At 23:42 on June 30, 1997, China and the United Kingdom officially held a handover ceremony in Hong Kong.
On this day, at the former residence of Deng Xiaoping in Sichuan, the cheerful staff cleaned up all the inside and outside of the house, and also posted the word "hi" in front of the sculpture, and when the Hong Kong handover ceremony was broadcast on tv, the staff opened all the doors and windows, and turned on all the electric lights.
Pictured| Deng Xiaoping
An old man in Sichuan stretched out his hand and pointed to the TV screen with trembling hands, and said with regret:
"Xiao Ping, you're going to live another four or five months, and soon you'll see."
At the same time, in the New Territories of Hong Kong, an elderly man in his nineties also expressed his own feelings:
"It was only a little time before he could come."
In September 1982, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited China, and China and the United Kingdom launched a dialogue on the Hong Kong issue.
"It's a smokeless war, but it's a little more fierce than a real gun."
Although Margaret Thatcher, with the yu wei of the "Great Victory of the Falklands," talked about the idea of "sovereignty for governance," Deng Xiaoping forcefully stated that "there is no room for maneuver in this part of China." Margaret Thatcher, known as the Iron Lady, touched the nail firmly here in Deng Xiaoping.
"I hope that the British government can make its attitude clear, can recognize the current situation, and stop dwelling in the direction of governance." Don't let China unilaterally and directly issue a statement to take back Hong Kong, and then it will be bad for no one in the world. On top of the Hong Kong issue, I hope that the British government and Margaret Thatcher will no longer be obsessed, and will not turn the original road into a dead end..."
Photo| Deng Xiaoping met with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on September 24, 1982
On 19 December 1984, China and the UK formally signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which confirmed that on 1 July 1997, China would establish a special administrative region in Hong Kong and resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong.
Deng Xiaoping went to Hong Kong four times in his lifetime, but after the founding of New China, he never went there again.
Although he never went to Hong Kong again, according to Deng Lin, "In his later years, my father often read news and reports about Hong Kong, read a lot of Hong Kong newspapers every day, and the map of Hong Kong was always on his desk, and he often carefully examined the landscape and water of Hong Kong on the map." ”
"My father had seen Hong Kong up close twice"
In the spring of 1984, Deng Xiaoping inspected Shenzhen, went to the Wenjindu port, climbed a low gray border building, and looked out the window of the upper floor to see Hong Kong, without saying a word.
In 1992, Deng Xiaoping went to Shenzhen again, when the Huanggang Port had just been built, and Deng Xiaoping, who had planned to stay there for 5 minutes, was reluctant to leave for a long time.
"He still didn't speak, but his eyes were more affectionate and expectant."
Photo| In early 1992, Deng Xiaoping inspected Shenzhen and looked at Hong Kong affectionately at the Huanggang Port
In his later years, Deng Xiaoping knew that his time was short, and said with regret to his wife Zhuo Lin: "How much I want to go to the land of Hong Kong to see it, but I don't know if I can wait for that day, I can only wait until you go for me in the future." ”
Unfortunately, Deng Xiaoping did not wait for that day to come.
Britain wants dignity, China wants dignity
As the day of Hong Kong's return to the motherland drew nearer, China and the UK began to discuss the details of the handover.
However, there is no precedent for such a transfer of sovereignty in the world, and it is not easy to reach a smooth and agreed plan.
One of the small episodes is that on May 1, 1997, just two months before the return of Hong Kong, the United Kingdom held a general election and Tony Blair became the British Prime Minister.
Chinese Ambassador to the UK Ma Zhengang was appointed by The Country to do the work of the British side, considering the possible situation of the Handover Ceremony in Hong Kong, Ma Zhengang, on behalf of the country, proposed to the British side that some of the Chinese garrisons need to enter Hong Kong in advance.
At first, the British side was unprepared for this, saying only that it would actively consider it.
Perhaps feeling that he had suffered a dumb loss, the British representative actually repented after returning, but fortunately, Ambassador Ma Zhengang continued to do the work of the British side, and the British side said that it had misunderstood Ma Zhengang's words and said that it would adopt a cooperative attitude on the matter of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
Pictured| Chen Zuoer
Half a month before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, China and Britain began negotiations on when the garrison would enter Hong Kong.
Chen Zuoer, then director of the First Department of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, received a phone call from Beijing: Hong Kong, which has just returned to the embrace of the motherland, must not be undefended for a minute.
In fact, if the Chinese troops in Hong Kong enter Hong Kong at 00:00 on July 1, it will take at least two to three hours to reach all the camps from north to south, when a defense vacuum will be formed in Hong Kong, when the leaders of China and Britain are under the eyes of the world to carry out the grand ceremony of power transfer in Hong Kong, and they must be sufficiently safe.
Although the Chinese side has repeatedly stated this important reason, the British representative has always disapproved of it.
Round after round of negotiations has gradually ended, and as the handover ceremony of Hong Kong's return to the motherland is getting closer and closer, the Chinese side has also decided to change its tactics:
If there is no Chinese cooperation, then all the efforts made by the British side to "retreat with dignity" will be in vain, and the Chinese side will require cruise ships and warships carrying the royal family to put all the ship's weapons on the gun suit and gun suit according to China's instructions before they can sail out of the waters of Hong Kong, China. ”
The British side thought twice, and finally agreed to the advance force to carry out a defense handover at the Prince of Wales barracks. At the same time, a handover ceremony was held, with both greetings and send-offs, and both sides had a lot of face.
As far as the number of pioneer troops entering Hong Kong was concerned, the British side was not limited to the number of 250 British troops, and the bottom line of the Chinese side was 500 people, but Chen Zuoer won 509 people.
"Because 9 is the largest of the numbers, and it is also an auspicious number in China, there is an idiom called nine-nine to one."
Picture | Tan Shan Ai
At 9:00 p.m. on June 30, 1997, 509 members of the vanguard of the Chinese Garrison in Hong Kong held a handover ceremony at the Prince of Wales Barracks.
Tan Shan'ai, a Hunan native, shouted out the most domineering sentence:
"You can be laid off, we are on the job, I wish you a safe journey."
In fact, for this sentence, Tan Shan'ai has pondered for several months in private, considered several versions, and still feels too blunt, although it has been prepared very well in advance, but Tan Shan'ai is still very nervous, especially in the face of the media's "long guns and short cannons", of course, not only Tan Shan'ai, the 508 people who entered Hong Kong with Tan Shan'ai that day all felt that this was the most glorious moment in their lives.
Three years later, Tan Shan'ai once took a taxi in Wuhan, but he did not expect to be recognized by the driver, and after arriving at the place, the driver insisted on refusing to accept his money.
"Without a doubt, it was the most glorious moment of my life."
Chen Zuoer presided over the negotiations, which was only a small part of the entire negotiation process, and as early as the end of 1996, the preparatory team for the handover ceremony led by An Wenbin had already entered Hong Kong in advance to discuss the details of the handover ceremony with the United Kingdom.
Although China and the United Kingdom had signed a joint statement at that time, the British side still set up many obstacles in the negotiation process of the handover ceremony.
The British want to return the "golden rooster" of Hong Kong to China, and they are extremely reluctant in their hearts, and if They let China take over Hong Kong in a beautiful way under the eyes of the whole world, the British side will be even more bitter. ”
Pictured| An Wenbin
In April 2017, An Wenbin told in the "Readers" program that he fought for 2 seconds to raise the national flag and play the national anthem, and conducted 16 rounds of negotiations with the British side.
Interestingly, in order to withdraw solemnly and decently, the British side proposed that the Handover ceremony of Hong Kong be held in the open air on the east square of the British headquarters of the Tamar (Hong Kong place name), and the Chinese side took into account the influence of weather factors and repeatedly persuaded the British side to agree to transfer indoors.
As a result, on the same day, the two farewell ceremonies held by the British side outside were hit by heavy rain, and the "solemnity and decency" were greatly reduced.
"Evacuation ceremony in the midst of heavy rain"
At 4 p.m. on June 30, 1997, Patten, then Governor of Hong Kong, held a farewell ceremony at the Governor's Mansion.
Throughout the ritual, the heavy rain never stopped.
In the bitter wind and rain, the rice flag with the emblem of the Governor of Hong Kong slowly fell, and after the adjutant folded it, it was placed on Patten's hands.
Pictured | Governor Patten accepting the British flag
At 6 p.m., the British side held a farewell ceremony for the evacuation of Hong Kong in the open air on the square on the east side of the British headquarters of the Tamar warship, and the Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, accompanied Prince Charles to the scene, and Prime Minister Blair, Foreign Minister Guo Weibang, and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also attended the ceremony.
However, because of the rain, the whole process seemed to be a bit rushed.
Prince Charles was so impressed by the heavy rain that day that he braved the heavy rain to attend the farewell ceremony held outside, and the red carpet under his feet was drenched and creaked when he stepped on it.
To make matters worse, when Prince Charles walked to the podium, a torrential downpour poured down and the pages of the speech in his hand became a mess:
"I've never tried to speak in 'water' in my life, and for the first time. In fact, no one heard me say anything because the sound of heavy rain on the umbrella was so loud. ”
Zhong Shiyuan recorded this scene in his memoir "The Course of Hong Kong's Return":
"The rain was pouring and the guests were acting particularly awkwardly. Jardine Matheson & Co.'s senior class Henry Keswick fell to the edge of the canal and broke his foot bone due to a slippery road in the rain. Many of the guests were soaking wet and left the venue to change their clothes, which made the farewell ceremony a lot of color. ”
Photo| "Sunset Ceremony" held at Tamar Plaza
It is also worth mentioning that during Patten's tenure, Hong Kong launched the "Rose Garden Project".
The "Rose Garden Project" is the core plan of Hong Kong Airport proposed by the British Government in Hong Kong in 1989, which will build a new Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island and Chek Lap Kok and its supporting infrastructure facilities.
In 1992, the construction of the Rose Garden was officially planned, and it was originally scheduled to be completed in mid-1997, but due to changes in the plan, the construction was postponed to 1995.
In this way, it will not be completed before Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
Patten had initially considered leaving the new airport on the day he returned from Hong Kong, but it backfired.
Two years later, Patten recalled his mood at the time:
"I know that the colonial governors, like the rhinoceros in Sumatra and the manatees in Florida, are endangered animals, but only if they are endangered, they must do something extraordinary, and all I have to do in Hong Kong is to ensure the most glorious retreat of the empire and the most dazzling ratings." 」
Because of the controversy caused by the "Rose Garden Project", China and the United Kingdom reached an agreement that the Hong Kong and British governments must leave at least 25 billion yuan of reserves to the SAR government, and through the mediation of the two sides, finally left a financial reserve of 300 billion yuan.
Pictured| Patten left the Governor's Mansion by car
On the last afternoon of June 1997, Patten sat alone in his office.
In this place, he sat for five years.
Now that they are about to leave, although the Chinese side has indeed given them the greatest dignity, Patten's face is still a cloud of unspeakable sadness.
When leaving the Governor's Mansion, although it was drizzling outside, Patten did not have an umbrella, and then got into the car, according to the custom, before the Governor of Hong Kong left office, the car needed to go around the garden three times, hoping to revisit the place in the future, but Patten only spared two laps and left.
At that time, Hong Kong newspapers described it this way:
"The heavy rain for several days has washed us away a century of national shame, but the British have left Hong Kong in the bitter wind and rain."
According to Hong Kong media, Patten changed his clothes three times that day because of the rain.
Pictured| Patten was lonely at the Hong Kong handover ceremony
On the evening of June 30, 1997, Patten attended the handover ceremony between China and the United Kingdom in Hong Kong that evening.
After the handover ceremony, the Patten family left Hong Kong with Prince Charles aboard the cruise ship Britannia. The royal cruise ship is about to be retired, its tableware is stamped with the royal insignia, and the antique telephone is very similar to that used at Buckingham Palace in London.
The media captured a detail at this time, and at the moment when he was about to enter the hatch, Patten looked lonely, and his three daughters all cried bitterly.
Patten used great perseverance to hold back the tears from rolling down his cheeks, but when the media interviewed him many years later as to why he was crying in the sky, Patten replied: "I was very emotional at the time. My daughter cried. I do feel particularly sad because I'm leaving a city I love where I've made a lot of wonderful friends. Anyway, our family spent the happiest 5 years of their lives here. ”
"I'm not crying for a system that was formed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and I'm not crying over China's restoration of sovereignty over Hong Kong after the end of its 1999 lease."
"Bang"
As the hatch slowly closed, an old era came to an end, an American journalist wrote:
"Crown Prince Charles of England left Hong Kong on a cruise ship, the red flag replaced the blue flag, and it rained when the sun of the British Empire finally set."
"Glory and Dreams"
From the evening of 30 June to 1 July 1997, the handover ceremony between China and the United Kingdom in Hong Kong and the inaugural celebration of the Hong Kong SAR Government were held in the Assembly Hall on the fifth floor of the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
When the Chinese side held the handover ceremony and celebrations, it took into account the possible rain, and the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency even collected weather data from the Hong Kong Observatory in the past twelve years, and found that the probability of rain in these two days of each year will be particularly large, and the Chinese side has also made full preparations for this.
The Chinese delegation and the viewing group arrived in Hong Kong at 5:20 and 25 p.m. on June 30, when a few drizzles were scattered in the sky.
Nevertheless, it did not stop the enthusiasm of all the Chinese people, and after the arrival of the Plane of the Chinese delegation and the viewing group, they were warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life in Hong Kong.
This day has become a day for all the Chinese to rejoice.
Pictured| Hong Kong citizens welcome the troops stationed in Hong Kong into Hong Kong
According to the famous Hong Kong director Chen Kexin, who was in the United States that day, he recalled: "Those of us who have great contradictions about the return to the motherland, both nostalgia for the past and expectations for the front. The mood is very complicated, I don't know if I want to witness it or not. ”
At 10 a.m., he had a sudden idea while eating breakfast with his friends:
"If I catch the last flight back to Hong Kong at one o'clock, will it be too late?"
So, he desperately went home to get his passport, bought a ticket, flew back to Hong Kong, and landed at 8 o'clock that night, when he walked on the streets of Hong Kong, he found that the streets were already crowded with celebrating crowds, and many people were setting off fireworks to celebrate, which was a very unique feeling for a director who had filmed countless fireworks scenes.
A few years later, director Chen Kexin went north and became the first person to co-produce a film between Hong Kong and the mainland.
The carnival continued until the next day, the heat was still unabated, many Hong Kong couples took advantage of the day to hold weddings, and the major hotels in Hong Kong even launched the "1997 Return Banquet".
There is also a particularly interesting detail.
Photo| After 00:00 on July 1, 1997, the handover ceremony in Hong Kong ended, and the Chinese flag and the Flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region flew high above the venue
At the handover ceremony of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, after the flags of China and the United Kingdom were raised, people were surprised to find that China's five-star red flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were unfurled in the wind, except that the British flag was hanging down softly.
Even reporters in Hong Kong at the time ridiculed that China's five-star red flag fluttered with the wind and shone brightly, while Britain's rice flag was dejected and eclipsed.
According to Zhang Junsheng, deputy director of the Preparatory Committee for the Return of the Motherland, and the staff recalled: Because the handover ceremony was held indoors at the Convention and Exhibition Center, during the rehearsal training, some people found that the national flag could not fly indoors because there was no wind, and the staff later thought of a way to install a small fan on the top of the national flag and the flagpole of the Hong Kong district. In this way, after the national flag and the district flag are raised, they will flutter in the wind, and the British flag and the old Hong Kong flag on the top of the flagpole, without a small fan, naturally can not fly.
At 10:00 a.m. on July 1, 1997, the inauguration celebration of the HKSAR Government was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
There was a special person invited to the celebration, and she was Zhuo Lin, Deng Xiaoping's wife.
In the countdown to Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Hong Kong compatriots particularly missed Deng Xiaoping, and Zeng Xianzi, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and chairman of the Jinlilai Clique, adapted a poem by Lu You'er, expressing his strong longing for Deng Xiaoping:
Death Toshihara All Things Sky,
But sadly, I don't see Kyushu the same.
On the Day of The Return of Hong Kong to the Motherland,
The family sacrifice did not forget to tell Deng Gong.
Pictured| Zhuolin
Later, Hong Kong compatriots saw in the newspaper that among the members of the Chinese government delegation, there was Zhuo Lin's name, and they were all very excited.
At the inauguration ceremony of the HKSAR Government, four members of The Cheuk Lin family were invited to attend, and the first Chief Executive of the HKSAR Government, Tung Chee-hwa, delivered a speech:
"As Hong Kong moves towards the new century, we pay infinite respect to our esteemed Mr. Deng Xiaoping... Today we are very happy that Ms. Zhuo Lin is also here. We salute her! ”
There was a warm applause at the scene, and the 81-year-old Zhuo Lin stood up and bowed to everyone.
"Comrade Deng Xiaoping has experienced too much in this life, and his only regret is that he has not been able to see the return of Hong Kong with his own eyes. But now that I see it for him, his life will be complete... Old man, you can rest assured, today Hong Kong has returned, I took you to see, people are doing very well..."
In 1997, Zhuo Lin went to Hong Kong to attend the handover ceremony
Zhuo Lin's words made everyone present tear up.
After a hundred years, Chinese finally held his head high, the humiliating years are gone, and all the glory and dreams have finally become a reality today.