In 1841, The British Empire conquered a few small fishing villages and islands in South China during the opium war with the Qing Dynasty. from 1841-1997 those small fishing villages were transformed by the British into an a sprawling metropolis, economic powerhouse and the largest bastion of free trade the world had ever seen, residents had access to world-class public education, a healthcare system that gave them the highest life expectancy on Earth and some of the best and most affordable public transport. Many Chinese people fled from Mao Zedong's tyranny to British Hong Kong after the communist revolution in 1949 because Hong Kong was one of the only British colonies where it's Cantonese subjects were treated fairly and had access to high salaries and enough food. Hong Kong as a result of this has always been very culturally distinct from mainland China especially due to their British influence with many Hong Kongers being fluent in English even to this day, almost 30 years after we gave Hong Kong up and It's worth noting that Hong Kongers are Cantonese speakers which is a completely distinct language and culture with a separate history from Mandarin which is the primary language of mainland China. And for these reasons, the vast majority of Hong Kongers didn't want to join mainland China and were even scared of what would happen to their culture, language and economy if the communist Chinese took control which is why I believe that that the British handover of Hong Kong to the communist bastards in the mainland was a betrayal by the British government to the millions of Hong Kongers who valued the freedom and independence they were granted under the British, this was nothing short of undemocratic abandonment by Britain of it's own citizens (Hong Kongers were British citizens). Ever since the communists have taken over Hong Kong, things have gone from bad to worse for it's residents: the numerous freedoms of Hong Kong provided by the British (which is what made it the world's most free market and so rich) were rolled back and this significantly damaged the economy as well as the freedom of residents, Hong Kong's government-owned land was sold to private companies leading to property prices being jacked up like crazy, resulting in a housing crisis that is only worsening with time and the Cantonese culture and language is being progressively erased with time by the communists and any public dissent in Hong Kong results in imprisonment due to the national security law the communists forced onto Hong Kong. In 1997 the Brits agreed with the commies that Hong Kong and the mainland would function as 'one country, two systems' where Hong Kong could keep its free market capitalism and separate democratic government even though it's still part of China however China was the one that could chose the governmental candidates which allowed it to force Hong Kong to be run by communist sympathisers who act in the interest of the mainland which is how the communists have been able to indirectly control Hong Kong and mistreat its residents. If Britain maintained control of Hong Kong, it would be significantly more free, democratic, wealthy and prosperous and the Cantonese locals would be able to freely express their culture without risk of imprisonment.
