Author: Wang Zhidong, former Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Manchester.
When I was working in the International Division, Yang Hushan, the director of the department, came to talk to me. The content of this conversation was unexpected, neither a task nor an ideological work. He said bluntly: "Organizationally ready to transfer your work." You probably already know that. ”
"I don't know. How to transfer? ”
"The courier team was short of men, and the ministry asked each department to send one or two cadres of about thirty years old to support. The Cadre Department has chosen you. At first we didn't want to put it, and it seemed that we couldn't stand it. ”
"Let me be a messenger?"
"Yes, be a messenger."
"I am a cadre engaged in research, is it appropriate to be a messenger?" Of course, if the organization is superior, I have to obey. "I said reluctantly.
"You don't want to do it. Some people can't do it if they want to. Old Yang did not elaborate. I couldn't figure out what he meant.
My attitude was reflected by Yang Hushan to the division, and Comrade Ling Qing asked me to do work.
"As a courier, for a moment you are a little far away from diplomatic business, but it is also part of diplomatic work." He said slowly, "As far as I know, the organization has raised your group of people as messengers, not always. First, the messenger 'travels around the world' and then sends him somewhere to conduct research. Messengers can see more documents and materials than they do in the division, which may be faster for personal growth and improvement. Of course, mobility is mainly a job necessity..."
"I obey the job transfer, and I must work well when I go." I smiled reluctantly and left Ling Qing's office. I didn't want to be distracted, but I didn't want to say it, because I was guessing that there might be some other reason in it.
The comrades in the department knew the news that I might be a messenger, and generally agreed. Some comrades did not express any attitude, but they spoke appropriately, and I was touched in my thinking after listening to them. For example, Comrade Li Daoyu said: "In the fifties, when the messenger was selected, the conditions were very strict, so we had to pick so and so pick..." He said as he crossed the bar in front of his eyes with his index finger. "Be politically reliable, graduate from college, speak a foreign language, be young and strong, and have white-area work experience." An old superior I had worked before liberation and is now one of the leaders of the Courier Corps..."
Listening to Li Daoyu's words, my heart opened up a lot, and at the same time I remembered the proverb "trees move to death, people move to live". Moreover, as far as my personal conditions were concerned, my actual qualities at that time also met the requirements of being a messenger, so I decided to go to the messenger team at once. Looking at it now, if you didn't do the Messenger in the first place, how could you have such a wide range of experience later? Comrade Ling Qing was right.
At that time, the office of the International Division had been changed to the eastern half of the sixth floor of the main building, and the western half was the courier team. Shri agreed with me: instead of packing up, just move your desk and chair down the corridor from the east side of the building to the west. So I went to the Messengers.
The courier team was subordinate to the General Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the director of the General Office at that time was Zhang Zhanwu, and the leader of the department in charge was Comrade Han Nianlong.
The conversations of the leaders of the courier corps and the workshops led by the old couriers broadened the horizons of those of us who had come from the Regional Operations Division. This confidential unit has more contacts with confidential bureaus at home and more with important officials of embassies and consulates abroad. Documents, materials, and letters are exposed on a daily basis, and it is the responsibility of the messenger to safely deliver diplomatic mail. Messengers travel on arduous tasks, and it is necessary to overcome various difficulties such as jet lag, temperature difference, high-altitude reaction, and flight fatigue, and also to be mentally prepared to sacrifice their lives. Since the founding of New China, at different times, six messengers have sacrificed their precious lives due to plane crashes.
Due to the special and difficult nature of the messenger's work, the state and the people give the messenger a higher treatment. Couriers holding diplomatic passports enjoy diplomatic immunity and may travel in first class for civil aviation and foreign aviation. The initial installation fee was 1556 yuan, which was not a small amount at the time. At home and abroad, the standard of food is four dishes and one soup, and the personal allowance is slightly higher than that of diplomats of the same level.
The above is the introduction to the Messenger. After working on the ground for a period of time, I feel that to do a good job in messenger work, it is generally necessary to pass the "three passes", that is, the pass of life and death, the pass of bitterness, and the pass of dedication.
"Life and death" is to put it bluntly, to put life and death aside, or to try not to think about the problem of life and death. If you think about it, think that people are always going to die, just sooner or later. As for the plane crash, it can only be said that the messenger encountered more opportunities, and it was useless to think more. Otherwise, it would be better not to be a messenger at all, but to do this work was voluntary, and the superiors did not force anyone to interfere with the messenger.
But then again, flying often is not an accident. Experts estimate that the safety factor of flying is the highest, followed by ships, trains, cars, motorcycles... Of course, no matter how high the safety factor is, it is not 100% accident-free. The Messenger needs to pass through the barrier of life and death, and it is the will to "not be afraid of death, and to die for the country is to die for what it deserves." In this way, you can try not to think about or think less about life and death, and you can devote yourself to work and be a good messenger.
What does "bittersweet" mean? Often travel bitter, no holiday bitter, eat foreign food bitter, pour jet lag bitter... However, these are not bitter, the most painful is the night duty during long-distance flights, and I really want to sleep and insist on not sleeping. I really want to use the "head overhang, cone piercing" method to drive away their drowsiness to ensure the safety of the document, so that people in the file. If a document is lost, the punishment or heavy punishment of the individual is a trivial matter, and the irreparable damage to the country is a major matter, which is the credo that every messenger keeps in mind.
Messenger work has both bitterness and pleasure, and this "happiness" refers to entertainment and optimism, such as carrying out cultural and sports activities and organizing visits and excursions. The music advocated here cannot be "happy" and must withstand the test of the world of flowers and flowers. For example, swimming in the sea, when you see undressed Western men and women, you can't always close your eyes and deliberately avoid, but you can't jump and take off yourself.
"Dedication" generally refers to doing a line, loving a line, specializing in a line, studying hard and constantly innovating in the post. In addition to this meaning, it mainly refers to the premise that the following work needs to be done. Some messengers said: "The first phase is 'fresh', the second phase is 'OK', and the third phase relies on 'party spirit'." "Dry messenger work theory " period", 800 days for a period (800 working days on business, about 4 years or so).
There are more than 150 countries that have established diplomatic relations in China, and a messenger is running "one shot for another place", and it is impossible to run completely in one phase. Therefore, everywhere I go, I feel "fresh" and I have the energy to do. After the second 800 days, there is not much freshness, but continue to work "OK". If the organization is allowed to work for the third 800 days, although he will not "retreat" and insist on not doing it, he will mainly consider the needs of the work, that is, relying on "party spirit" to continue to do messenger work.
I worked as a messenger for four periods because of the needs of my work. Others joined the courier corps after graduating from college and did not leave until almost retirement. Comrade Sun Zhonglin, due to his strong professionalism, in addition to traveling to complete the messenger business, also worked hard to study the air ticket calculation business. In more than two decades of courier career, he saved millions of yuan in foreign exchange for the whole team to buy air tickets.
Another important feature of dry messengers is that they spend more time studying, more time visiting and inspecting social conditions at home and abroad, but less time for rest. The hardships and working hours of the courier work are concentrated in the period from the time of leaving the gate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the gate of the foreign embassy or consulate. The time other than this is basically at the disposal of the messenger himself, and this large chunk of time can be used for study, rest, excursion or recreation, which is incomparable to other jobs, and is the advantage unique to the work of the messenger.
Some messengers use their spare time to write articles for publication, some translate books and publish them, and do a lot of things that are beneficial to society; some people leave their posts as ambassadors and counselors, and some are promoted to deputy directors. It can be seen that the work of messengers is man-made, and like other diplomatic work, it is both important and promising.
Of course, to do a good job in messenger work, in addition to self-improvement and strict self-discipline, we also need the attention and care of all quarters. Since the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the courier team has existed to this day, and the head of the central government and the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have always been concerned about the growth of the courier team.
In the early days of the ministry, the criteria for selecting messengers were stipulated. Later, Premier Zhou gave detailed instructions and clarified the relevant matters in the report of Comrade Liu Ying, director of the Cadre Department, on the work of the courier. Many department leaders directly inquired about or were in charge of the work of the messengers, and Comrade Qian Qichen personally spoke to the messengers. On more than one occasion, the Ministry's Party Committee held special meetings to discuss the reform of the Messenger Corps.
With the development of the situation and the improvement of the technology of transmitting diplomatic documents, while the courier team has deepened its reform and better adapted to the needs of diplomatic work, it has also become an important stage for training and training diplomatic cadres.
-end-
Text | "I'm the Diplomat"
Author | Wang Zhidong
Image | Originated from the web
Edit | Diplomat says something xiao ha