Today is the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to . It's really full of emotions, successes and failures, just at the snap of a finger.
At this moment, I have a lot to say, because Hong Kong’s smooth return contains too much.
The bloodshed and sacrifice of our ancestors, the growing strength of the motherland, and the determination of the great man have brought about all this, including today's peaceful and prosperous age.
The Hong Kong issue was first related to the three unequal treaties signed by the Qing government and the British army.
Starting from the Opium War in 1840, the Qing government successively signed three unequal treaties with the British government, successively ceding Chinese territory including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories with a total area of 1,092 square kilometers to of Britain.
Hong Kong is a high-quality port in East Asia. The British occupied Hong Kong and gained great benefits, but it caused all Chinese people to suffer hundreds of years of humiliation.
In 1949, the Chinese People's Liberation Army straddled the north and south of the Yangtze River, and its military force was at its peak. It was easy to regain Hong Kong.
At the critical moment, Chairman Mao maintained the status quo of Hong Kong with great foresight, using it as a breakthrough for China's economy and diplomacy, which were in desperate need of improvement.
This move not only broke the diplomatic isolation of New China, but also continuously introduced a series of materials urgently needed by New China through the Hong Kong port.
This is the well-known image metaphor, Hong Kong is a "window" for communication between China and the world.
However, the Hong Kong issue must be resolved, and Hong Kong must return to the embrace of the motherland. This is a matter of time, but we made the best choice based on specific historical conditions.
Mao Zedong confessed in his later years that even if the Hong Kong issue was based on the treaty signed between the Qing government and the British, there must be a smooth settlement in 1997.
In 1982, British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher visited China, during which she mentioned the Hong Kong issue.
At that time, Britain had just won the Falklands War against Argentina, and they wanted to take the opportunity to continue the unequal treaties signed by the Qing government.
During the talks, Deng Xiaoping unswervingly said three key sentences.
"It is true that China is poor, but the Chinese are not afraid of death when fighting!"
"China has no room for maneuver on the Hong Kong issue. Frankly speaking, sovereignty is not an issue that can be discussed. Now the time has matured,
should be clearly affirmed: 1997 China will take back Hong Kong. That is to say, China will take back not only the New Territories, but also Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. "
"If it does not take back, it means that the Chinese government is the late Qing government and the Chinese leader is Li Hongzhang!
At this time, there are still 15 years until Hong Kong's return.
At this time, the British clearly felt that China at this time was no longer the China of the past. If it refused to hand it over, a local war would be inevitable. After all, the British had no chance of victory.
After that, the Chinese and British delegations went through two years of negotiations, and finally on December 19, 1984, an epoch-making day, the two countries formally signed the negotiation results on the Hong Kong issue at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. British Joint Declaration.
In 1992, Liu Huaqing, the former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered the plan to take over Hong Kong to be sent to Deng Xiaoping.
After reading it, Deng Xiaoping criticized it with two words: soft.
The reason is that the army is only prepared to receive it peacefully, and is not prepared to receive it with force. Deng Xiaoping said: We must be prepared to receive it with force.
Comrade Xiaoping conveyed a spirit.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong must return. If the British side delays Hong Kong's return for various reasons by that time, the Chinese People's Liberation Army must directly go to Hong Kong and take it over by force.
According to the instructions, our army is ready to receive it by force.
At the beginning of 1997, the British made their final struggle. They dispatched a British special naval fleet consisting of frigates, aircraft carriers and other warships that had fought in the Falklands to the South China Sea to carry out the so-called "Wave 97" action.
At this point in time, the British are obviously putting pressure on China and creating additional trouble for the return of Hong Kong.
But they all underestimated and underestimated the determination and strength of New China to safeguard national security interests.
Our South China Sea Fleet and Guangzhou Military Region responded quickly and sent ships to closely monitor and track the British fleet. The two sides faced off in the South China Sea for more than 70 hours.
The British side did not get any advantage, and finally compromised and left in anger.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong's return to China went extremely smoothly without any accidents. However, few people knew that the support behind all this was the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which was always ready to attack with force.
Seeing that Hong Kong's return has become a reality, the British want to disgust the Chinese. Even a small move will never make you Chinese feel better.
According to the agreement, the British side should end the music and lower the British flag at 23:59:58, and then leave 2 seconds for the Chinese military band to prepare gestures.
Because we want to ensure that the flag is raised on time at 0:00:00 on July 1, 1997, without missing a second.
The Chinese people have been waiting for this day for too long. They cannot delay it for a second. Every second of delay is a great shame for us.
As a result, that night, the British Prince Charles 's speech was delayed for a full 23 seconds, and the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense.
Next, the emcee began to speed up the progress of each link, striving to regain the 23 seconds of delay.
In the end, the British side was forced to lower their flag 12 seconds earlier, leaving enough space for us to prepare for the flag-raising ceremony.
At 0:00:00 on July 1, 1997, the national flag of the People's Republic of China was raised in Hong Kong on time, and Hong Kong successfully returned to the embrace of the motherland.
After Hong Kong returned to China, Macau also returned smoothly.
The supporting factor behind all this is China’s growing strength.
Without the support of strong national and military power, Hong Kong and Macau back then could only return in the Chinese dream.
Now we open our eyes to see the world, and the superpower the United States has become our only opponent.
Once upon a time, even small countries like Portugal and Spain could step on us and force us to cede territory and pay compensation.
This makes people think of the conversation between my country’s diplomatic ambassador Yang Jiechi and the Americans that went viral on the Internet some time ago.
Faced with the U.S.’s unreasonable attacks and accusations and its lack of hospitality in diplomatic etiquette, Yang Jiechi uttered the golden sentence that was liked and forwarded by hundreds of millions of netizens:
“We think of you too well, we think You will abide by basic diplomatic etiquette, so we have to clarify our position just now. Let me say this now, you are not qualified to say in front of China that you talk to China from a position of strength. "
"Twenty years ago, three years ago. You didn’t have the position to say this ten years ago, because the Chinese didn’t do this.”
Before the second meeting of the subsequent China-US high-level strategic dialogue, Minister Wang Yi: “Have you had lunch?”
Director Yang Jiechi’s words: “I eat instant noodles.” makes people even more emotional.
Yes, behind the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the hard work and sacrifice of many Chinese people.
Then, People's Daily published two Xin Chou year meeting scenes.
In 1901, the year of Xin Chou, great powers including the United States forced China to sign the "Xin Chou Treaty" which was humiliating and humiliating the country.
In the year of Xin Chou 2021, China warned the United States in the high-level strategic dialogue: "The United States is not qualified to speak condescendingly to China, and the Chinese do not accept this trick."
Finally, "the world has changed."
Our generation is lucky because we can all witness with our own eyes the great rejuvenation and strength of our motherland.
On the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, we all wish our motherland and Hong Kong well!
Finally, it ends with three sentences inscribed by Chairman Mao Zedong, written by Premier Zhou Enlai, and engraved on the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.
In the past three years, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution will be immortal!
Over the past thirty years, the people's heroes who sacrificed their lives in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution will be immortal!
This can be traced back to 1840. Since then, in order to oppose internal and external enemies, strive for national independence and people's freedom and happiness, the people's heroes who have sacrificed in previous struggles will be immortal!
