The Opium War pushed China into a colonized state and China started its downfall from then on.With its powerful ships and guns，the Great Britain destroyed the fragile southeast inshore line of defence of the Qing Empire and had defeated the Qing troops all the way to Nanjing.Emperor Daoguang was compelled to sign the Nanjing Treaty.Other world powers followed and threatened China to sign more unequal treaties，cede more land，pay more indemnity，etc.China fell into a period of colonization.The British occupation of Hong Kong for over 100 years was the period of dark ages in Chinese history and also the time of resistance and salvat ion b y t he Chinese people.As t he imperialistinvasionaggravated，continuousdisastrou sevent shappened：theal lied troop of BritainandFrance’sinvasion，the war between China and France，the allied troop of eight powers’invasion，Jiawu War between China and Japan，the 5-30 Massacre，the 9-18 Incident，the 7-7 Incident，etc.Meanwhile，the Chinese people hadbeenaimingtofightforanindependentand united nation under the leadership of elites.Significant movements include Lin Zexu’s Humen Opium Incident，We sternization Movement，Wu xuPoliticalReform，Xinhai Revolution，the Great Revolution，the War against Japanese Invasion，the Liberation War，and the founding of the People’s Republic of China.The Chinese people eventually achieved the nation’s independence.
The triumph in the War against Japanese Invasion，the founding of the People’s Republic of China，and the Open and Reform Policy advocated by Deng Xiaoping are three key events in the 20th century that indicate the renaissance of China.As part of the aiti-fascism war all over the world，China’s resistance of Japanese invasion started before the European wars from July 7th of 1937 to September 3rd of 1945.During the eight years of war，more than 35 millions of Chinese soldiers and peoplewere killed and the loss is over 1，000 billion dollars.The triumph of the War against Japan was the first victory in anti-agression battles in modern Chinese history.Taiwan，which had been colonized by Japan for half a century，was reoccupied eventually.China reappeared on the world stage as a triumphant nation that contributed significantly and gainedaprestigiousstatusasthe permanent menber of the UN Security Council.The Chinese government wanted to take this opportunity to reoccupy Hong Kong but failed due to limited national power.Hong Kong was taken over by the Great Britain after three years’occupancy by Japan.
In 1946，civil war broke out known as the Liberation War in China.Led by the communist Party，the People’s Liberation Army conquered the Kuomintang army.The Kuomintang government collapsed and Kiang Kai-shek’s group fell back to Taiwan.On October 1，1949，Mao Zedong announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Tian’anmen Gate.China thus completely broke away from the nightmare of imperialism and achieved independence and liberation.After a century of invasion and wars，the new China is realizing revival of the national economy.
The Cultural Revolution began in 1966 generated a decade of turmoil.The Chinese economy，politics，and culture underwent tremendous perturbation，destruction，and damage.From the year 1978，Deng Xiaoping led this ancient and young nation onto a new era of open and reform and achieved great success.He was also named“the chief designer of the open and reform policy.”Deng proposed the idea of“one nation，two system”to solve the problems of Hong Kong，Macao，and Taiwan.This is an innovative way to peaceful realize the unification of China.Deng led the negotiation of the British return of Hong Kong.The two parties agreed on the returning of Hong Kong Island，Kaoloon，and New Territory on July1，1997.After the returning of Hong Kong，Macao，which was colonized by Portugal for over 400 years，was also returned to China on December 20，1999，and became aspecial administrative region.
During this period，the productivity of China has developed rapidly.The people’s living standard has improved to a great extent.China has undergone deep changes.At present，the GDP of China had advanced to number four，the foreign trade quantity has advanced to number three，and the foreign exchange quantity has become number one in the world.China had achieved spaceflight，constructedgrandprojectssuchas the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad，the transportation of gas in the West to the East，Three Gorges Dam，etc.The successful application of the Olympic Games in 2008 inspired great enthusiasm of the Chinese people and enhanced China’s influence in the world.
On July 1，2007，Hong Kong celebrated its tenth anniversary of its return.The policy of“one nation，two systems”proved to be successful.