"Here comes the boat that picks us up!" Chinese expatriates flocked to the docks...
At 4:25 p.m. on June 13, 2000, a freighter sailed into the port of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.
Two hours later, 117 Chinese compatriots, including women and children, successfully boarded the freighter with a special mission.
Some people collapsed on the deck as soon as they boarded the ship, others hugged and cried together, and many more looked at the distant harbor in the distance in panic and exhaustion.
In addition to the palpitations in the hearts of these people, the sparse sound of gunfire on Solomon Island can still be heard.
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At this time, the Pacific island nation in Solomon was experiencing a sudden "coup", followed by social unrest and continuous riots, and the local Chinese and overseas Chinese were in danger, and their property and lives could not be guaranteed.
During this period, the mainland side communicated with Australia, hoping that they would assist the mainland expatriates to reach a safe place on the ship that came to the rescue of the country and then transfer.
However, the Australian side did not directly refuse, but on the grounds that it could not provide enough space, it even allowed the Japanese and Malays to board their warships, but did not allow Chinese to board the ships.
Chinese shops were all smashed
Since 2000, the Solomon Islands has highlighted social contradictions, the domestic political situation has been turbulent, and the Chinese living in the local area have been frequently humiliated.
The news that Chinese shops have been smashed and robbed has made this Pacific island country, which has not been paid attention for a long time, a hot spot for news and network attention.
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The Solomon Islands is a small country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, consisting of more than 900 islands of varying sizes, with a population of more than 500,000 people, a land area of 28,400 square kilometers, and an ocean area of 1.6 million square kilometers.
Due to the low level of economic development of the whole country, coupled with the lack of commodities, local prices remain high, and the people live in hardship; At the same time, because of the large number of volcanoes, which have caused frequent natural disasters, agricultural development is still very backward.
Beyond that, the most serious problem is tribal conflict.
Among them, the country's largest island, Guadalcana, and the inhabitants of Mareta, the second largest island, have historically had ethnic contradictions.
And because Prime Minister Ulufa Alu is a Maleita, under his intervention, the Maleitas have acquired a large amount of land through different channels on the island of Guadalcana, which has aroused strong dissatisfaction among the original inhabitants of Guadalcana.
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On both islands, each has organized local armed forces, and the two sides have clashed continuously.
On 5 June 2000, an armed group called the Malaita Hawks Force abruptly detained Prime Minister Ulufa'alu.
At the same time, the armed forces engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with government forces in the capital , The Port of Honiara .
On the day of the coup, the airport of the capital "Honiara Port" was closed, international communication lines were cut off, and for a time, the social order of "Honiara Port" fell into chaos, and everyone in the city was in danger, and there was a possibility of death at any time.
This also includes overseas Chinese living in the local area.
In fact, as early as the second half of the 19th century, Chinese began to set foot on this land.
Earlier, Chinese who came here used it as a "springboard" to migrate to Australia or New Zealand.
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Today, there are about 500 Chinese expatriates living here, most of them from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, as well as some Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In recent years, the Chinese who have come here are mainly engaged in commerce and trade, and almost control more than 70% of the commodity circulation industry in the Solomon Islands, and retail businesses such as small commodities, department stores, and electrical appliances are basically operated by Chinese.
This has created an opportunity for some outlaws to take advantage of the chaotic situation to fish in muddy waters and begin to sneak and rob shops and enterprises operated by Chinese.
According to later statistics, more than half of the shops in Chinatown alone were set on fire and damaged.
"It's cruel!" Overseas Chinese Hu Meili still remembers the actions of the outlaws. Three of the stores she owned were smashed, two were smashed, more than a dozen containers were smashed, and according to her own statistics, the loss exceeded more than 10 million.
Many Chinese expatriates have survived by jumping from the second floor of the store, and some have suffered varying degrees of physical harm.
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At this time, Nori, the leader of the "Malaita Hawk force", publicly issued a statement that it would ensure the safety of the capital "Honiara Port" and would resolutely crack down on theft and looting.
But in fact, the robbery of shops, extortion of money, and kidnapping has not stopped, and it has happened repeatedly.
As a result of the suddenness of the incident, some expatriates burned or robbed all their local properties.
Many expatriates, too late to carry their belongings, hid in the police station in search of temporary safety.
Therefore, in the hearts of overseas Chinese, ensuring life safety is the first choice.
One might ask, at this juncture, is there anyone who does not want to leave the Solomon Islands?
In fact, making a choice right away is tough. Some people have been working hard in Solomon for several years and have good prospects and family backgrounds.
However, if we continue to stay in the turbulent city of "Port Honiara", can we still ensure the "safety of our lives" as things unfold?
In such a situation, expatriates can only make a difficult choice between "safety of life" and "property".
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Chinese are not allowed on board
At this time, because the Solomon Islands and the mainland had not yet established diplomatic relations, the Chinese ambassador to Papua New Guinea Zhao Zhenyu was responsible for managing the overseas Chinese affairs of the Solomon Islands.
At the same time, due to the small number of overseas Chinese living in the local area, most of them take care of their own business. The living area is relatively scattered, and the connection between overseas Chinese is relatively distant.
Contacting and communicating with overseas Chinese living in the "Port of Honiara" has become the biggest problem.
However, there is also a Chinese-funded enterprise called Haiqiao Company in the local area, and Deputy General Manager Shi Zhongqin immediately stepped forward and undertook the work of coordinating and contacting overseas Chinese.
On 6 June, communications resumed in the Solomon capital, "Port Honiara". Zhao Zhenyu, Chinese ambassador to Papua New Guinea, immediately contacted Shi Zhongqin, deputy general manager of Haiqiao.
Zhao Zhenyu
On the phone, Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu was eager to understand the situation of the "Honiara Port" and pay attention to the safety of overseas Chinese.
With the joint efforts of Shi Zhongqin and his staff, it has been counted that 32 overseas Chinese compatriots hope to leave Solomon, which is also the news that Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu wants to get.
On June 9, Zhong Jianhua, director general of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urgently met with the ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand to China and asked Australia and New Zealand in the name of the Chinese government to assist the Chinese diaspora in evacuating Solomon, at the expense of the Chinese government.
At this time, the ambassadors of Australia and New Zealand both said that the warships and aircraft involved in the evacuation of overseas Chinese will give priority to ensuring the evacuation of their own citizens, and are willing to provide assistance to the Chinese side if conditions permit.
This good news was soon learned by Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu, who immediately contacted Shi Zhongqin, who was far away in Solomon, and asked her to quickly notify the expatriates to prepare for evacuation.
Australian warship
On 10 June 2000, the scale of the armed conflict on the ground continued to expand, and other countries accelerated their withdrawals.
Due to the geographical advantages, Australian and New Zealand warships have already docked at the docks, ready to pick up their expatriates.
At this time, in the hands of Shi Zhongqin, the list of people who chose to evacuate was also increased to more than a hundred.
In a critical situation, Shi Zhongqin took the panicked expatriates to the docks of the "Honiara Port", where she planned to contact the Australian warships moored here, hoping to evacuate with their expatriates.
However, the Australian side gave a reply that "the space on the warship is limited and can no longer be allowed to board the ship" and "it has passed the boarding time".
At this moment, Shi Zhongqin and the expatriates on the dock watched as dozens of Japanese and Malaysians boarded the Australian warship.
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At this point, Solomon's expatriates were in distress, and they even feared that the Chinese government would not help them. When Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu learned of this, he immediately reported the situation to The Country.
He also entrusted Shi Zhongqin to convey to the local Chinese and overseas Chinese: "The motherland is the strong backing of every overseas Chinese, and the Chinese government will not disregard the safety of overseas Chinese compatriots!" ”
On June 12, 2000, the mainland again submitted a request to Australia and New Zealand, hoping that they would send military aircraft to evacuate the Chinese compatriots in Solomon, and all the costs incurred would be borne by the Chinese side.
However, both the Australian and New Zealand governments, expressing the need to complete the task of evacuating their nationals for the time being, politely rejected the mainland's request.
Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the mainland immediately adjusted the plan for the evacuation of overseas Chinese and decided to evacuate the Chinese expatriates by the mainland's own ships.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly contacted the Ministry of Communications and COSCO and asked them to send ships traveling in neighboring waters to assist in the evacuation of overseas Chinese.
At this time, the Embassy in Australia learned that the Chinese Ocean Shipping Corporation had a cargo ship called "Yangjianghe" sailing in the South Pacific Ocean, which was only 550 nautical miles away from Solomon and could quickly rush to the Solomon Islands.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately contacted COSCO, and in the early morning of June 12, 2000, the freighter Yangjianghe, which was sailing in the South Pacific, received an urgent order to immediately rush to the Solomon Islands, 550 nautical miles away, on a "evacuation" mission.
At this time, the "Yangjianghe" had already loaded the cargo in New Zealand, and the original plan was to go to Japan to unload the cargo.
At the moment of the first attack, the captain Ding Haidi quickly informed the 23 crew members of the ship.
After learning the news, the entire crew unanimously said that they would do their best to rescue their compatriots in distress.
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In just 3 minutes, the Yangjianghe reversed course and rushed to the capital of the Solomon Islands, "Port Honiara".
Because the "Yangjianghe" ship carried out its mission in the past, the route was relatively fixed, it had never traveled in the waters near the Solomon Islands before, and there was no relevant chart, so this voyage undoubtedly carried a certain danger, but the safety of the compatriots affected the hearts of every crew member.
They were riveted to the "Port of Honiara" as soon as possible to rescue their trapped compatriots.
At 4:25 p.m. on June 13, the freighter "Yangjianghe" sailed into the "Honiara Port" terminal.
Anyone who is a compatriot can get on board!
During the evacuation, Shi Zhongqin once asked Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu whether Chinese holding Solomon passports would be allowed to board the ship.
When Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu heard this, he replied firmly: "As long as he is an overseas Chinese compatriot, no matter where he comes from, he is allowed to board the ship." ”
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Wu Caihua, who had joined Solomon's citizenship, burst into tears as she walked between the airport and the pier with her three young children and solomon passports, all getting the same answer: "No! ”
In the face of hopelessness, it was the motherland that provided her with a safe barrier.
After an hour of busyness, a total of 117 Chinese compatriots boarded the Yangjianghe freighter.
The overseas Chinese hugged each other and were moved to tears. At this time, in their hearts, they firmly believe that the motherland will always be their strong backing, and no matter when, the motherland will not abandon them.
Sitting on a ship sent by one's own country, there is no longer any need to seek to catch other countries' ships and planes, but it is always disappointed.
Since the "Yangjianghe" freighter was already loaded with cargo at this time, and the space left was very limited, in order to let the overseas Chinese have a good living environment, the crew vacated their rooms.
At the same time, in order to let the overseas Chinese eat well, the food standard on the ship was raised from 3 dishes and one soup to 4 dishes and one soup.
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The every move of the crew of the "Yangjianghe" freighter reflects the strong friendship and warms the hearts of overseas Chinese. In the dim night, the "Yangjianghe" freighter was moving at full speed towards its destination.
Later, according to Ding Haidi, the captain of the "Yangjianghe" freighter, at that time, facing the sea breeze of five or six levels in the Pacific Ocean, the huge waves slapped on the ship, causing the ship to jolt violently, but the overseas Chinese were in high spirits, and they were all rejoicing and looking forward to returning to the motherland.
At 11:33 p.m. on June 15, 2000, after more than 52 hours of sailing, the Yangjiang River docked at port Moresby Wharf in Papua New Guinea.
On June 18, a Boeing 777 airliner sent the group back to Guangzhou.
epilogue
Practice has proved that the "evacuation" from Solomon is very timely. No matter which country you rely on, you do not rely on the security and security of your homeland.
As Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu said, "The motherland is the strong backing of every overseas Chinese, and the Chinese government will not disregard the safety of overseas Chinese compatriots!" ”
Of course, with the increase of national strength, the country's influence continues to increase. When encountering danger overseas, the motherland will spare no effort to send warships and charter planes to pick up the trapped Chinese overseas Chinese, and every Overseas Chinese who is overseas is proud to be a descendant of The Chinese.