In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited China and signed the signing ceremony of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Settlement of the Hong Kong Issue, in which the British government promised to return Hong Kong sovereignty to China on July 1, 1997.
One day in October 1992, eight years later, Deng Xiaoping was reading a report written by Liu Huaqing, then vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, about how the People's Liberation Army would take over Hong Kong.
Not only that, Deng Gong also pointed out: You have only prepared a plan for peacefully receiving Hong Kong, but you have not prepared a plan for receiving Hong Kong by force. Hong Kong must be recovered on time, and if any obstruction arises, it will not be ruled out to be recovered by force.
After Britain had signed a declaration on the return of Hong Kong, Why did Tang Gong still have to make two preparations? What kind of confrontation has the United Kingdom and China fought over the Hong Kong issue? How much effort has my country made?
First, how Hong Kong lost it
In 1840, under the pretext of Lin Zexuhumen selling cigarettes, the British sent troops to launch the First Opium War against China, and the Qing government was forced to sign the first unequal treaty in Chinese history, the Treaty of Nanjing, which was regarded as the cession of Hong Kong Island.
In 1856, in order to expand their interests in China, Britain and France sent allied forces to launch the Second Opium War against China, and once again signed a series of unequal treaties, among which the Treaty of Beijing divided the Kowloon Peninsula under the jurisdiction of Hong Kong to Britain.
In 1898, the Qing government was defeated again, and the British government and the Qing government signed the "Special Article on Expanding the Boundary Site of Hong Kong" in Beijing, leasing land north of the Kowloon Boundary Line, south of the Shenzhen River, and 233 nearby islands for 99 years until 1997. Because there is no unified name in this part of the area, it is called the "New Territories", which means "new concession".
Combined with these three treaties, it can be said that Hong Kong has completely become a British colony.
Second, why did New China not immediately recover Hong Kong?
Until the founding of New China in 1949, Chairman Mao was also considering the issue of Hong Kong's recovery, and in his view, the advantages of not recovering at this time outweighed the disadvantages.
At that time, the capitalist countries headed by the United States did not accept the fact that our party held the power of New China, so they launched a policy of "blockade and embargo" against China. This situation was not good news for the new China, which was in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt, so Chairman Mao set his sights on Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has inseparable ties with the mainland, and with Hong Kong as a buffer, it is more conducive to our economic development and trade. In order to maintain its own interests in Hong Kong, Britain naturally did not want to make relations with New China too rigid. Just in January 1950, the first to recognize the new China.
It can also be seen from this that Chairman Mao's far-sightedness not only maintained Hong Kong's economic development, but also allowed the inland to gain contact and trade with the outside world through Hong Kong, so that New China gradually gained a firm foothold in the international arena.
3. China and the UK hold negotiations on the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The time gradually came to the 80s, and seeing that the lease period was gradually expiring, China gradually began to put the recovery of Hong Kong on the agenda.
After all, since the founding of New China, China's proposition for Hong Kong is that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China's territory, and we do not recognize the three unequal treaties related to Hong Kong, and at the same time, at the right time, we will recover Hong Kong through negotiations.
At this time, the United Kingdom can not sit still, for them, maintaining the status quo is undoubtedly the best. After all, this piece of "fat meat" in Hong Kong was already hot in their mouths, and asking him to spit it out again was like asking for his life.
But after the Expiration of the New Territories in 1997, if China no longer signed a contract with them, the remaining Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island would not be able to remain under their rule. After all, the "New Territories" account for 92% of Hong Kong's total area, and even food and supplies must be provided by the "New Territories" or the mainland, and it is impossible to be self-sufficient.
In this context, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher chose to visit China in 1982.
At this time, Margaret Thatcher was very scrappy, because in September of the same year, the British navy had just retaken the Malvinas Islands from Argentina, and she was imperative to the question of Hong Kong.
This time, however, she clearly underestimated China's determination to regain Hong Kong.
When Comrade Deng Xiaoping negotiated with Margaret Thatcher on the Hong Kong issue, he did not have any politeness to directly enter the theme, "Hong Kong is China's Hong Kong, we must take it back, there are no conditions to speak of." ”
In the face of Deng Gong's toughness, Margaret Thatcher did not want to show weakness, she proposed: "The three treaties on Hong Kong must be observed, and no means can invalidate the treaties." ”
Margaret Thatcher came up to prove that Hong Kong was British with the three treaties of the last century.
However, as early as 1972, China had already submitted an application to the United Nations to separate Hong Kong from the colonies, and this application was later approved by vote, so as long as the "New Territories" expired in 1997, then the whole of Hong Kong would be returned to China.
At this time, Margaret Thatcher used this to prove that Hong Kong was British, which was obviously not very wise.
But Margaret Thatcher also made it clear that Hong Kong's sovereignty nominally belongs to China, but that the actual management should still be in British hands.
Tang Gong also expressed his own opinion on this: We hope to have a cooperative relationship with the United Kingdom to maintain hong Kong's prosperity, but this does not mean that Hong Kong should be placed under British jurisdiction. On the issue of sovereignty, China has no room for negotiation.
Knowing that this was a psychological game, Margaret Thatcher pressed Tang Gong and said, "Can you guarantee that Hong Kong will not be affected in the 15 years before its return to the motherland?" It will cause Hong Kong to collapse! ”
To this question, Deng Gong's answer is extremely firm: If any accident occurs in Hong Kong in the past 15 years, then we will have to change the time and method of recovering Hong Kong, and we will not rule out the use of force to recover it.
Thatcher thought that she could be as simple as taking back the Falklands in Argentina's hands, but she did not expect that China's determination to recover Hong Kong was so great, and Deng Xiaoping's answer was also watertight and could not find the slightest flaw, which made her heart gradually waver.
But he still asked Deng Gong a question: How can you guarantee that after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the economy will not be affected?
Deng Gong put forward his own opinion: Of course, we have also considered this issue a lot, in order to ensure that Hong Kong's economy will not be affected, the hong Kong people can live as usual, and the "one country, two systems" policy will be implemented for Hong Kong.
This answer completely dispelled Thatcher's delusion, and under the various tricky questions that followed, China always answered the question like a stream, so after the meeting, Thatcher left the Great Hall of the People with some mental trance, so that she accidentally fell down the stairs, and this scene was also filmed by the media.
Major foreign media have made a big report on Thatcher's fall, saying that Thatcher's bad appearance this time is not good, is it because he was intimidated by China's determination?
Margaret Thatcher was impressed by the interview, repeatedly mentioning that Deng Xiaoping was charismatic, blunt but not rude. It can be seen that although Deng Xiaoping strengthened his position on the Hong Kong issue, he did not lose his demeanor and won the respect of Margaret Thatcher.
Deng Gong later said in front of the media many times that if I could not solve this problem, then I would become Li Hongzhang. If Britain still has any unsent thoughts, we will not hesitate to use force to recover it.
In our firm convictions, Britain could only find all sorts of reasons to hinder our troops in Hong Kong.
In this regard, Deng Gong has also said many times: After Hong Kong's return to the motherland, if we cannot manage our own territory, it is still Chinese territory.
4. Hong Kong's return to the motherland
After two years and 22 negotiations, through the efforts of various staff, we drafted a document to recover Hong Kong, but Britain was still reluctant to sign it.
At this time, my country has also shown a tough attitude: if you are still unwilling to accept this document that has been discussed for so long, you are responsible for the consequences. Our determination to recover Hong Kong will never change.
At China's consistent insistence, most people in britain no longer had ideas about Hong Kong, and finally in 1984, Margaret Thatcher personally came to China to sign the Joint Declaration on the successful settlement of the Hong Kong issue.
Although it seems that there is only a matter of time left to solve the Hong Kong issue, deng Gong's words at the beginning of the article still appear: On the issue of China's sovereignty, we must be tough, and we must make two-handed preparations for the recovery of Hong Kong, not only to make a plan for peaceful handover, but also to prepare to take over Hong Kong by force.
Not only that, Tang Gong also said: On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong must be returned on time, and if it is found that britain has any means of delaying time, then our troops will directly drive in and smash it to death.
No wonder Deng Gong said this, the Uk really plays with us on this issue.
At the end of 1996, China has been negotiating with the United Kingdom to ensure that the Chinese national anthem will be played and the Chinese national flag will be raised on time at 00:00 on July 1, 1997.
However, the British still said in a playful manner: saying that it will be returned on July 1, without saying what exactly what time it is, in short, it is an attitude that I can't eat and I want to disgust you.
Finally, after many negotiations, the United Kingdom finally agreed to lower the British flag at 59:58 on June 30, who knows if this is still a trick played by the United Kingdom.
On the evening of June 30, 1997, the handover ceremony of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was about to be held. Every Chinese was excited and excited, waiting for that moment to come.
At 23:42, the handover ceremony officially began, and at 56 minutes, the flag bearers of both sides were ready to enter, and the audience stood up. At 59 minutes, the British national anthem sounded, and the British flag also fell, but this time the British national anthem was faster than the previous rhythm, which was to lower the flag in advance, let us wait to see us out of trouble.
But the British still underestimated our discipline, there was no panic on the scene, just quietly waiting for the last moment, finally at 0 o'clock the Chinese national anthem was played on time, the Chinese flag was slowly raised with the song, the Chinese flag bearer as usual in the training ground, stuck in the music slowly pulled up the national flag, when the national anthem ended the moment the national flag was also raised at the highest place, the Hong Kong handover ceremony was finally successfully completed, leaving no regrets.
The moment of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was also the most exciting moment for all Chinese, and we cheered and shed tears of excitement.
Unfortunately, Deng Gong was unable to see the return of Hong Kong with his own eyes, and on February 19, 1997, Deng Gong died in Beijing at the age of 93. But I believe that Deng Gongquan has knowledge, and he will also be pleased with China's current development.
Hong Kong's return to the motherland not only promoted the complete reunification of China's territory, but also provided a perfect model for the future recovery of the territory. It marks the growing strength of our country, so that foreign countries no longer dare to insult us at will.
Of course, these are inseparable from the joint efforts of our great leader Comrade Deng Xiaoping and many staff members, and it is precisely because of them as pioneers that we have a good life today.