preface
When Nixon visited China, because China did not have a communication satellite for television broadcasting, Premier Zhou used his superb wisdom to come up with a plan to rent a communication satellite and television equipment, which made the Americans sincerely impressed...
01
During Nixon's visit to China in 1972, Premier Zhou did a lot of work in front of and behind the scenes: meeting with Kissinger, who came to China to "play the front station", and agreeing on matters related to Nixon's visit to China; Personally greet Nixon at the airport; Attend a banquet hosted by Nixon; Signing of the joint communiqué of the two countries in Shanghai; Accompany Nixon to Hangzhou... It can be said that the premier of everything has personally arranged and strived for excellence.
The meticulous arrangement is not only reflected in the aspect of the "big" concerning the dignity and interests of the country, but also in many specific technical matters.
In January 1972, Nixon's deputy assistant for national security affairs, Hague, and a group of 18 people came to make technical arrangements for Nixon's visit to China. Siegbo, who was then the White House spokesman, proposed that during Nixon's visit to China, a large number of reporters accompanying him would broadcast television, pictures, and telegrams through communication satellites, and asked the Chinese side to give convenience.
In the early 70s, television technology in the United States has developed, and there were many television stations in the United States at that time, and television programs were already in color.
With the development of television technology, news reporting has played an increasingly important role in the international arena, and Nixon is well aware of the role of television reporting for him, so that during this trip to China, among the journalists who followed him, television media reporters were the largest group.
At that time, the level of television development in China was still very low, the popularity of television sets was not high, and color televisions were in their infancy. There are also fewer TV shows. With the level of television in China at that time, it was difficult to bear the full TV coverage of Nixon's visit to China. Thus, after Kissinger's first visit to China, the issue of communications and satellite transmission of television signals during Nixon's visit to China became an important issue.
Premier Zhou arranged for Xiong Xianghui to invite the heads of relevant departments to a meeting to discuss the matter and discuss it with the Americans. Premier Zhou's basic viewpoint is: Nixon's visit to China, hundreds of millions of people in the world saw this situation through television, which will arouse their thinking, increase their understanding and friendship with the Chinese people, so this is a great opportunity to do propaganda for New China!
At that time, the Us side proposed to use communication satellites for the fastest reporting, but China did not have a television communication satellite.
Premier Zhou said to Xiong Xianghui:
You told the Siegbo that China agreed in principle to this demand he made on behalf of the United States. But we don't have a communication satellite yet, so I asked him to help us rent one, and in terms of broadcasting technology, we also asked the United States for assistance.
Xiong Xianghui told The Sigbo of Premier Zhou's opinion, and the Sigbo said that he had not used the communication satellite in the group, but expected that the rent must be very expensive, and Nixon's 8-day visit to China may cost 1 million US dollars!
Siegbo also said: In fact, China does not have to spend money to rent, because the United States has prepared communication satellites for journalists to use, and only requires the Chinese side to build ground stations in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, and the cost is paid by the United States!
Regarding the arrangements made by the United States, Xiong Xianghui did not object. Although China does not have a communication satellite, the Americans are ready, even if the construction of ground stations does not require China to spend money, why not enjoy it? But Xiong Xianghui still said that the cost of building the ground station should be paid by China, as long as the United States provides technical assistance. As to whether to lease an international communications satellite, we will discuss it later.
Xiong Xianghui reported this situation to Premier Zhou. He also said that since the United States has made preparations, then we do not have to spend so much money renting communication satellites for American journalists!
However, Premier Zhou had long seen that there was something catty in it, and Siegbo had a problem for Chinese: either to spend a huge amount of $1 million to rent a communications satellite, or to let the United States build a ground station in China "for free"!
Premier Zhou immediately criticized Xiong Xianghui and said: Let you negotiate to rent a communications satellite, and you want to shrink your head as soon as you hear that it will cost $1 million. This is not a question of how much money will be spent, it is a question of our sovereignty, and there must be no ambiguity on the question of sovereignty!
Premier Zhou said, you tell the Siegbo:
First, he was asked to be responsible for renting a communications satellite for China from 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 21, 1972 to 24:00 on February 28, 1972; Second, during the lease period, the ownership of this satellite belongs to China, and the United States needs to apply for the right to use from China in advance, and China will agree to it, and China will charge the user royalties! Third, the rental fee and the use fee should be reasonable, and the Siegger Bo should propose a specific number, and we should understand the general international price through other channels, and do not do "wrongful heads"!
Xiong Xianghui told Siegbo according to Premier Zhou's wishes, and Siegbo expressed his surprise, and he thought for a while and said: This is the first time I have met such a negotiating opponent, and I completely agree with the first two methods proposed by Premier Zhou. As for the rental fee, please rest assured that it will be reasonable, and the rental fee and usage fee are related. I can't mention a specific amount at this time, but what I can say is that there can be an "equal sign" between the two costs!
Siegbo said: I admire your shrewdness, and even more admire your attention in safeguarding the dignity of the People's Republic of China. I will report this deep impression to President Nixon and to my colleagues and relatives and friends. I would also like to say more frankly that I fully agree with Dr. Kissinger that Premier Zhou is a rare, heartfeltly admired, and great statesman and diplomat in the world!
The issue of television coverage of Nixon's visit to China was satisfactorily resolved.
Everything went according to Premier Zhou's plan:
China rents a satellite and then rents it to the Americans, and the Americans pay us!
Premier Zhou's superb wisdom has achieved the effect of killing two birds with one stone.
First, China's sovereignty has been safeguarded.
Sovereignty is non-negotiable. The United States provides communication satellites and even builds ground stations in China, even if it is free.
There is no such thing as a free lunch! What if Americans used communications satellites and ground stations to engage in activities other than television broadcasting?
Therefore, we do not accept the offer to rent a communications satellite for $1 million, nor do we accept the offer for free, and the best solution is that we rent one, which belongs to China, and China leases it to the United States for use, and charges them royalties, indicating that the two countries are equal transactions.
After the plan was determined, the two sides signed a contract, and the final rent was not 1 million US dollars as Siegger said, but 607038 US dollars, stipulating that after the installation and commissioning of the equipment was completed, it could only be used after China approved the United States, and the United States was charged according to the bookkeeping method. At that time, in addition to the equipment of the ground station was bought by China, more than 500,000 US dollars of royalties were charged to the United States, which was similar to the rent!
Second, China has learned technology
This is also the main intention of Premier Zhou. China rented this set of communication satellite TV equipment, and the Chinese staff took over this set of equipment, but we have a gap in technology and need to rely on the assistance of American technicians, so that our staff can justifiably learn the technology of the Americans!
Ron Walter, who followed Nixon on his visit to China, recalled years later:
We write down some of the techniques, down to the technical arrangements of each moment. We draw some diagrams and write instructions for the on-site arrangement, Chinese translate these diagrams from English to Chinese use. They learned a lot of techniques when it came to TV program recording...
02
Premier Zhou's meticulous arrangements have given Chinese television workers an intuitive concept of "satellites", and radio and television have ushered in rapid development:
First, Chinese television workers have learned about the development technology of television in the world; Second, a lot of international television technology has been introduced; The third is to open up business exchanges between Chinese television and the world.
Since then, the mainland's television communications industry has gradually developed to the international advanced level.
Nixon's visit to China in 1972 brought a huge team of more than 390 people, plus logistics, journalists and television technicians.
In order to broadcast the television programs of Nixon's visit to China to the world, the Beijing Television Station at that time signed a contract with the relevant television companies in the United States and established a "joint production and broadcasting center" near the capital airport. This was also the first time that the mainland sent radio and television programs to the whole world through international communication satellites, reported this historical event to the world, and publicized New China.
The "co-production and broadcast center" was originally a Boeing 747 aircraft equipped with full radio and television equipment, and the United States proposed to broadcast programs around this aircraft according to the convention.
Upon learning of this, Premier Zhou clearly instructed:
The United States cannot be allowed to follow their practice, and this work should reflect national sovereignty, specifically by renting the entire equipment on The American aircraft, building a temporary "broadcasting center" near the airport in the capital, and then the United States will rent our "center" and its equipment.
This is a program related to renting a communications satellite:
We rented theirs and they rented ours!
There is no doubt that this provides favorable conditions for mainland TV workers to learn technology!
During Nixon's visit to China, this TV "center" produced a total of about 100 hours of television programs, of which 9 were broadcast live, and the audience around the world reached hundreds of millions or even 10 billion!
Since then, Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka's visit to China, French President Pompidou's visit to China, and US President Ford's visit to China in 1975 have all been broadcast on television in accordance with the above methods.
These little incidents not only safeguarded China's dignity, but also played a vital role in the development of Chinese television culture after the 1970s!
epilogue
Premier Zhou has a superb wisdom that is different from ordinary people, and he always uses clever methods to win the greatest honor and benefit for China.
Renting an international communications satellite cost $1 million, which was a huge amount of money at the time, but for the sake of national sovereignty and dignity, Premier Zhou educated Xiong Xianghui that the money should be spent, and the issue of sovereignty cannot be ambiguous! But spending money is not to be a "wrongdoer", but to use a clever method: first rent a communication satellite, and then lease this satellite to the United States for use, we pay the lease fee, the United States gives us the royalties, so that the cost of the two is almost the same, or even offset!
It is also very important that we learn real technology in this way, and we achieve the effect of killing two birds with one stone!