In the past, I left, and the willows clung to me; now I come to think about it, and the rain and snow are falling - " Book of Songs "
The last years of the Qing Dynasty were the most unbearable past events for our country. During that period, our country had a huge amount of money and land. However, fortunately, some land is given out on lease, which means that when our country becomes stronger, they can return to the embrace of the motherland.
Before 2000, Hong Kong and Macau returned to our country one after another. However, in addition to these two areas, there was another area that also left in a 99-year cycle and became a colony of other countries. However, it returned to the motherland 52 years in advance. .
The former Zhanjiang City
Zhanjiang is located on the southeast coast of my country. After years of development, the economy has become very developed. However, Zhanjiang City also has a past. The previous name here was Guangzhou Bay , and it was also a concession.
In 1897, Zhanjiang came into the sight of foreigners for the first time. At that time, a French warship encountered a typhoon and had to dock in the waters near Zhanjiang for repairs. This docking also made them discover that Zhanjiang is a very suitable port. region, just like this, Zhanjiang officially entered France's goals.
Two years later, French warships officially entered Zhanjiang, forcing the Qing government to cede Zhanjiang to France. In order for the Qing government to give up this land, France even invited the United Kingdom, Italy and other countries to cheer . Why would France do this? To be so persistent, you must know that Zhanjiang at that time was far from its current scale. At that time, Zhanjiang was like a wasteland. Except for some fishermen who lived there all year round, there were no basic roads.
France came here not only to obtain this piece of land, but also to use it as a dock to successfully open up the Qing Dynasty market. Although the Qing Dynasty was lonely at that time, because of its rich heritage, large number of people, and market potential It was very large. According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty at that time, foreigners were not allowed to build docks here. However, because they were inferior to others, in 1899, the Qing government was forced to sign the "Guangzhou Bay Concession Treaty" with France.
Although it was forced to cede land, fortunately, the word "cede" was not mentioned in this treaty. Instead, the land was taken out in the form of a concession. The Qing government leased Guangzhou Bay, which is now Zhanjiang, to France, the lease term is 99 years. During the 99 years, the waters near Guangzhou Bay, including East China Sea Island, , all belong to France. France has absolute administrative power here, and the Qing government is not allowed to send officials to station here.
It can be said that since 1899, Zhanjiang has all belonged to France, but fortunately France has gradually declined, giving us hope of return.
Changes in the situation
In the blink of an eye, we arrived during the Second World War. The Second World War not only changed the pattern of most of Europe, but also changed the ownership of the Guangzhou Bay area. Before World War II , France is a European power that takes no exception, but when faced with the German blitzkrieg attack, it was defeated and directly announced its surrender.
Since then, France's strong position in the world has completely dissipated. To a certain extent, France at that time has completely fallen, France has completely subjugated itself, and the French colony of Guangzhou Bay has naturally fallen into the hands of Germany. At that time, Japan and Germany were in an alliance, so Japan did not hesitate to station troops in Guangzhou Bay.
Because the French regime at that time had become a puppet of Germany, Japan forced the French puppet government to sign an agreement to jointly defend Guangzhou. In other words, this was actually a transfer agreement, because at that time all the governance rights in the Guangzhou Bay area were handed over to Japan.
In 1945, as Japan and Germany surrendered successively, France re-established its country under the command of de Gaulle , and the issue of the ownership of Guangzhou Bay was once again put on the agenda. Will Zhanjiang still belong to France this time?
Zhanjiang returns
Although after the end of World War II, many areas in China still have not returned to the embrace of the motherland, but fortunately this land was first leased to France. Although France is also a victorious country, its international status is very Poor, not only was it almost destroyed by the defeat, but it also did not make much contribution during World War II. It even became Germany's arsenal for a time, so France had no right to occupy this land. In addition, this land had been divided into Japan, so China and Japan are actually competing for it.
France completely lost its direct control over Guangzhou Bay, and the next step was the competition between Japan and China. During World War II, although China did not participate in the European battlefield, it restricted more than 80% of Japan's military power in the Chinese battlefield, except for the Japanese navy and a small number of Japanese troops, and other Japanese troops all stayed on the Chinese battlefield. If the Soviet Union sent troops to defeat the Kwantung Army , China's contribution to the victory of World War II was at least more than 20%.
After negotiation, Guangzhou Bay, that is, the Zhanjiang area, finally belonged to China. However, because the Qing government signed an agreement directly with France, the matter still had to go through France. In August 1945, the French government agreed to advance Guangzhou Bay 52 years. It was returned to China, and China quickly renamed it Zhenjiang and incorporated it into China's territory.
At this time, excluding those ceded lands, only Macao and Hong Kong need to continue to fight for it, especially Hong Kong, which is the hardest bone to crack, and this fight involves the issue of national strength.
On the eve of 2000, Hong Kong’s lease period expired, and the British government quickly made a request to continue the lease. It also made a lot of preparations in advance. For example, before the handover, the British government opened up its immigration policy to Hong Kong residents on a large scale, and in The public spreads the inconveniences after the handover, hoping to use public opinion and public pressure to make the Chinese government give up taking back Hong Kong.
But the Chinese government at that time had entered a new era. People who had emerged from the war did not follow the British approach. In order to appease people's hearts, China quickly proposed the one country, two systems policy. Until now, local problems in Hong Kong are still governed by The Hong Kong government uses to solve it.
After the Chinese government refused, the British Mrs. Thatcher came to China for negotiations, but Deng Xiaoping's attitude was very tough at this time, and he made it clear in front of the media that he would not rule out the possibility of taking it back by force. This sentence left Mrs. Thatcher speechless, and the media also released a headline: The Iron Lady Met the Strong Man, so in 1997, Hong Kong officially returned to China.
In the late Qing Dynasty, we lost too much land. Therefore, after the founding of New China, we not only had to not give up any land, but also tried every means to recover the lost land. Due to various reasons, the ceded land could not be Take back, but there is no room for negotiation for these leased areas. This is the courage supported by national power.
