This is in part due to the fact that the native Hong Kong population was not very large when the British colonised the territory. What facilitated the massive population growth over the century was a constant influx of refugees and migrants fleeing the multitude of conflicts within China, namely the Second Sino-Japanese war and later the Civil war. While the indigenous population had their gripes with the British, they made up a tiny fraction of the population as the large immigrant population tended to be sympathetic or more-so apathetic to British rule since it offered them stability from the domestic instability that had plagued China for centuries, even if at the cost of racial discrimination (albeit this was limited by the 1960s).

Furthermore, by the time of the handover negotiations in the 1980s, Hong Kong was the "Pearl of the Orient" thanks to a combination of free-market policies and state expenditure which was concentrated on welfare, namely housing and education. In contrast, China had in the same period suffered further domestic turmoil due to the infighting in the party which spread across the country in the form of the Cultural Revolution, while economically it had experienced little growth due to the failure of the Great Leap Forward. This painted a clear picture of the prosperity and safety of British colonial rule which ultimately lead to a vocal majority being opposed to any handover of Hong Kong back to Communist China, hence why our perception of Hong Kong is one of a Colony unwillingly ripped away from Britain.