Diego Garcia, a British overseas territory leased as a military base to the US since 1966, may as well be on the moon for all it means to most Britons.
Vice-president Dick Cheney could almost be forgiven for suggesting that Guantánamo Bay is more like a holiday camp than a penal institution.The suspected terrorists held here, on 45 square miles (116 sq km) of territory leased "in perpetuity" from Cuba since 1903, were being "very well treated", Mr Cheney insisted two years ago.
Russia's moves on Crimea, where its Black Sea fleet is based on territory leased from Ukraine, has diverted the international spotlight from Maidan.
Yet a century later Britain was still insisting on the validity of the treaties, says Mr Huang, "arguing that Hong Kong island and Kowloon were ceded land, and that negotiations need only be conducted over the renewal of the New Territories lease.
China's own economic advance since the late 1970s then helped transform Hong Kong from a manufacturing to a services-led economy.The future of Hong Kong became pressing in the early 1980s, as the expiry of the New Territories lease in 1997 loomed.
Sri Lankan activists have also raised questions about the power China Harbour will wield in the territory it leases in Port City, where it will effectively act as the landlord – a majority state-owned Chinese corporation deciding who can populate parts of a Sri Lankan city, and under what circumstances.
The 45-square-mile territory was leased in perpetuity to the United States in 1903 as a coaling station under a treaty that allowed Washington to control the place as long as it maintained a presence here.
The program has at times been a lightning rod, as when the Northern Territory government leased the Port of Darwin to a Chinese-owned firm for 99 years, sparking a debate over national security.
Parts of Hong Kong were ceded to Britain in perpetuity as a prize in the wake of the Opium Wars, but the majority of its territory was leased to the UK in 1898, for a period of 99 years.
In the latter case, this New Zealand territory has leased their delegated top level domain (TLD) to a company that sells or gives away domains under the.TK TLD.
