Double blind what if Taiwan not british

after the opium wars the British wanted Chinese territory there were offers for Hong Kong and a 99 year lease but ultimately they chose Taiwan which remains in British hands to this day but what would our world look like if they had picked the 99 year lease on Hong Kong instead ?
 
Presumably Taiwan would have remained British till WWII. After being liberated from the Japanese it might have served as a refuge for the Communists in southern China fleeing the victorious Nationalists in the north
 

Kaze

Banned
The only problem with a British-held Taiwan is Jardine-Matheson, one of the lesser known reasons for the annexation of Hong Kong was that Jardine was based there helping providing an economic reason for the Colonial holding.

So either 1 - Jardine decides to move, 2- Jardine does not give a nice bribe to the PM to have the annexation of Hong Kong in the treaty.

Let us go with #1 - Jardine relocates to Taiwan, okay... the colonial possession takes off financially (Jardine profits help build Taiwan as it did in IRL Hong Kong) until World War Two, there would be a brief Japanese take over, it would become a place for nationalists, but the 99 year lease will come up and things might get sticky when the province has to be returned.

Let us go with #2 - Jardine stays in Hong Kong, it becomes the rich city we know today in IRL. The colonial possession suffers financially for many years until World War Two, there would be a brief Japanese take over, it would become a place for nationalists, but the 99 year lease will come up and things might get sticky when the province has to be returned.
 
Well the first and most obvious impact is that there are far far fewer Taiwanese of Indian and Ceylon heritage. The British went out of their way to bring in (what they considered) more loyal workers to help cut down the influence of the Chinese population. No British colony, no Indian immigrants.
 
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