What is the reason why Hong Kong became a British colony and related to these unequal treaties?
As we all know, China has been a country of etiquette since ancient times, Yangyang Huaxia has a history and culture of 5,000 years, once China was incomparably powerful, but at the end of the Qing Dynasty, China suffered an unprecedented blow.
In order to open up china's market, the Western powers launched two Opium Wars, and then as if opening Pandora's box, as the arrogance of colonial expansion became more and more intense, coupled with the inaction of the Qing government, led to the signing of many unequal treaties in the old China, huge indemnities made the Qing government's finances empty, in order to endure a temporary war, land cutting and seeking peace became the last straw that crushed the Qing government.
The Qing Dynasty collapsed violently, and with its collapse, China has since embarked on a century of humiliation, and in 1898, the British government occupied Hong Kong on the pretext of leasing, and the sovereignty of our country was seriously violated.
The birth of New China has straightened the waist of the Chinese Chinese, and with reliance, after the founding of New China, the sovereignty issue has also become the bottom line of our country, the sovereignty issue cannot be infringed by any country, and what was lost before will be taken back, and there will be no such situation in the future.
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that broke out in 1950, and the subsequent War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Vietnam, when the question of New China's sovereignty was violated, we directly struck a heavy blow, sent troops to resist the war, and answered the questions of the aggressors and protecting China's sovereignty with the toughest attitude. The same is true of the Sino-British negotiations in 1982, but this time is different from the past, Hong Kong has been China's territory since ancient times, but it was forcibly seized by imperialism by disgraceful means, and after the founding of New China, it will naturally be taken back.
On the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, in September 1982, the national leader Comrade Deng Xiaoping stressed to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: "The sovereignty issue is not an issue that can be discussed" and "On the sovereignty issue, China has no room for maneuver on this issue".
The return of Hong Kong is the fruit of victory in the 1980s after negotiations between the Chinese government and the British government under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, and it is also the inevitable result of China's rise.
The first Opium War was in 1840, and the Qing government humiliated the signing of the Treaty of Nanking after its defeat, and Hong Kong became a permanent british colony.
In 1856, after the defeat of the Second Opium War, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Beijing, ceding the Kowloon Division to the British. In 1898, the British forced the Qing government to sign the "Special Article on Expanding the Boundaries of Hong Kong", forcibly leasing the Kowloon Peninsula and more than 200 small islands nearby, renaming it the New Territories, which was a 99-year lease.
Britain's good calculation is nominally a loan, and the purpose of which is self-evident is to take possession! These three treaties are also like three mountains crushing the kneecaps of the Qing government, and also suppressing the sons and daughters of China. At this point, Hong Kong was separated from the embrace of the motherland, and after more than a hundred years of ups and downs, through the unremitting efforts of New China, Hong Kong finally realized its return in 1997.
In order to win the return of Hong Kong, Chiang Kai-shek made three efforts, but why did he not end it in the end?
In fact, what many people don't know is that as early as the Period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chiang Kai-shek made a lot of efforts three times for the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
At the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, China established an anti-fascist alliance with the United States and Britain, and in this context, Britain and the United States agreed to negotiate with China to give up the right to issue foreign affairs in China and sign a new treaty. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek had roosevelt's support and raised the issue of Returning Hong Kong to the British.
However, during that period, the British Prime Minister was Churchill in power, and in the face of weak China, Churchill's attitude was unusually tough, and he also issued a bold statement: "During my term of office, I will not let the British Empire lose any land."
Chiang Kai-shek, who had touched a nose of ash, was naturally unwilling, but he knew that this was not the time to turn his face with Churchill, otherwise it would affect the anti-Japanese alliance, so it was stalemated for a while, and Chiang Kai-shek was forced to sign a new treaty and temporarily shelve the Hong Kong issue.
In 1943, at the Cairo conference held by China, Britain, and the United States, the undead Chiang Kai-shek approached Roosevelt again and asked him for help in conveying his opinions to Churchill, and this time the reason was also very good, more than 90 percent of the people in Hong Kong were Chinese, and Hong Kong should be returned to China.
But who was Churchill? Born into the nobility, he was one of the few iron-fisted prime ministers in Britain, one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century, had strength and background, and in the face of chiang kai-shek's government, which still needed to ask for help everywhere, as always, it was arbitrary and directly rejected.
This really poked chiang kai-shek's ribs, at that time China was embattled, the War of Resistance Against Japan was extremely difficult, many weapons and equipment still needed to rely on foreign aid, although Britain was no longer the world hegemon, but the skinny camel was bigger than the horse after all, obviously it was not what Chiang Kai-shek's government could resist, and the helpless and humble Kuomintang government once again chose to back down.
It was not until after the surrender of Japan in 1945 that Chiang Kai-shek once again raised hopes, because the Allies announced that Hong Kong belonged to the Chinese surrender zone. This time, it was the turn of the British to be anxious and directly and unilaterally declared Britain's sovereignty over Hong Kong, and the Japanese army in Hong Kong would surrender to the British army.
Chiang Kai-shek did not do it, so he quickly ordered Zhang Fakui to lead his army into Hong Kong to wait for the surrender, but this time it was still a feather, for the simple reason that Chiang Kai-shek's biggest supporter, Roosevelt, was gone, while the newly elected Truman was more optimistic about Britain. After three negotiations, although they all returned home, their hearts were commendable.
In the Sino-British negotiations in 1982, what did Comrade Deng Xiaoping say that made British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's face change greatly?
On October 1, 1949, after the founding of New China, the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was actually put on the agenda. The reason why during the Liberation War did not fight together with Hong Kong was because Chairman Mao had already made a plan.
As early as 1946, Chairman Mao said: "There are still many places in China that have not been well managed, and this part of Hong Kong can first be resolved according to the method of consultation." The problems on the mainland are easy to solve, but the problems on the islands are more complicated, requiring a more flexible or peaceful way of transition, and the most important thing is that Hong Kong at that time was developing well, which was extremely beneficial to China's development of overseas relations and import and export trade.
The facts could not escape Chairman Mao's expectations, and in terms of strategic vision, Chairman Mao was slightly superior. The issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was put on hold for the time being, so that the British, in order to protect their interests in the Far East, would inevitably choose to have a contradiction with the United States' China policy, so later those Britains in the West were the first to recognize the new Chinese regime.
The issue of Hong Kong's sovereignty cannot be questioned, and the reason why we did not take it back at that time was elaborate, and sooner or later it will be taken back, but the timing at that time was not ripe enough.
The rapid development of Hong Kong in the last century has attracted worldwide attention, and with its superior geographical location and investment environment, it has quickly become a major central city in Asia and one of the "Four Little Tigers" in Asia. Hong Kong, which has grown into the prosperous world's trade, finance and transportation center, can bring tens of billions of pounds of income to Britain every year, and the British will naturally not easily give up their rule over it.
As an important trade route, Hong Kong could not easily move him in the current situation at that time, but this did not mean that it would not move in the future. It was only Chairman Mao who left the issue of Hong Kong's return to posterity in accordance with the situation at that time, and later it did not live up to the expectations of the people.
In 1982, Thatcher, known as the "Iron Lady", britain's legendary figure, the first female prime minister and the longest-reigning prime minister of the United Kingdom so far, began to visit China. During this period, the leaders of the country headed by Deng Xiaoping held talks between the two sides on the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
It is worth mentioning here that Comrade Deng Xiaoping was not an ordinary person, and in addition to his well-known titles of oriental giant and chief designer, Chairman Mao also gave him a nickname called "Iron and Steel Company." As the name suggests, man means that Deng Xiaoping's style is tough and tough, and he also has an iron will in the face of adversity. Interestingly, in this negotiation, the collision of these two centuries, who will be the final winner of the laughter? It turns out that in front of this old man who has gone through most of his life, Margaret Thatcher is obviously still a lot younger.
Thatcher also came with full confidence, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he went straight to the point and took out her three chips. The first, the 3 unequal treaties were valid, and britain governed Hong Kong under this basis. Second, the British Nationality Act 1981. Third, if the Chinese side were to announce the takeover of Hong Kong, there would be unrest in Hong Kong and it would face disastrous consequences.
Margaret Thatcher's little abacus was crackling, and the purpose was very clear, that is, she wanted to use this as a weight to continue to rule Hong Kong. However, the Chinese government headed by Deng Xiaoping was even more precautionary and far-sighted, and all the conspiracies and plans of the British people were vulnerable to the strategizing of the Chinese leaders.
The first "theory of the validity of the three treaties" is obviously very clichéd, and at the beginning of the founding of New China, it was declared that the three unequal treaties of the 19th century would not be recognized, and the United Nations also made it clear that the unequal treaties of the imperialist period were invalid, and Hong Kong and Macao had also abolished their colonial status.
The second British Nationality Act 1981 provides that anyone born in a British dependency can be considered a British citizen if one of the parents is a British citizen or is settled in the UK. This bill caused a big stir at the time, the most notable of which was the wave of immigration.
After the bill was introduced, Deng Xiaoping and other national leaders met with Fok Yingdong many times. Li Ka-shing, Jin Yong and many other well-known people in Hong Kong conveyed to them that it was inconvenient for the central government to maintain the status quo in Hong Kong after 97 years, and on many occasions, Comrade Deng Xiaoping also made it clear that after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, everything was mainly to maintain hong Kong's prosperity and stability, and under these efforts, the mood of the Hong Kong people was stabilized, and Thatcher's second chip was instantly worthless.
China's attitude toward Hong Kong's return to the motherland has only one from the beginning to the end: "China has no room for maneuver on this issue, and the sovereignty issue is not an issue to talk about." Thatcher's third chip pales in the face of Deng Xiaoping's "one country, two systems" political policy, which was originally prepared for the Taiwan issue and was first used in Hong Kong.
Mrs. Thatcher heard that here was also a little stunned for a while, and she prepared her chips for 3 years, so that they were pulled out one by one, and not only began to admire the energetic old man in front of her.
But Mrs. Thatcher's face immediately darkened, and she took out her own killer skills, and if the talks did not come together, the British side would adopt a "non-peaceful way" to preserve Hong Kong. But who was Deng Xiaoping? It was a sea of corpses and blood, guns and bullets, and China was not the Qing government a hundred years ago, the three royal ace armies of the United Kingdom in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea were directly annihilated, the People's Liberation Army, which the United States could not win, and Britain still wanted to cross the ocean to intervene by force.
In the face of Thatcher's attitude, Deng Xiaoping said tit-for-tat: "If the talks are not close, China will reconsider the time to take over Hong Kong, and may not have to wait until 1997." When Margaret Thatcher heard this, her face turned white. Deng Xiaoping's next sentence directly caused her to fall into the abyss, only to hear Deng Xiaoping add lightly: "If we are willing, we can take Hong Kong back later today!" Chinese Poor is a little poor, but fighting a war is not afraid of death."
As soon as this sentence landed, the hall was silent, And Thatcher's face changed drastically, and Comrade Deng Xiaoping used the most calm tone to say these hateful words, so that at the end of the talks, Mrs. Thatcher looked solemn and worried when she left, and she actually fell in front of the Gate of the Great Hall in a trance.
Later, under the impetus of Deng Xiaoping, China and the United Kingdom reached a consensus on the Hong Kong issue, and Hong Kong was officially returned to the motherland in 1997. Although the road to Hong Kong's return to China is not smooth, fortunately, the final result is very gratifying.
This is inseparable from the unremitting efforts of the ancestors, today's China, the country's comprehensive strength has risen to a new level, in the world has a certain right to speak, today, China's country is rich and the people are strong, pay tribute to those ancestors who have made unfortunate contributions to the establishment of new China.