large local population of addicts (consisting of an estimated 150,000 regular users ), combined with its busy international Port of Hong Kong and Kai Tak Airport , Hong Kong soon became an important transit point for Southeast Asian heroin, as well as convenient money laundering center to reinvest

9159-459: The border from Yunnan Province into Burma, a nation with a weak government, and the Kuomintang seized control of the border regions of Burma. Almost all of the KMT opium was sent south to Thailand. The KMT-controlled territories made up Burma's major opium-producing region, and the shift in KMT policy allowed them to expand their control over the region's opium trade. Furthermore, Communist China's eradication of illicit opium cultivation in Yunnan by

9288-456: The capacity to allocate any currency credit to MOGE, the Singapore bank accounts of this company have seen the transfer of hundreds of millions of US dollars," reports François Casanier. According to a confidential MOGE file reviewed by the investigators, funds exceeding $ 60 million and originating from Myanmar's most renowned drug lord, Khun Sa , were channeled through the company. "Drug money

9417-1165: The chief executive is selected by establishment politicians and corporate members of the Election Committee rather than directly elected. Despite universal suffrage being established as ultimate goals for the election of the chief executive and all members of the Legislative Council in Articles 45 and 68 of the basic law, the legislature is only partially directly elected, and the executive continues to be nominated by an unrepresentative body. The government has been repeatedly petitioned to introduce direct elections for these positions, but has not introduced these direct elections as of 2024. Ethnic minorities (except those of European ancestry) have marginal representation in government and often experience discrimination in housing, education, and employment. Employment vacancies and public service appointments frequently have language requirements which minority job seekers do not meet, and language education resources remain inadequate for Chinese learners. Foreign domestic helpers , mostly women from

9546-635: The colony. Further tensions between the British and Qing over the opium trade escalated into the Second Opium War . The Qing were again defeated and forced to give up Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island in the Convention of Peking . By the end of this war, Hong Kong had evolved from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt . Rapid economic improvement during the 1850s attracted foreign investment, as potential stakeholders became more confident in Hong Kong's future. The colony

9675-433: The colour of soil over which a waterfall on the island flowed. The simplified name Hong Kong was frequently used by 1810. The name was also commonly written as the single word Hongkong until 1926, when the government officially adopted the two-word name. Some corporations founded during the early colonial era still keep this name, including Hongkong Land , Hongkong Electric Company , Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and

9804-590: The council, while none of the pro-Beijing lawmakers were detained. Annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre were also cancelled amidst fears of violating the national security law. In March 2021, the Chinese central government unilaterally changed Hong Kong's electoral system and established the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee , which would be tasked with screening and evaluating political candidates for their "patriotism", effectively crushing

9933-570: The counterfeiting and real estate fraud. Sergeant Jim Fisher, an Asian crime expert with the Vancouver police service in a 1998 interview called the Boy Circle Boys a sophisticated gang who operate very much like businessmen and learn from their mistakes. Fisher recalled arresting one Big Circle Boy who had the entire transcript of his trial for credit card fraud with him as he was studying how the Crown convicted him. Using connections in Asia,

10062-542: The drug were also trafficked into New York City and Washington, D.C. While Southeast Asian groups had success in trafficking heroin to the United States, they initially had difficulty arranging street level distribution. However, with the incarceration of Asian traffickers in American prisons during the 1970s, contacts between Asian and American prisoners developed. These contacts have allowed Southeast Asian traffickers access to gangs and organizations distributing heroin at

10191-540: The early 1950s effectively handed the opium monopoly to the KMT army in the Shan State . The main consumers of the drug were the local ethnic Chinese and those across the border in Yunnan and the rest of Southeast Asia. They coerced the local villagers for recruits, food and money, and exacted a heavy tax on the opium farmers. That forced the farmers to increase their production to make ends meet. One American missionary to

10320-402: The economic crunch brought on by COVID-19 and the country's 2021 Myanmar coup d'état persists, with significant public health and security consequences for much of Asia. In 2023, Myanmar became the world’s largest producer of opium after an estimated 1,080 t (1,060 long tons; 1,190 short tons) of the drug was produced, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report, while

10449-469: The end of the New Territories lease approached, and Governor Murray MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in 1979. Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration , in which the United Kingdom agreed to the handover of the colony in 1997 and China would guarantee Hong Kong's economic and political systems for 50 years after

10578-563: The gang the nickname of dai huen jai (Cantonese for "Big Circle Boys"), a nickname that has struck. The gang expanded out of Hong Kong in the 1980s, settling operations in the Netherlands and Great Britain. The gang also became active in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and in the greater Toronto area in Canada. The Big Circle Boys were the first triad to originate in the People's Republic of China that operated in Canada as

10707-572: The government proposed reforms to the District Council electoral system which further cut the number of directly elected seats from 452 to 88, and total seats from 479 to 470. A requirement that district council candidates be vetted and approved by the District Council Eligibility Review Committee was also proposed. The Legislative Council approved the reforms in July 2023. Hong Kong

10836-418: The handover. The impending handover triggered a wave of mass emigration as residents feared an erosion of civil rights, the rule of law, and quality of life. Over half a million people left the territory during the peak migration period, from 1987 to 1996. The Legislative Council became a fully elected legislature for the first time in 1995 and extensively expanded its functions and organisations throughout

10965-403: The heroin arrived at its final destination, it was transported to cutting and packaging mills where it was diluted and packaged for retail or street-level sale, with the profits then transferred to Lagos or Hong Kong for the purposes of money laundering . In September 1991, American federal agents arrested 37 people (including 28 Nigerian citizens) in the eastern United States as the result

11094-435: The heroin trade in central China and now control a vast percentage of the heroin and fentanyl distribution business in the United States and Canada. The Big Circle Boys are a transnational-organized crime syndicate. On 22 January 2021, as part of Operation Kungur, Dutch police arrested Tse Chi Lop , alleged to have assumed the leadership of the organisation and having taken it to higher levels as Sam Gor ( The Company ), with

11223-537: The illegal immigrants to Canada were people with criminal records in China who wanted to come to Canada because of its justice system. China imposes the death penalty for a number of criminal offenses while in Canada the standard punishment for people convicted of even serious crimes is only a few years in prison, making Canada an attractive place for Chinese criminals. In the early 1990s, the Big Circle Boys in Toronto under

11352-470: The international market with contacts to smuggle drugs from Burma via south China. In 2023, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan as the world’s biggest producer of opium, after a ban on poppy cultivation by the Taliban reduced opium production by approximately 95%. A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report estimated that 1,080 metric tonnes of opium was produced in Myanmar, up from 790 metric tonnes

11481-401: The last years of the colonial rule. The handover of Hong Kong to China was at midnight on 1 July 1997, after 156 years of British rule. Immediately after the handover, Hong Kong was severely affected by several crises. The Hong Kong government was forced to use substantial foreign exchange reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis , and

11610-575: The leadership of Tse Chi Lop who had arrived in Canada in 1988, was said to have formed an alliance with the Vito Rizzuto , the boss of Montreal's Rizzuto family along with the Columbian Cali Cartel and the 'Ndrangheta . The Big Circle Boys brought heroin from the Golden Triangle in southeast Asia to sell in the United States and Europe and cocaine from Columbia to sell in Canada and Asia. The triad now thrives among

11739-536: The maritime area is included) consists of Hong Kong Island , the Kowloon Peninsula , the New Territories , Lantau Island , and over 200 other islands. Of the total area, 1,073 km (414 sq mi) is land and 35 km (14 sq mi) is water. The territory's highest point is Tai Mo Shan , 957 metres (3,140 ft) above sea level. Urban development is concentrated on the Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong Island, and in new towns throughout

11868-735: The north and occasionally result in chilly weather. Autumn is the sunniest season, whilst spring is generally cloudy. Snowfall has been extremely rare in Hong Kong; the last reported instance was on Tai Mo Shan in 1975. Hong Kong averages 1,709 hours of sunshine per year. Historic temperature extremes at the Hong Kong Observatory are 36.6 °C (97.9 °F) on 22 August 2017 and 0.0 °C (32.0 °F) on 18 January 1893. The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in all of Hong Kong are 39.0 °C (102 °F) at Wetland Park on 22 August 2017, and −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) at Tai Mo Shan on 24 January 2016 . Hong Kong has

11997-426: The opium trade. The commissioner destroyed opium stockpiles and halted all foreign trade, triggering a British military response and the First Opium War . The Qing surrendered early in the war and ceded Hong Kong Island in the Convention of Chuenpi . British forces began controlling Hong Kong shortly after the signing of the convention, from 26 January 1841. However, both countries were dissatisfied and did not ratify

12126-536: The organization were imprisoned in China . However, some former Red Guards fled as refugees to Hong Kong , where they "turned their military prowess to crime", according to a Canadian court record , forming the triad known as the Big Circle Gang. In 1968, Mao having unleashed the Red Guard in 1966 as part of the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution", turned against his followers. The Red Guards, which

12255-431: The percentage of Southeast Asian heroin rose from 3 percent to more than 40 percent of the market supply. As demand grew, Asian criminal organizations began trafficking large shipments of high purity heroin hidden amongst legitimate seaborne cargo to the United States of America. Notable incidents included: Although Nigeria had traditionally been used by foreign organized crime groups as a transit point for narcotics and as

12384-591: The population speak Mandarin, with 2.3% native speakers and 51.9% as a second language. Traditional Chinese characters are used in writing, rather than the simplified characters used in the mainland . Among the religious population, the traditional " three teachings " of China, Buddhism , Confucianism , and Taoism , have the most adherents (20%), followed by Christianity (12%) and Islam (4%). Followers of other religions, including Sikhism , Hinduism , and Judaism , generally originate from regions where their religion predominates. Life expectancy in Hong Kong

12513-440: The post-war decades to provide safer housing, integrity in the civil service, and more reliable transportation. Nevertheless, widespread public discontent resulted in multiple protests from the 1950s to 1980s, including pro- Republic of China and pro- Chinese Communist Party protests. In the 1967 Hong Kong riots , pro- PRC protestors clashed with the British colonial government. As many as 51 were killed and 802 were injured in

12642-498: The previous year and that countries' highest total since 2001, while opium production in Afghanistan was vastly reduced to an estimated 330 tonnes for the same twelve month time period. Due to the implementation of more efficient farming practices (such as the use of irrigation systems and fertilizers ), yields in Myanmar have increased to approximately 23 kilogrammes per hectare of poppy field and farmers are now paid an average of US$ 355 per kilogram of raw opium (an increase of 27%),

12771-573: The prior triads came from Hong Kong or Taiwan. Some of the Big Circle Boys came to Canada as illegal immigrants owning to their lengthy criminal records in Hong Kong, but came legally by claiming refugee status. By the late 1980s, the Big Circle Boys were notorious in the Chinatowns of both Vancouver and Toronto for their armed robberies of businesses; home invasions; and the their practice of kidnapping wealthy Chinese-Canadians to force their families to pay hefty ransoms. The Big Circle Boys use some of

12900-414: The profits of international sales. Crime groups also used the city state as a location to process opium into refined heroin, with a syndicate controlled by Ma Sik-chun estimated by the authorities to have imported over 700 tonnes of opium into Hong Kong between 1968 and 1974. In the mid 1970s, a organized crime gang headed by Roland Tan and composed mainly of Singaporean Chinese traffickers known as

13029-476: The recovery from this was muted by an H5N1 avian-flu outbreak and a housing surplus. This was followed by the 2003 SARS epidemic , during which the territory experienced its most serious economic downturn. Chinese communists portrayed the return of Hong Kong as key moment in the PRC's rise to great power status. Political debates after the handover have centred around the region's democratic development and

13158-487: The region into a wasteland. The Kangxi Emperor lifted the maritime trade prohibition, allowing foreigners to enter Chinese ports in 1684. Qing authorities established the Canton System in 1757 to regulate trade more strictly, restricting non-Russian ships to the port of Canton . Although European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods

13287-494: The region, suggests that methamphetamine manufacture in East and Southeast Asia is now consolidated into the lower Mekong region. Countries in East and Southeast Asia have collectively witnessed sustained increases in seizures of methamphetamine over the last decade, totalling over 171 tons and a record of over 1 billion methamphetamine tablets in 2021 according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, more than any other part of

13416-731: The remainder of the Pro-Democracy camp . Hong Kong is on China's southern coast, 60 km (37 mi) east of Macau, on the east side of the mouth of the Pearl River estuary . It is surrounded by the South China Sea on all sides except the north, which neighbours the Guangdong city of Shenzhen along the Sham Chun River . The territory's 1,110.18 km (428.64 sq mi) area (2,754.97 km if

13545-446: The report added. "The Golden Triangle, and specifically Shan State of Myanmar, is believed to be the largest methamphetamine producing area in the world (modest sized geographic area with highly concentrated production)." The growing signs of an intensification of methamphetamine manufacturing activity within and around the Golden Triangle, and a corresponding decrease in the number of production facilities dismantled in other parts of

13674-412: The rest of the country. All travellers between Hong Kong and China and Macau must pass through border controls, regardless of nationality. Mainland Chinese citizens do not have right of abode in Hong Kong and are subject to immigration controls. Public finances are handled separately from the national government; taxes levied in Hong Kong do not fund the central authority. The Hong Kong Garrison of

13803-462: The retail level. In the 1980s, after traditional American Mafia groups were substantially weakened by a series of Mafia Commission Trials , ethnic Chinese traffickers gradually took over the dominant role in the heroin supply on the East Coast of the United States . A Drug Enforcement Administration study identified the source of the heroin sold on the streets of New York: from 1982 to 1987,

13932-508: The same gang as a drug courier, was arrested in the transit lounge of Singapore Changi Airport and found to be in possession of 5.79 kilograms (12.8 lb) of high quality heroin hidden within two secret compartments of his suitcase. In a separate case in October 1996, U.S. law enforcement officials arrested members of a Chicago based Nigerian trafficking group that smuggled heroin from Thailand via couriers for distribution to cities across

14061-481: The southwest. The humid nature of Hong Kong exacerbates the warmth of summer. Typhoons occur most often then, sometimes resulting in floods or landslides. Also rarely occurring are waterspouts and tornadoes , which occurred at Hong Kong International Airport on 26 September 2020 and at Victoria Harbour on 28 September 2024. Winters are short, mild and usually sunny at the beginning, becoming cloudy towards February. Frequent cold fronts bring strong, cooling winds from

14190-467: The sweet taste of the harbour's freshwater influx from the Pearl River or to the odour from incense factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon . The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour was developed. Sir John Davis (the second colonial governor) offered an alternative origin; Davis said that the name derived from "Hoong-keang" ("red torrent"), reflecting

14319-465: The territory. The vast majority also hold Chinese nationality , automatically granted to all ethnic Chinese residents at the handover. Headline population density exceeds 7,060 people/km , and is the fourth-highest in the world. The predominant language is Cantonese , a variety of Chinese originating in Guangdong. It is spoken by 93.7% of the population, 88.2% as a first language and 5.5% as

14448-512: The territory. Older government buildings are examples of colonial architecture. The 1846 Flagstaff House , the former residence of the Commander of the British forces in Hong Kong , is the oldest Western-style building in Hong Kong. Some buildings, such as the Court of Final Appeal Building and the Hong Kong Observatory retain their original functions, and others have been adapted and reused ;

14577-525: The traders were expelled after military clashes in the 1520s, Portuguese-Chinese trade relations were re-established by 1549 . Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1887. After the Qing conquest , maritime trade was banned under the Haijin policies. From 1661 to 1683, the population of most of the area forming present day Hong Kong was cleared under the Great Clearance , turning

14706-521: The traditional ranks, rituals and iconography of the triads, which date to the 17th century. The triads were founded as the "patriotic societies" to resist the Manchu Qing dynasty that conquered China in 1644. To fund their anti-Qing revolution, the triads turned to crime, which ultimately led them to abandon their original revolutionary mission for gangsterism. The triads tended to feature elaborate iconography, which recalls their 17th century origins as

14835-443: The unregulated factories and underground banks of Guangdong , and especially in the city of Guangzhou ; they were nicknamed the "Big Circle Gang" after a drawing on a map indicating in which part of China they operated. They spread rapidly across Canadian cities in the 1990s, and confidential informants say Big Circle Boys are trusted bonding agents among many actors in fluid networks of Asian drug-trafficking. They controlled much of

14964-485: The violence, including dozens killed by the Royal Hong Kong Police via beatings and shootings. Although the territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined because of rising labour and property costs, it transitioned to a service-based economy. By the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre and shipping hub. The colony faced an uncertain future as

15093-681: The war, as skilled Chinese migrants fled from the Chinese Civil War and more refugees crossed the border when the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China in 1949. Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies to industrialise during the 1950s. With a rapidly increasing population, the colonial government attempted reforms to improve infrastructure and public services. The public-housing estate programme , Independent Commission Against Corruption , and Mass Transit Railway were all established during

15222-461: The world , housing in Hong Kong is consistently in high demand . Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.956, ranking fourth in the world and currently the only place in Asia to be in the top 5. The city has the highest life expectancy in the world , and a public transport usage exceeding 90 per cent. The name of the territory, first romanised as "He-Ong-Kong" in 1780, originally referred to

15351-494: The world's largest number of skyscrapers , with 554 towers taller than 150 metres (490 ft), and the third-largest number of high-rise buildings in the world. The lack of available space restricted development to high-density residential tenements and commercial complexes packed closely together on buildable land. Single-family detached homes are uncommon and generally only found in outlying areas. The International Commerce Centre and Two International Finance Centre are

15480-606: The world's opium, forming part of the Golden Triangle. While opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar had declined year-on-year since 2015, cultivation area increased by 33% totalling 40,100 ha (99,000 acres) alongside an 88% increase in yield potential to 790 t (780 long tons; 870 short tons) in 2022 according to latest data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2022. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has also warned that opium production in Myanmar may rise again if

15609-544: Was handed over from the United Kingdom to China in 1997. Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of one country, two systems . Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, the territory is now one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports. Hong Kong is the world's third-ranked global financial centre (behind New York City and London ), ninth-largest exporter, and eighth-largest importer. Its currency,

15738-537: Was "the main channel for laundering the revenues of heroin produced and exported under the control of the Myanmar Army ." In a business deal signed with the French oil giant Total S.A. in 1992, and later joined by Unocal , MOGE received a payment of $ 15 million. "Despite the fact that MOGE has no assets besides the limited installments of its foreign partners and makes no profit, and that the Myanmar state never had

15867-420: Was 81.3 years for males and 87.2 years for females in 2022, one of the highest in the world. Cancer , pneumonia , heart disease , cerebrovascular disease , and accidents are the territory's five leading causes of death. The universal public healthcare system is funded by general-tax revenue, and treatment is highly subsidised; on average, 95% of healthcare costs are covered by the government. The city has

15996-477: Was described by the Drug Enforcement Agency as "probably one of the two or three biggest heroin dealers in the world". In 1985, two couriers from Hong Kong were arrested at Seattle International Airport with 97 kilograms of heroin. One of the couriers fled back to Thailand where he was murdered and another refused to turn state's evidence and name as his employer, leading to him being sentenced to

16125-538: Was further expanded in 1898 when the United Kingdom obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first institution of higher education. Kai Tak Airport began operation in 1924, and the colony avoided a prolonged economic downturn after the 1925–26 Canton–Hong Kong strike . At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared Hong Kong

16254-556: Was hailed by Yangon as a major counter-narcotics success. Lack of government will and ability to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall anti-drug effort. Most of the tribespeople growing the opium poppy in Myanmar and in the Thai highlands are living below the poverty line. In 1996, the United States Embassy in Rangoon released

16383-531: Was insignificant, so that Chinese goods could only be bought with precious metals. To reduce the trade imbalance, the British sold large amounts of Indian opium to China. Faced with a drug crisis, Qing officials pursued ever more aggressive actions to halt the opium trade. In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium and ordered imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to eradicate

16512-460: Was notorious for their cruelty and destructive antics, have become too violent even for Mao, who cynically turned against the Red Guard. Much to their bewilderment, a number of Red Guards were arrested and sent to prison camps as Mao now disallowed them for following his orders. The former Red Guards were imprisoned in squalid camps around the city of Guanghzhou to be "reeducated", where they formed

16641-476: Was originally brought to the United States by couriers, typically Thai and U.S. nationals, travelling on commercial airlines. Despite its strict drug laws , Singapore was often used as a transit point, as traffickers believed foreign law enforcement agencies would be less stringent in checking passengers on arrival if their flight departed from Singapore. California and Hawaii were the primary U.S. entry points for Golden Triangle heroin, but small percentages of

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