Fortunately, in the early period of their rule over Hong Kong, the British government maintained it as a small market and adopted a laissez-faire policy which allowed the Hong Kong people to organize their own affairs, according to the law, and going by the book. The Hong Kong government also annexed the Kowloon peninsula with the intention of making it an intermediate place between Britain and China.
幸而，英政府在治理香港之初，原只把香港當作一個墟集，故在相當程度上，採取放任政策，任港人自力更生，法律之前，也尚能秉公處理。港府還劃出九龍城寨，想作為日後英中兩國協調場所。