Text: Lao Yan Kanshi
Editor|Lao Yan Kanshi
On the evening of June 30, 1997, the streets around the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre were surrounded by Hong Kong police. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is also full of people and brightly lit.
This day is the day when China and the United Kingdom hold the handover ceremony for Hong Kong. On the night of June 30, the attitudes of the Chinese and British personnel can be described as polarized.
On this day, Britain's Prince Charles' speech at the ceremony can be said to be gritting teeth, and Patten, who served as the last British governor, cried even more.
The people of the mainland are all beaming with joy on their faces. Everyone was smiling, looking forward to the arrival of zero o'clock and listening to the sound of the national anthem.
What was the picture of Hong Kong's handover ceremony in 1997? Was the negotiation ceremony between the mainland and Britain going smoothly? And was Britain willing to cooperate with the mainland?
The two sides agreed that Hong Kong would return to the motherland
Since 1842, Hong Kong has been ceded by an unequal treaty signed between the Qing government and Britain.
In 1898, under the threat of the British, the Qing government signed the "Treaty on the Extension of the Boundary of Hong Kong", and since then Hong Kong has been completely included in their territory.
Although the treaty indicated that Hong Kong would only be "leased" until 1997, Britain had a "rogue" atmosphere. They feel that Hong Kong has been eaten by them, that is their stuff, and it is impossible to get them to spit it out.
In fact, in 1997, the mainland also had the opportunity to take back Hong Kong. After all, the reason why Hong Kong was cut out was done under the threat of British force. If the mainland has military support, then retaking Hong Kong is a matter of one sentence.
In 1949, the People's Liberation Army swept the country, once reaching the border between Hong Kong and the mainland. At the height of the PLA's strength, Hong Kong's defenders were much weaker.
As long as the People's Liberation Army at that time wanted to, then retaking Hong Kong was also a matter of fighting.
However, at that time, Chairman Mao did not let the People's Liberation Army occupy Hong Kong. The reason why Chairman Mao did this was after his careful consideration.
At that time, New China had just been founded, and it was a time when everything was waiting to be rebuilt. If Hong Kong is forcibly taken back, it may cause dissatisfaction in Britain, and if a war is launched again, not only will the Chinese people not be able to withstand the impact of the war, but the international community will also condemn China's behavior.
In addition, although the Qing government and the current new China are two completely different things, it is undeniable that if there was no Qing government, then the current China would not exist, so even if the Qing government made mistakes, we must have the responsibility and courage to take this responsibility.
I have to say that Chairman Mao's consideration was very comprehensive, and the People's Liberation Army at that time did not launch an offensive even if it was only separated from Hong Kong by a line.
Because of the gentlemanly behavior of the People's Liberation Army, Britain immediately issued a statement in the month after the founding of New China was proclaimed, recognizing the legitimate status of New China in the international community. and establish diplomatic relations with China.
Hong Kong has also become an important city in the foreign trade of the People's Republic of China, and a large number of construction materials after the establishment of the People's Republic of China have been traded through Hong Kong.
Although the mainland made concessions in 1949, it did not retake Hong Kong. But there is no doubt that Hong Kong's territorial rights belong to China.
In the decades that followed, Chairman Mao spent every day preparing for Hong Kong's return to the motherland. But how could the British, who occupied Hong Kong, easily cede Hong Kong?
For the British, Hong Kong is their gold digging spoon on the Asian continent. As long as Hong Kong is mastered on the Asian continent and a penny of the cost is invested in Hong Kong, then Hong Kong can return a hundredfold profit to Britain.
In 1982, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited China and wanted to continue to sign a lease agreement with China for Hong Kong.
Although China's current environment is indeed relatively poor, the Chinese are not afraid of war, even if they are poor, China must fight for what it should strive for, and the issue of Hong Kong's sovereignty is beyond doubt.
Since then, China and the UK have held a number of talks on Hong Kong. The main thing is to negotiate how to solve these two problems after the handover.
First, Hong Kong's current development surpasses that of all cities in the mainland, and even Beijing, the capital, is not as prosperous as Hong Kong.
So how China should manage Hong Kong after its return to the motherland has become an issue that needs to be solved urgently.
The second was in 1982, 15 years before Hong Kong's return to the motherland. How should China and Britain maintain stability in Hong Kong during these 15 years, and avoid other problems that could jeopardize the handover?
At that time, these two problems plagued China for a while. During the British occupation of Hong Kong, Hong Kong has always implemented a capitalist system, which has allowed everything in Hong Kong to develop rapidly.
However, the Chinese mainland has a socialist system, which is contrary to the capitalist system in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong is forced to implement a socialist system, it may set Hong Kong's economy back far from being as prosperous as it is now.
However, if Hong Kong is not allowed to implement the socialist system, then should China implement the capitalist system?
The reason why New China was able to be established was because the Communist Party pursued socialism, and if China changed to capitalism, then China would shake its foundation.
The system of "one country, two systems" was proposed. What is "one country, two systems"?
That is, within China, there can be two systems. Hong Kong can continue to practice capitalism, but after the handover, it will no longer be under the control of the United States, but by China.
After the problem of Hong Kong's system was resolved, Britain finally had no excuse to delay.
On December 9, 1984, China and Britain signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Hong Kong Question at the Great Hall of the People. The statement informed the world that Britain would return Hong Kong to China in 1997 (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the "New Territories").
Hong Kong will ultimately belong to China.
A handover ceremony was held
Although the two countries signed a declaration in 1984, the British were still reluctant to return Hong Kong to China, so they made small moves before the official handover ceremony.
As mentioned earlier, China should ensure that there are no accidents until Hong Kong is formally returned to China. Britain wants to take advantage of this and create problems for China.
In early 1997, a British fleet of various services came to the South China Sea to provoke and create trouble for China.
However, the mainland's national strength had been greatly improved at that time, and the border guards did not just watch the British army do evil in China's waters.
At that time, the front-line troops on the mainland immediately organized themselves to closely monitor the movements of the British troops, and finally, after more than 70 hours, the British saw that this set had no effect on the mainland at all, so they had no choice but to leave in a huff.
In this way, the mainland waited until June 30, 1997, when it was ready to bring Hong Kong back. The handover ceremony will take place in the evening of this day.
But before that, the mainland also had several disputes with representatives of the British side about the details of the ceremony. One of the most debated points is the timing of the national anthem.
The national anthem played at the handover ceremony was not broadcast directly on the radio, as is the case in major schools or events, but was played by the band at the scene.
The choice of the band to play is to reflect the importance that China attaches to Hong Kong's return to the motherland. But if the orchestra is playing, there will be a two-second pause in the conductor when he receives the signal and raises the baton.
In order to raise the national flag in the sky of Hong Kong at midnight on time, the mainland hoped that Britain would be able to lower the national flag at 11:58 p.m. that day.
However, the British delegates disagreed, arguing that there should be an end where there is a beginning. They also wanted to lower the flag at midnight. The British side has clashed with China on this issue several times, and both China and Britain have not backed down on this.
Both countries believe that this is a matter of national decency, and each wants to take advantage of this last moment. In order to get Britain to make concessions on this matter, China has held 16 talks with the British delegation.
Davis, who was in charge of the British delegation at the time, was unable to resist the Chinese negotiators, and the British decided to back down under the Chinese delegation's incorruptible golden snake. China can only raise its flag at zero o'clock, they demanded.
The Chinese side had intended to raise the flag at zero o'clock, so it readily agreed to this remark of the United Kingdom.
But unexpectedly, on the day of the ceremony, Prince Charles, the representative of the United Kingdom, openly made a small move, wanting to make the Chinese flag no longer raised at zero o'clock.
The British retreated, and Hong Kong went home
On June 30, everything was going according to the Chinese rehearsal. Everyone in the Chinese delegation was beaming with joy and making final preparations for Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
But the British side can be said to be gloomy in comparison.
Chris Patten, who was the last governor of Hong Kong at the time, began to cry to the sky the moment he walked out of the official residence, and he said with tears that he was reluctant to Hong Kong, the place where he had worked and lived for many years.
Don't get me wrong, although this Patten sounds like a Chinese name, he is a real British. He was also known as Hodo, and was the leader of the British Conservative Party. He is also a Chancellor at the University of Oxford and Chairman of the BBC Trust in the BBC's governing body.
Chris Patten walked out of the mansion with his family, and his daughter followed her father to the point where she couldn't cry herself. According to Patten, who later said in front of the media, his daughter was reluctant because she was going to change schools.
But no matter what Patten and his family think, the era of belonging to Britain has finally passed. After the British flag was lowered over the residence, Patten's adjutant folded the flag and placed it in his hand.
Chris Patten took the national flag and his family into the car, and after the car circled around the official residence, he took Chris Chris to the hall where the handover ceremony was held.
It rained heavily in Hong Kong that day, like tears of joy shed by a child who had not returned home for a long time when he saw his mother.
Hong Kong seemed to want to teach Britain a lesson that day, and many Britons who came to watch the ceremony were drenched several times, and Patten had to change clothes back and forth between the venue and the rest room.
But no matter how gloomy the British side was, the handover ceremony for Hong Kong's return to the motherland began at 23:42 that night.
The atmosphere at the venue was solemn, and more than 40 countries who came to watch the ceremony knew that today was a big day, so no one laughed at the ceremony, and they all waited for the arrival of zero o'clock to witness the return of Hong Kong together.
At 23:42, the band played, and the Chinese and British honor guards entered. The leaders of the two countries followed closely behind and took their seats on the rostrum. Prince Charles then began to speak, as rehearsed for him.
To the surprise of the Chinese delegation, Prince Charles did not speak at the time of the rehearsal. Prince Charles was speaking in the stands faster than the scheduled 23 seconds.
Prince Charles deliberately wanted China to not be able to raise the national flag at zero o'clock, and they didn't want China to get the dignity that the empire couldn't get.
Although Prince Charles's rogue behavior made the Chinese delegation speechless, it is not the time to accuse Britain of being a villain, and the top priority is to urgently adjust all subsequent ceremonies to ensure that the Chinese flag can be raised at zero o'clock.
The person in charge of the general deployment of this return hurriedly contacted the master of ceremonies who was going to appear in the follow-up, and asked him to make his speech shorter, so as to get back the time that had been delayed by Prince Charles.
Subsequently, the person in charge went to inform the honor guard and the flag raiser, and asked them to take two steps when they entered the meeting, and they must not be slow. After Prince Charles finished speaking, our master of ceremonies quickly came on the field, and after finishing what he was going to say in advance, the honor guard and the flag raiser took action.
With the close cooperation of everyone, we finally snatched back those 23 seconds. China's national flag was raised at midnight, and the national anthem echoed over Hong Kong at midnight. That moment became a historic moment.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong completely returned to the embrace of the motherland. All British troops withdrew from Hong Kong, the Hong Kong police insignia was no longer the exclusive property of the British royal family, and the people of Hong Kong were finally freed from British rule.
After more than 100 years, Hong Kong has finally returned to the embrace of the motherland. Although there are many twists and turns, the final result is also good.
The only pity is that Comrade Deng Xiaoping, who strongly advocated the return of Hong Kong, could not see the moment of Hong Kong's return.
However, now that Hong Kong has completely returned to the motherland, and the Chinese people are united in their hearts, Comrade Deng Xiaoping must be very satisfied when he sees the current China in the sky.
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