In July 1977, the Third Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held. The conference decided to restore Deng Xiaoping to his previous positions as Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Vice Premier of the State Council, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Obviously, Deng Xiaoping's re-emergence heralds the coming of a new era.
What is quite surprising is that Deng Xiaoping chose to make his debut in a football match between a Hong Kong team and a Chinese youth team.
Just when the game between the two sides was about to begin, and everyone held their breath waiting for the whistle to blow, a short and capable figure appeared on the rostrum, breaking the tranquility before the competition, and warm applause suddenly erupted from inside and outside the stadium. , the applause was earth-shattering and lasting.
Deng Xiaoping, who had not appeared in public for more than a year, appeared to be in good spirits and his style remained the same. He frequently waved to those present, and many people shed tears of excitement.
Picture | In 1977, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian and others attended the closing ceremony of the Beijing International Football Friendship Invitational Tournament.
Among these people with moist eyes, there was a very special Hong Kong businessman. He was the Hong Kong real estate tycoon, the president of the Hong Kong Football Association, and the Asia Mr. Fok Ying-tung, executive member of the Football Association.
According to Fok Ying-tung 's own later recollection, he could no longer remember how many football matches he had watched in his life. However, the match that left the most profound memory in his mind and made him feel excited was none other than this one. That lively scene was something he would never forget.
In fact, Deng Xiaoping and Huo Yingdong were old acquaintances. They met in the 1960s. Although they were already familiar with each other, this unique meeting allowed him to deeply experience the huge personality charm of this little giant.
Fok Yingdong believes that a wise leader who is so deeply loved by the people will surely lead the Chinese people on the road to prosperity and strength.
In Fok Yingdong's view, when China is facing an important historical turning point, with an outstanding leader like Deng Xiaoping at the helm, China's future will be promising, and Hong Kong's problems will also be promising.
In this situation, Huo Yingdong had already forgotten his identity. He transformed into an ordinary audience member, applauding continuously and clapping his hands red, without knowing it at all.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Fok Yingdong's mind: Why did Deng Xiaoping choose to leave his first appearance to the Hong Kong football team to participate in the game? How important was the Hong Kong issue in Deng Xiaoping's mind?
The scene when Deng Xiaoping talked with Huo Yingdong in the early years
Deng Xiaoping made his debut in this competition. Whether Deng Xiaoping had any profound intention is now unknown to us. But Deng Xiaoping had a special liking for the Hong Kong issue and never forgot Hong Kong's return to the motherland. We can confirm this.
In January 1980, Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech on " The Current Situation and Tasks " at a cadre meeting held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, setting out three major things that the Chinese government should do in the 1980s.
He said that the first thing is to oppose hegemonism in international affairs and maintain world peace; the second major thing is the issue of Taiwan's return and the reunification of the motherland; the third thing is to step up economic construction and intensify Four modernizations.
Long before this, Deng Xiaoping had already raised the Hong Kong issue and closely linked the Hong Kong issue with the three major tasks. When Deng Xiaoping was planning the general trend of the world, he placed the Hong Kong issue in an excellent position, making it a living chess piece that connected internally with modernization, externally with international relations, and opened up the road to the reunification of the motherland.
As the so-called "1997 deadline" approaches, the United Kingdom is trying every means to preserve Hong Kong, the "goose that lays golden eggs." Choosing to highlight this issue at the right time and then inducing Chinese leaders to make concessions on the Hong Kong issue is what the UK urgently needs to do.
After careful consideration, the British decided to send the then Governor of Hong Kong MacLehose to test China's attitude.
The British side finally made the decision to let MacLehose take on this role, not only because of his Hong Kong Governor status, but also because the other party happened to receive an invitation from our government at this time, which can be said to be "justified", and naturally he was not qualified for this task. Two choices.
Li Qiang when he was the Minister of Foreign Trade
In December 1978, Li Qiang, Minister of Foreign Trade of China, visited Hong Kong.
He is the official ministerial-level official of our country who has officially visited Hong Kong since the founding of New China. Minister Li Qiang's visit is a symbol of the gradually closer relations between the two places. To make this relationship even closer, Minister Li Qiang formally invited MacLehose to visit Beijing at a luncheon at the Government House in Hong Kong.
The British side will naturally not miss the opportunity to talk with China. Therefore, MacLehose and his party decisively obtained the British consent to go and test the attitude of Chinese leaders towards the future of Hong Kong.
On March 26, 1979, MacLehose and his party arrived in Beijing.
On the evening of the 28th, we issued an invitation. Vice Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping would meet with British guests the next day. In the notice, we made it clear that we hoped that the other party would not ask Deng Xiaoping about the return of Hong Kong in 1997.
Deng Xiaoping met with Hong Kong Governor MacLehose
The next day, Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping met with MacLehose and his party at the Xinjiang Hall of the Great Hall of the People. He was accompanied by Li Qiang and Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Liao Chengzhi and others.
What surprised the British guests was that just when they thought that this meeting was about to test the Chinese leaders' intentions on the future of Hong Kong, they did not expect that after a few simple greetings, Deng Xiaoping actually took the initiative to talk to them about Hong Kong. question, which surprised them.
At the beginning, Deng Xiaoping made our attitude clear. He said: "We have always believed that the sovereignty of Hong Kong belongs to the People's Republic of China . Hong Kong's status is extremely special. When talking about Hong Kong issues in the future, the premise is that Hong Kong belongs to China. Part of it. But we will treat Hong Kong as a special region. For a long time, Hong Kong can still engage in his capitalism , while we engage in our socialism."
In the conversation, Deng Xiaoping made it clear. , hoping that MacLehose can encourage more Hong Kong industrialists to invest and do business in the mainland, especially by taking advantage of Shenzhen's proximity to Hong Kong to develop Shenzhen into a big city in the future.
In order to reassure the British representatives, Deng Xiaoping said: "Even if Hong Kong returns to the motherland in the future, it will still enjoy a special status. China has not yet decided when to exercise sovereignty over Hong Kong. It may be taken back before 1997. But no matter what happens to China in the end It was decided that Hong Kong would maintain its status quo and the interests of investors would also be protected. "
On March 29, 1979, Deng Xiaoping met with Hong Kong Governor MacLehose
At this time, MacLehose took the opportunity to raise the British issue on the land lease. plan.
He told Deng Xiaoping that as 1997 progressed, the British could only grant increasingly shorter land contracts, and investors in " New Territories " encountered big problems. He proposed the British solution to what seemed to be a purely commercial problem: to eliminate the 1997 expiration date in the land lease and replace it with a content that "is valid as long as the British govern this area."
Deng Xiaoping did not directly answer the question raised by the other party, which was called a wily question. He directly replied: "You tell the investors in Hong Kong, please rest assured."
Deng Xiaoping did not receive a positive answer from Deng Xiaoping. MacLehose did not Don’t give up. He continued to ask in a roundabout way: "Although Vice Premier Deng's answer made us happy to hear it, your "guarantee" did not eliminate the anxiety caused by the approaching land lease period. To completely eliminate this With a sense of urgency, the deadline of 1997 had to be eliminated."
Faced with MacLehose's successive attacks, Deng Xiaoping sensed something was wrong and immediately responded : "No matter how you talk about the land deadline, you must avoid mentioning "British control." "When we mention that Hong Kong will remain unchanged in the future, we do not mean its political situation, but that Hong Kong will continue to implement the capitalist system unchanged in the future while ensuring that the interests of Hong Kong investors in Hong Kong remain unchanged.
At the end of these words, Deng Xiaoping once again reiterated his point of view, asking "people who invest, please rest assured."
Hong Kong in the 1980s
The meeting between MacLehose and his party and Deng Xiaoping ended in this way.
Although this The result of this meeting did not achieve the purpose of the British trip, but for the British side, they have at least received the most important guarantee from China, that is, Hong Kong will continue to implement the capitalist system regardless of its sovereignty in the future. . This is a blessing among misfortunes.
In fact, before MacLehose came to Beijing, Deng Xiaoping had already had a good idea for solving the Hong Kong problem. This clear idea comes from deep thinking on the Taiwan issue.
Among the most difficult negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations between and the United States,
Deng Xiaoping put forward new ideas in order to solve this difficult problem. From the second half of 1978 to the beginning of 1979, Deng Xiaoping met with guests from all parties. When mentioning the Taiwan issue, he stated many times that we hoped to solve the Taiwan issue peacefully, but did not rule out the use of force; the motherland would definitely To achieve reunification, we will respect Taiwan's actual situation and continue to retain the original social and economic systems, as well as our way of life.
Deng Xiaoping's idea later became " one country, two systems ".
When dealing with issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Austria, Deng Xiaoping did not think about the issues in isolation, but coordinated these areas for planning.
On January 18, 1979, he met with members of the Special Task Force of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. Tuan Shi once said: "After Taiwan's return, its social system and way of life will be preserved, and the mainland will not interfere excessively. Then he pointed out that we also adhere to the same principle of respect when dealing with Hong Kong issues and Macau issues. "
However, because many issues in Hong Kong are still unresolved, many things have not become clear, and coupled with the interference of many other things, Hong Kong people and many businessmen investing in Hong Kong have experienced a state of anxiety , and the stability of Hong Kong society has been affected. In this context, British Foreign Secretary Carrington personally took action and prepared to seek "reassurance" from Deng Xiaoping again.
On April 3, 1981, Deng Xiaoping met with Carrington, the British Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
On April 3, 1981, Deng Xiaoping met with visiting Carrington in Beijing.
After the talks began, Carrington said to Deng Xiaoping: "Before coming to Beijing, I specially stayed in Hong Kong for two or three days. Through this. After a few days of observation, I can clearly feel the panic in society. Our British government operates in full compliance with the law, so although you have given us the necessary guarantees in previous talks, with the 1997 As the time approaches, when Hong Kong businessmen sign real estate contracts and mortgage contracts with us, they are very concerned about the legality of the contracts they sign. Can they be guaranteed?
These problems are all difficulties we have been facing in governing Hong Kong. We did not want to magnify this matter, but it has affected Hong Kong's continued prosperity. If this matter is not handled well, the interests of both parties will be harmed. "
After listening to Carrington's words, Deng Xiaoping thought for a moment and replied: "We can't say too much about this matter, but we can solemnly tell you what I said when I talked to Sir MacLehose in 1979. This statement can be guaranteed. It already represents China’s attitude and is trustworthy. You can tell investors in Hong Kong that they have complete peace of mind. "
Afterwards, Carrington held a press conference in Beijing to pass on his new ideas during the meeting with Deng Xiaoping to everyone, and once again emphasized Deng Xiaoping's words, "Investors can be completely assured. "
Ye Shuai
In September of this year, Ye Jianying, Chairman of the National People's Congress, announced the Chinese government's nine-point policy on Taiwan's return to the motherland and the realization of peaceful reunification.Although Hong Kong's policy is different from Taiwan's, the two are similar on many issues. Central leaders have accelerated the formulation of specific policies for Hong Kong based on Taiwan policies.
On January 10, 1982, Deng Xiaoping said when meeting an overseas person: "The 'Nine Articles' are actually 'one country, two policies.'"
In order to formulate a detailed and reasonable plan to solve the future problems of Hong Kong, Deng Xiaoping He personally conducted investigations and held in-depth talks with people from all walks of life in Hong Kong. On the one hand, he patiently and carefully explained our policies to the other party, and on the other hand, he listened humbly to the voices of Hong Kong people in order to improve and supplement the Hong Kong policy and make it as perfect as possible. , and will not affect Hong Kong's continued prosperity.
With the efforts of leaders at all levels of the central government headed by Deng Xiaoping, the "Twelve Points" basic policy for Hong Kong was successfully introduced.
Deng Xiaoping and Li Ka-shing
It is worth mentioning that in April of this year, the Chinese people welcomed their old friend Heath.
As the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, his visit to China not only means revisiting his old place as an old friend, but also means learning more about the Chinese government's policies and policies on resolving the Hong Kong issue.
As an old friend, Deng Xiaoping specially met with this old friend.
Heath was filled with emotion when he saw an old friend he had not seen for a long time. He recalled that when he visited China in 1974, he was received by Chairman Mao Zedong. During the conversation, the two sides also talked about the Hong Kong issue.
Heath said to Deng Xiaoping: "You were also here that time. At that time, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou said that it would be 1997 anyway, and it was still early. It was better to let the younger generation take charge. Now it is only 15 years from 1997. Years have passed, how are you considering handling this matter during this period? "
On May 25, 1974, Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping met with former British Prime Minister Heath and his entourage in Chairman Mao's study in Zhongnanhai.
Deng Xiaoping listened. Finally, he said bluntly: "The sovereignty of Hong Kong belongs to China, including the "New Territories", that is, the entire Hong Kong. In the past, we signed unequal treaties with the United Kingdom, and these treaties were actually abrogated." Deng Xiaoping told Xi very sincerely Thinking: "We are very good old friends. If we cannot take back Hong Kong when the time comes, none of us leaders will be able to pay the debt."
Deng Xiaoping's words were categorical and very powerful. In the back-and-forth battle, the British understood Their policy of constant detours and trials was obviously countered by Deng Xiaoping's tough attitude.
Although after that, China and the UK went through countless back-and-forth battles, but fortunately, we were able to successfully crack it in the end.
It is the general trend for Hong Kong to return to the embrace of the motherland, and no country or individual can stop the progress of history.
All Chinese people are waiting with tears for the arrival of 1997.
On January 28, 1996, the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Military Commission of the People's Republic of China issued an announcement in Beijing: the formation of the Chinese Garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been completed. The Hong Kong Garrison consists of land, sea and air forces and is affiliated to Leadership of the People's Military Commission of China.
December 11 is a very meaningful day in the history of Hong Kong. Tung Chee-hwa was elected as the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the third meeting of the First Government Selection Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This was the first time in the history of Hong Kong that the top Chief Executive was elected by the Hong Kong people themselves.
At 0:00 on July 1, 1997, the bright five-star red flag, which has been flying on the land of Hong Kong, China for more than 150 years, rose slowly.
At this moment, people can't help but think of Deng Xiaoping, who made great contributions to the return of Hong Kong. However, Deng Xiaoping, who had passed by, stayed in, or participated in meetings to plan revolutionary plans and visited Hong Kong five times in his life, passed away more than four months ago from the world he was so fond of. The old man's biggest wish during his lifetime was to walk around and see his own land in person after Hong Kong returned to the motherland. The old man's long-cherished wish in life can no longer be realized, and he can no longer set foot on this land that has returned to the embrace of the motherland.
Fortunately, Deng Xiaoping's wife Zhuo Lin set foot on the sacred land of Hong Kong as a member of the Chinese government delegation. This visit brought Deng Xiaoping's deep affection and love with her.
On July 1, 1997, Deng Xiaoping's widow Zhuo Lin was invited to participate in the celebration of Hong Kong's return.
The return of Hong Kong washed away the century-old humiliation of the Chinese nation. Hong Kong's history has since turned a new page. Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one country, two systems" has also It started to become a reality.
With the gradual rise of the nation, I think that the wanderer who is still suspended overseas will eventually return to the embrace of the motherland before long.
