On July 1, 1997, at 00:00:00, on the New Wing Plaza of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, the lights were brilliant and lively.
In the midst of all the attention, the bright five-star red flag, accompanied by the loud national anthem of the People's Republic of China, slowly rose.
The city, which has left its mother for more than 150 years, finally officially returned to its mother's embrace at this moment.
The faces of every Chinese present had expressions of joy and excitement, and their eyes were filled with tears.
Hong Kong Handover Ceremony
The hundreds of millions of compatriots in front of the TV set are even more colorful at this moment, walking to the street to enjoy the carnival, and wantonly volatilizing the surging emotions in their hearts.
However, in the midst of this grand carnival, there are also several people who have some "different" expressions on their faces, not only do not reflect the slightest happiness, but are full of loneliness and helplessness.
Among them, the last British governor in Hong Kong, Chris Patten, was the most disappointed.
So, in this return feast, what role did Patten play? What obstacles did Hong Kong encounter before its handover?
Patten
A grand return ceremony
At 11 o'clock in the evening of June 30, 1997, at the port of Xiangjiang and under the Taiping Mountain, we received the attention of hundreds of millions of Chinese people around the world.
The handover ceremony that Chinese has been waiting for 150 years will be held today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The night was hazy, and a wisp of drizzle drifted in the sky, as if washing away the grievances and shame of the city's colonial rule for a hundred years, and reawakening the vitality of the new life.
Looking around, there are many people.
Politicians from China and britain, as well as representatives from all walks of life, as well as many ordinary people in Hong Kong, gathered early on the square of the Convention and Exhibition Center, standing and waiting for this great moment to come.
At this time, although everyone's face was full of tension and seriousness, the joy and excitement that had long been impatient in their hearts were still expressed from time to time.
Hong Kong
At 23:42, the handover ceremony between China and the United Kingdom over Hong Kong officially began, and important people began to enter the venue.
The honor guards of the two countries, kicking with sonorous and powerful steps, slowly stepped towards the center of the square. The honor guards, whether chinese or British, were in high spirits, serious and solemn.
After all, at this time, they are a symbol of the national spirit.
Whether it was the crowd at the scene, or the many Chinese in front of the TV set and overseas Chinese, they all stared intently at the scene in front of them.
As we all know, this moment that has been waiting for a long time is finally coming.
After the honor guard stood in front of the flag stand, Prince Charles of England began to speak on stage.
Prince Charles
Although the content of the speech is no different from the polite words spoken by the British royal family on other occasions, the tone of Prince Charles's speech today is very low.
Beside him, the last Governor-General of the British authorities in Hong Kong, Chris Patten, had already closed his lips. His eyes were sluggish, and he lowered his head not knowing what he was thinking.
At 23:56, when the scene was prepared, the flag guards of China and Britain, holding the flag, began to walk to the stage in the middle of the square. The flag-lowering and flag-raising ceremony, which symbolizes the handover of power in Hong Kong by the Chinese and British governments, officially began.
At this time, all the members present at the ceremony stood up, and at the same time, everyone's eyes also brushed in unison at the flagpoles on both sides of the central podium of the square.
The five-star red flag is raised
At 23:58, the troops of both sides entered the door and handed over.
"On behalf of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong to take over the barracks, you can be laid off, we are on the job!"
Tan Shan'ai, the commander of the vanguard of the Hong Kong garrison, exchanged military salutes with the British force commander in front of him, and then shouted this deafening sentence from his mouth.
This sentence is also like a heavy hammer, smashing into everyone's heart.
When many people hear these words, it is no longer possible to control the excitement in their hearts, and tears come out of their eyes.
At 23:59, accompanied by a song "God Bless the Queen", the British government's "rice flag" and the colonial "Hong Kong flag" slowly fell.
This also marks the official end of the "Hong Kong-British Era" that has been entrenched in this land for more than 150 years, and has since been completely thrown into the dust of history.
Patten took over the British flag
Immediately after, the British guards, after folding the British flag, handed it to Patten, and at the moment he took over the British flag, the expression on his face became more solemn, and there seemed to be tears of sadness and helplessness in his eyes.
Subsequently, accompanied by the resounding "March of the Volunteers", the bright five-star red flag and the regional flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were slowly raised at 00:00:00 on July 1, 1997.
At this moment, Hong Kong officially returned to the embrace of the motherland.
Suddenly, all the audiences on the scene boiled over for this moment, the applause was thunderous, cheers and shouts came and went, and thousands of reporters present raised their cameras and shot wildly at this grand scene.
Flash illuminates the entire night sky.
This solemn and exciting moment will forever be engraved in the long river of history.
Hong Kong Regional Flag and Five-Star Red Flag
The "Last Governor- of Hong Kong" during the British Period
At odds with the elated atmosphere of the scene was the livid faces of the British people.
Prince Charles had a heavy expression and did not say a word, while Patten closed his eyes and bowed his head. Sitting next to Patten was his daughter, and when she saw the British "rice flag" descend, the young British girl was already in tears, crying uncontrollably.
And this scene was also filmed by the reporters present.
Afterwards, someone asked Patten what was going on that occasion, as the last Governor of Hong Kong during the British period, what was in his mind.
Patten did not answer this question positively, but told reporters that he had lived very happily in the five years he had spent in Hong Kong, and that after returning to China, he would always remember his life in the past few years.
The Governor's daughter wept
So, as the "last governor-general" of Hong Kong in the British period, what role did Patten play in the question of Hong Kong's return, and did he obstruct the plan of return?
In November 1990, John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Soon after, he promoted his friend Chris Patten to governor of Hong Kong.
The new prime minister, who had been advocating a tough stance on the China issue as early as the time of the campaign, naturally did not have any favorable feelings for China.
At the beginning of his presidency, many people knew that Patten would certainly create some obstacles for the Chinese people and the central government on the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
On July 9, 1992, Patten officially took office, crossed the ocean, came to Hong Kong, and became the 28th Governor of Hong Kong.
Patten
Until June 30, 1997, Patten's tenure lasted nearly five years.
Unlike most Governors of Hong Kong who were born in the Foreign Office, Patten was born in the British Parliament, which also made his political leanings more distinct.
When he first took office, Patten issued his first intra-term policy address on the issue of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
In his report, he asked the British authorities in Hong Kong to amend the election system for the Legislative Council.
The specific measure is to eliminate all the appointment seats and force the "separation of the two bureaus", in addition to the addition of nine new functional group seats (the new nine groups).
This administrative measure is undoubtedly aimed at creating division and chaos within Hong Kong and creating difficulties and obstacles for Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
Patten bowed his head in frustration
After the report was made public, LuPin, then director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, publicly denounced Patten's move as a provocation to China, a deliberate attempt to obstruct the process of Hong Kong's return to china, and an undermining of the intention of cooperation between the two countries, calling him a "sinner for eternity."
In the next five years, Patten deliberately or unconsciously created incidents on various occasions, provoking contradictions and frictions on the Hong Kong issue.
The aim, of course, was to prevent Hong Kong from returning to China on July 1, 1997.
However, whenever the reporter asked him questions and mentioned these behaviors, Patten replied with a serious answer: "I just do my duty and do not deliberately create friction, after all, no matter how Hong Kong develops in the future, at least for now I am still the governor here." ”
Patten
Everyone can understand what is reflected in these remarks.
However, Hong Kong's return to the motherland is an inevitable trend of historical development and the common expectation of the Chinese people of the two places.
Therefore, even if Patten tried his best, he could only watch the British flag slowly fall from his eyes at the end, leaving only a helpless sigh.
Patten
It has been The territory of China since ancient times
In the land of Hong Kong, as early as the primitive social period, there are already traces of human existence.
In the pre-Qin period, the Lingnan ethnic minorities developed civilization here, and later, with the unification of the world by Qin Shi Huang, the Central Plains civilization was also brought here.
Since then, Hong Kong has been a part of the Chinese nation that refuses to divide.
In modern times, due to the decay and decline of the Qing government, after the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840, it was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking with the British.
Thus began a 155-year colonial period in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was ceded to Britain, a shame that is engraved in the hearts of every Chinese.
Hong Kong
Although everyone wanted to take it back again, it was difficult to do so due to the weak national strength at that time.
Until the founding of New China, under the leadership of the central government, the Chinese people have since become rich and strong, and the national strength has also been greatly enhanced, and finally they have the confidence to return Hong Kong.
In 1982, when the east wind of reform and opening up began to blow on the land of China, many Hong Kong businessmen could not wait to come to the mainland to invest and dedicate their strength to the development of the motherland.
Li
At this time, after comprehensive consideration, the central government felt that it was time for a showdown with the British and bring Hong Kong back.
So, over the next two years, the central government sent representatives to negotiate with Britain as many as 22 times.
The two sides came and went in the course of negotiations and did not give in to each other.
Whenever Britain wanted to get China to make some compromises on the return of Hong Kong, we immediately showed an extremely tough attitude.
Even when The then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, known as the "Iron Lady," came to visit the central government and talked about the Hong Kong issue, we also made it clear: "We will never make the slightest concession on the issue of Hong Kong sovereignty, and the sovereignty issue has never been an issue that can be discussed and negotiated!" ”
In the end, the British government had to compromise and signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration with the mainland, which stipulated a definite return date of July 1, 1997.
Negotiations between China and the UNITED Kingdom
However, just as the so-called "heart of defense is indispensable," in 1993, after the first report on the Hong Kong reversion plan was released, it was shown to the central authorities for inspection.
As a result, the central authorities immediately played back this report.
The reason is that the report only prepares a plan for the peaceful takeover of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, but does not prepare a record for forced acceptance.
The central authorities immediately made a statement: "On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong must be returned, and if the British side finds any reason to delay, it is ready to forcibly take hong Kong back by force!" ”
It was precisely because of such a tough attitude that Hong Kong was able to successfully return to the motherland on July 1, 1997.
The return time was also stuck at the moment of zero o'clock, not a minute or a second.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong has been China's territory since ancient times, and on the issue of sovereignty, Chinese never compromised. We will not grab the places that do not belong to us, but the places that belong to us are the land that must be fought!
Nowadays, Hong Kong has been returned to the motherland for a full 25 years, and with the promotion of the "one country, two systems" national policy, Hong Kong's development is getting faster and faster, the people's lives are getting better and better, and the per capita GDP is even much higher than that of the United Kingdom.
This also shows that only by returning to the embrace of the motherland will Hong Kong's tomorrow be more vigorous and vigorous, and the people will usher in real hope.