Plunged into chaos, Solomon
In 2000, Solomon's coup d'état took place, and a large number of militants broke into the Prime Minister's Office, plunging Solomon's capital, Honiara, into chaos.
However, what people did not expect was:
The ultimate victim of this chaos turned out to be overseas Chinese.
Just when the embassy contacted Australia to assist in the evacuation of overseas Chinese, it was blocked by Australian soldiers, who allowed the Japanese and Malaysians to board the ship, but did not allow Chinese to board the ship!
This discriminatory treatment has made all Chinese compatriots very angry.
Solomon was an island nation in the South Pacific, and their relationship with Australia was that Australia was Solomon's largest donor.
Solomon's domestic finances were heavily dependent on foreign aid, and all of his revenue was largely the export of timber, and China was one of their main importers of timber.
Despite this, Solomon did not establish diplomatic relations with China, and the coup d'état in 2000 was due to the uneven distribution of resources within them.
Solomon has two islands, namely The capital Guadalcanal and Maleta, but the capital is rich in resources, but the Island of Maleta is relatively barren.
The huge gap between rich and poor has created an imbalance in the hearts of many people, so some militants on the island of Maleta directly broke into the capital, entered the Prime Minister's Office, and engaged in armed conflict with the government.
So why are Chinese expatriates the biggest victims?
It turned out that there were about 500 overseas Chinese in the capital, most of whom had come from the Mainland, Guangdong, and Fujian regions, and these people had very good business acumen, and after many years of stationing in the capital, they took over most of the economic lifeline of the capital.
More than 90% of the local shops are operated by overseas Chinese, and there are even 2 Chinese-funded enterprises.
Originally, the militants' goal was to plunder, and these shops and enterprises bore the brunt of it, the shops were robbed, the resources of the enterprises were destroyed, and even kidnappings occurred.
The whole street was in chaos, and the overseas Chinese were panicked, because China did not have diplomatic relations with Solomon at that time, so there was no local embassy.
Some overseas Chinese urgently contacted the Chinese Embassy in neighboring Papua New Guinea, and Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu, who received the news, was impatient and immediately and firmly told these overseas Chinese: The motherland will always be your solid backing.
Just as Zhao Zhenyu began to make all-out efforts to contact the overseas Chinese in Solomon, Solomon suddenly interrupted the line and closed the international airport, which did not resume until the day after the coup d'état.
At this moment, the hearts of overseas Chinese are already very afraid, there is no embassy in the territory, the two countries have not established diplomatic relations, Solomon has closed communications, and once a large-scale war breaks out, they will be isolated and helpless!
On the day the communication was restored, Zhao Zhenyu contacted an overseas Chinese named Shi Zhongqin, who was the deputy general manager of one of the Chinese-funded enterprises, and he asked Shi Zhongqin to help register the information of the local overseas Chinese.
With the ambassador's words, Shi Zhongqin immediately found the main heart, and she firmly told Zhao Zhenyu that she would do her best to complete the task entrusted by the embassy!
Here Shi Zhongqin is intensively collecting information on overseas Chinese, and Zhao Zhenyu is not idle over there, he immediately reported the matter to the government, and proposed 3 ways to evacuate overseas Chinese:
First, China directly sent helicopters or boats to evacuate overseas Chinese;
The second is to contact the Australian government and charter their vessels to evacuate the overseas Chinese;
The third is to evacuate overseas Chinese along with Australia or New Zealand's own citizens.
After deliberation, everyone agreed that the last option was the most appropriate, so the government immediately began to act, contacting the Australian and New Zealand embassies in China.
After the two parties heard about it, they expressed their willingness to help, and things seemed to be going very smoothly, but was this really the case?
Overseas Chinese have been repeatedly refused to board the ship!
The Australian side and the New Zealand side assisted in the evacuation of overseas Chinese, and all the costs were borne by the Chinese government.
Shi Zhongqin gathered more than 100 compatriots after gathering the evacuated citizens, and everyone gathered together with great anticipation to return to the embrace of the motherland.
On June 10, 2000, 150 overseas Chinese were to be evacuated, following the Australian warships, waiting to be evacuated.
When zhongshi Zhongqin contacted overseas Chinese, he was also obstructed by the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, and even threatened with his life many times, but fortunately, the overseas Chinese united as one and ignored the threats of these people.
It was at this time that something unexpected happened.
Just when the overseas Chinese were finally ready to board the ship despite all difficulties, they were rejected by the Australian and New Zealand ships, who insisted that the cabin was full and did not allow Chinese to board the ship.
However, the Arrival of Japanese and Malaysians after the Overseas Chinese was not stopped, and this discriminatory behavior of the other side made the Overseas Chinese very angry.
At this time, the isolated people outside are helpless.
After Zhao Zhenyu learned of this incident, he urgently contacted the mainland government and the Australian side and the New Zealand side contacted, hoping that they could send ships or aircraft to help evacuate overseas Chinese, and the cost was all borne by China.
At first, the other side still used "best efforts" to cope, but did not make practical action, the Chinese side contacted the other side many times, solomon's situation deteriorated even worse, and finally they simply refused.
The reason was that it was "very difficult to do", and then the news that the other side refused to board the ship by overseas Chinese came one after another.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in a hurry, and now everyone understands that it is better to ask for others than to seek ourselves, and we can no longer waste time asking for help from other countries!
Just when everyone was at a loss, the Chinese Embassy in Australia suddenly came with good news: there was a freighter sailing in the South Pacific near the Solomon Islands.
The cargo ship, called yangjianghe, was a vessel of the China Ocean Shipping Corporation, only 550 nautical miles from Solomon, and the news suddenly gave everyone hope.
That evening, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urgently contacted the China Ocean Shipping Corporation, hoping that they would arrange for ships near Solomon to assist the safe evacuation of Chinese citizens.
After learning this news, COSCO did not hesitate and immediately contacted the "Yangjianghe" freighter and asked them to put down their task and change direction.
The captain of the freighter, Ding Haidi, was originally on a shipboard mission from New Zealand to Japan, and when he was ordered to turn around, he immediately informed the 23 crew members on board.
Everyone swept away the sleepiness and immediately began to sail with the spirit of twelve points.
If faith has color, it must be Chinese red!
Without a customs map, without a route map, how to navigate the vast sea?
Thinking that the Chinese compatriots were still stranded in Solomon, Ding Haidi was very anxious in his heart, and they did not dare to delay for a quarter of an hour, and after more than 30 hours of sleepless voyage, the "Yangjianghe" finally arrived at the anchorage of the capital.
Because the two countries did not establish diplomatic relations at that time, coupled with incomplete procedures, the cargo ship could not be parked at will, and more importantly, for safety reasons, the ship was eventually parked 0.7 nautical miles from the coast.
After seeing the Chinese compatriots waiting to evacuate the overseas Chinese, Ding Haidi also pulled up the big characters of "The motherland welcomes you, and the Yangjiang River Ship welcomes you."
This scene made everyone burst into tears, this long darkness finally survived, and the Chinese compatriots finally saw the dawn.
However, although the ship arrived, there were still many difficulties to be solved, such as what if a Chinese person holding a Solomon passport asked to board the ship?
Zhao Zhenyu said firmly: Whether it is Hong Kong, Macao, or even Taiwan, as long as it is a Chinese compatriot, it is allowed to board the ship!
In this way, a total of 117 compatriots boarded the "Yangjianghe", and at this moment some people could not help but cry, and this feeling of the rest of their lives was finally released.
The cabin is small, the supplies are limited, and the accommodation problem cannot be solved in full, in order to take care of the compatriots as much as possible, the crew of the "Yangjianghe" took the initiative to give up the room.
Even food was saved as much as possible, giving priority to women and children, and despite such harsh conditions, the compatriots who had evacuated the countrymen were already moved to tears.
Because since the outbreak of solomon, this is the first full meal they have eaten and the first solid sleep they have ever slept.
After all the compatriots boarded the ship safely, the ship immediately set off, moving at full speed in the night without stopping, and at this moment Ding Haidi had only one belief in his heart, that is, to deliver the compatriots safely!
On June 15, after a 52-hour voyage, the ship arrived in Papua New Guinea, and Zhao Zhenyu waited for them with all the staff.
The embassy hosted a reception, let our compatriots have a good meal, and then contacted the government and sent a special plane to let the compatriots return home as quickly as possible.
In just 2 days, the passenger plane sent by China docked at the international airport, and 117 compatriots finally arrived in Guangzhou after much hardship.
This evacuation lasted for half a month, during which the fear and helplessness endured by the compatriots made them understand that the motherland will always be their strongest backing!
In fact, China has evacuated overseas Chinese more than once, but no matter how critical the situation and the location is dangerous, China has never abandoned any Chinese compatriots.
If faith has color, it must be Chinese red, the national flag red, very fortunate that we were born in a strong country, at any time, any place, as long as we think that the motherland is behind us, we should have nothing to fear!
The reason why we can have a happy life today is that someone is carrying the weight for us, and being strong is the last word, and I hope that our motherland will get better and better.