In 1949, when New China was born and the Chiang Kai-shek clique defeated Taiwan, Taiwan became a historical problem plaguing both sides of the strait.
Originally, the heroic People's Liberation Army could have taken advantage of the victory to pursue and liberate Taiwan in one fell swoop like the liberation of Hainan Island, but due to the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States sent the Seventh Fleet to intervene in the great cause of the liberation of New China, so the liberation of Taiwan had to be temporarily shelved.
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Chinese Volunteer Army lived up to the expectations of the people and defeated the United Nations army headed by the United States.
In 1954, the United States and Chiang Kai-shek signed the Mutual Defense Treaty, declaring that if Taiwan was attacked, the United States would send troops in the name of the Allies to jointly defend Taiwan.
Moreover, in order to send troops more "justly and with a straight face," the United States has spared no effort to lobby Chiang Kai-shek in the hope of forming a two-China situation, just like North and South Korea.
However, although Chiang Kai-shek was reactionary, he still had a basic national righteousness, resisted the lobbying of the Americans, adhered to the one-China stand, and resolutely opposed independence. In this way, it has caused certain troubles to the United States in international public opinion.
The mainland also greatly appreciated Chiang Kai-shek's practice of upholding the great national righteousness, so Chairman Mao had a new idea in the way of reunification with Taiwan, that is, to carry out the third kuomintang-communist cooperation to jointly safeguard the reunification of the motherland and resist foreign aggression and interference.
In 1956, Chairman Mao gave full consideration to the interests of the Taiwan side, showed great sincerity, and creatively put forward the new proposition of "one program and four purposes," which can be called the prototype of "one country, two systems."
After having this idea, Chairman Mao also wrote a heartfelt handwritten letter to Chiang Kai-shek, in which he praised Chiang Kai-shek's adherence to the one-China stand and called on the two sides of the strait to abandon their past grievances, plan for the well-being of the Chinese nation, and create the third Kuomintang-Communist cooperation.
In addition, Chairman Mao also solemnly invited Chiang Kai-shek to return to the mainland for a visit and inspection and to negotiate with the Beijing side; as long as the two sides of the strait adhere to one China, other details can be resolved through negotiations, and the central authorities can give sufficient preferential consideration to the treasure island side, which can be summed up as "one program and four eyes."
One of the "one programs" is that Taiwan must be reunified with China.
The "four eyes" include: First, after Taiwan is reunified with China, in addition to the need to unify diplomacy with the central authorities, Taiwan's military and political powers and personnel arrangements are entrusted to Chiang Kai-shek;
Second, all expenses for Taiwan's military and political economic construction shall be allocated by the central government;
Third, Taiwan's social reform can be carried out after consultation and decision after consultation and decision when the conditions are ripe and the opinions of Chiang Kai-shek are respected;
Fourth, the two sides agreed not to send spies or to undermine unity.
It is not difficult to see that the "one program and four eyes" and the later "one country, two systems" are closely related.
After Chairman Mao wrote a good letter, he needed to choose a person who enjoyed high prestige on both sides of the strait as a messenger, and he thought of his own teacher Zhang Shizhao.
Zhang Shizhao is a pivotal figure in modern times, called a "national treasure" by Chiang Kai-shek, and has invited Zhang Shizhao to accompany him to Taiwan many times, but zhang Shizhao has been politely rejected, but it can also be seen that Zhang Shizhao's status in Chiang Kai-shek's mind can be seen.
Zhang Shizhao was already 75 years old at the time, but when he learned of this task, he resolutely obeyed his fate and took on this heavy responsibility related to the well-being of the Chinese nation despite his old age and physical decline.
At that time, the two sides of the strait could not have direct communication, so Zhang Shizhao took Chairman Mao's handwritten letter and first went to Hong Kong and then to Taiwan. But unfortunately, after Zhang Shizhao arrived in Hong Kong, he suddenly fell seriously ill and could not fulfill this mission, so he had to entrust Mr. Xu Xiaoyan, the president of the Hong Kong Times, who was known for his patriotic sentiments, to go to Taiwan in his place to complete this mission.
When Chiang Kai-shek learned of this, he immediately agreed to Xu Xiaoyan's visit to Taiwan and personally received him.
Before Xu Xiaoyan went to Taiwan, for the sake of safety, he did not explain that there was a handwritten letter from Chairman Mao, and only after meeting Chiang Kai-shek did he take out this letter.
Chiang Kai-shek took a look at the letter, and sure enough, it was Chairman Mao's bold and wavy font, and he couldn't help but feel a thousand emotions, carefully read the letter several times, and for a long time he was silent and fell into contemplation.
Chairman Mao's "one program and four eyes" was indeed greatly unexpected by Chiang Kai-shek, who fully felt Chairman Mao's sincerity, but it was impossible to respond casually to such a major matter, so Chiang Kai-shek only said to Xu Xiaoyan: "You have worked hard." ”
After Xu Xiaoyan returned to Hong Kong, he wrote a detailed report and forwarded it to Chairman Mao.
In early 1957, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Xu Xiaoyan again and asked him to send a message to Beijing to prepare to send Song Yishan to Beijing for detailed talks.
After obtaining the consent of the Beijing side, Song Yishan arrived in Beijing, was personally received by Premier Zhou, and once again put forward four specific conditions for the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the strait:
First, the two parties can achieve peaceful reunification through reciprocal negotiations;
Second, Taiwan can enjoy a high degree of autonomy as an autonomous region under the jurisdiction of the central government;
Third, the political power in The Taiwan region is still under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, and the CCP does not send people to participate, while the Kuomintang can send people to Beijing to participate in the leadership of the central government;
Fourth, U.S. military forces withdrew from the Taiwan Strait.
Later, the two sides of the strait communicated many times and made some progress through the running of Cao Juren, an intermediary, but in the end, due to various reasons, they failed in their achievements, and until the deaths of Chiang Kai-shek and Chairman Mao one after another, they failed to achieve this great goal.
Of course, chairman Mao's "one program and four goals" did not resolve the Taiwan issue at that time, but it also provided important ideas for the subsequent return of Hong Kong and Macao, and gave birth to the famous "one country, two systems."
(References: "The Three Kuomintang-Communist Negotiations I Personally Experienced", "Party History Overview", "Literature and History Expo")