Would it be possible for America to get the port city of Hong Kong before the 1900s?
Zhoushan Islands was their initial choice as a colony. In the initial treaty of Nanjing, the treaty Britain sent to their negotiators even wrote islandS on it(with the exact island in question being left in blank) . They only crossed off the extra S when the British were persuaded to take HK island instead.If Britain gains somewhere else instead of Hong Kong, and the US gains Hong Kong as a treaty port instead, that would work.