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The Cabinet July 25, 2026 · Kowloon Walled City site, Hong Kong

Kowloon Walled City, the Densest Place That Has Ever Existed

A diplomatic loophole left one 2.6-hectare block of British Hong Kong under nominal Chinese sovereignty and effectively no one's law. By the 1980s the Kowloon Walled City held some 35,000 people in a single fused mass of 300-odd interconnected towers — the highest population density ever recorded — with its own water, wiring, unlicensed dentists, and rooftop playgrounds. It was demolished in 1993-94.

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The Cabinet June 27, 2026 · Canton (Guangzhou)

The British Naval Campaign of 1839-1842 to Force China to Buy Indian Opium That Ended With the Cession of Hong Kong

The First Opium War (1839-1842) was a British naval campaign to force the Qing Empire to legalise the import of Indian opium into China. The Chinese imperial commissioner Lin Zexu had destroyed 1,200 tonnes of British opium at Canton in June 1839. Britain responded with a 5,000-troop expeditionary force. The 1842 Treaty of Nanking ended the war with the cession of Hong Kong, the opening of five treaty ports, and a £21 million indemnity.

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