That is a common error. Only part of Hong Kong was leased the rest was seded to the United Kingom in preperity(sp?) just like Spain did with Gibraltar. Just like Britain is hanging on to Gibraltar despite the Spanish scums hypocritical demands for its return, the British should have told the Chinese where to go. We had a right to part of Hong Kong forever and forever it should have remained British! Our Empire would still be alive today if it had and Britania would still rule the waves! Hong Kong's population wanted to become Chinese about as enthusiastically as the Gibraltarians want to be Spanish, ie NOT AT ALL!
Have you ever been to Hong Kong? I suspect not. As a person who has lived there in the past and still visits there from time to time, I can tell you right now that Hong Kong Island is completely unworkable without the New Territories. The Central business district is split between Kowloon and Victoria with subway routes under the harbour straits.
It's not viable from a family point of view (people and their families living in different parts of the territory thus being divided up), commuting to jobs, and the fact that Hong Kong island has very little usable space for people from the rest of Hong Kong to live on. Added to that the water supplies and reservoirs are in the New Territories, thus meaning if you cut off Hong Kong island from the rest it has no viable water supply to serve even the existing the population. The colony would not be able to survive economically or socially if such a division was attempted.
Yes it's true the New Territories were on the 99 year lease and Hong Kong Island ceded in perpetuity, but the simple fact was that it was not at all workable without the New Territories, and the British government was more than aware of this, hence the entirely logical reason to give everything back, and not to do so would just wreck the lives of ordinary people living there and cause even more resentment.
You might not care about that, but the people who live there do.
Oh, by the way, posts reported.
Sargon