On September 26, 1984, the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" was initialed . By December 19, the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" was officially signed. Once this declaration was signed, it represented our final victory in the negotiations, because the declaration decided that China would resume its governance of Hong Kong from July 1, 1997.
From 1982 to 1984, we went through many negotiations, large and small, and there were undercurrents beneath the calm. During the negotiations, in addition to Mr. Deng and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office having the final say, there was another person who also had the final say. This person was Zhao Ziyang .
In September 1982, Prime Minister Thatcher visited Beijing, marking the beginning of formal negotiations. On the afternoon of September 22 this year, a British royal plane landed at Beijing Airport.
The plane door opened, British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher, known as the " Iron Lady", walked down the ramp of the plane with a smile on her face and great grace.
On the same day, those who went to the airport to greet them were Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Wenjin and his wife, Director of the Department of Western Europe Wang Benzha, "Hong Kong Governor" Sir Youde, "Shipping King" Pao Yugang and others.
After shaking hands with Zhang Wenjin and other guests and hosts, Mrs. Thatcher and her entourage immediately got in the car and went to Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for a short rest. While Thatcher was taking a break, the then Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang came to the east gate of the Great Hall of the People to prepare for a grand welcome ceremony for the British Prime Minister's visit.
Soon, Mrs. Thatcher came to the welcoming ceremony, and the two sides exchanged pleasantries. Soon, the ceremony ended. After the ceremony, Zhao Ziyang and Mrs. Thatcher began the first confrontation between the two governments in the Great Hall of the People. Their opening remarks were unexpected.
Taking advantage of the weather, the conversation between the two went from shallow to deep. The two sides came and went, making people feel the light of swords for no reason. And this is not the most exciting thing. On the second day of , Zhao Ziyang's preemptive strike was the most amazing.
The reporters waiting outside looked at each other in confusion, wondering what Zhao Ziyang was going to do. At this moment, Zhao Ziyang suddenly walked over to them, which made the reporters overjoyed. All the reporters had one thought in their minds: Maybe they can get a big news today.
As expected, it was indeed such big news that the Hong Kong reporters present were so nervous that their palms sweated and they kept shouting "big wok" (a Cantonese word meaning serious) in their hearts.
After Zhao Ziyang came to the reporter, he cleverly turned to the topic in a casual chat, conveying two important messages to the world through the reporter: First, the Chinese government will take back the sovereignty of Hong Kong; First, China will take a series of measures measures to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.
This is the most important statement made by the Chinese government towards Hong Kong since China was forced by British imperialism to sign three unequal treaties. Therefore, although Zhao Ziyang only spoke lightly at the time, people still felt the seriousness of it.
After Zhao Ziyang's historic speech, the audience fell silent. After a while, a reporter asked him: "Do you think Hong Kong people should worry about the future of Hong Kong?" Zhao Ziyang smiled slightly: "I think Hong Kong doesn’t have to worry about its future, why should it?”
Then Zhao Ziyang said: “After taking back sovereignty, the central government will definitely adopt a series of policies and measures to ensure Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”
Just as the reporter was still thinking. When I asked what she was talking about, the middle door opened and Mrs. Thatcher stepped into the venue. Zhao Ziyang immediately stepped forward to shake hands with her. Since then, reporters have been unable to ask even if they wanted to. At the same time, Mrs. Thatcher had no way of knowing what had just happened.
Judging from Zhao Ziyang's series of actions, his historic speech to reporters was carried out step by step in a planned and step-by-step manner.Because when Mrs. Thatcher arrived, she was under the control of our diplomats holding walkie-talkies.
controlled this time, and Zhao Ziyang made a historic speech. The reason why Zhao Ziyang did not make this speech when there were British representatives was because he knew that if the British representatives were present, they would definitely use various means to prevent or misinterpret his speech. After all, the British did not want to Hong Kong is returned to China, so they will stop anything that is conducive to the return of Hong Kong to .
Zhao Ziyang's speech made Hong Kong citizens mentally prepared and announced to the world the Chinese government's attitude: Hong Kong must be taken back by China. This will be beneficial to Hong Kong's return without any harm.
After Mrs. Thatcher learned about this, she was shocked. She felt that she had met her opponent, and she was thinking about how to get back in the game. At this time, she would not have known that not only did she fail to win back the victory this time in China, but she even lost all her energy in the subsequent negotiations with Deng Gong.
html On September 24, Deng Gong met with Mrs. Thatcher at the Great Hall of the People. The negotiations were tense from the beginning. At that time, Mrs. Thatcher fought a war with Argentina over the Malvinas Islands, and she won, so she was intoxicated with her victory over Argentina and came to Beijing with her "remaining power".In addition, she had just been suppressed by Zhao Ziyang yesterday, so she felt a fire in her heart, which made her negotiate with Comrade Deng Xiaoping arrogantly.
Mrs. Thatcher argued quite vigorously that the British position was based on established treaties that confirmed British rights and interests, so even in 1997, the British could continue to govern the entire Hong Kong area. However, the problem is that China has repeatedly made it clear over the years that it does not recognize the legitimacy of these treaties.
Comrade Deng Xiaoping immediately pushed back tit for tat. His voice was not loud, but he said loudly: "The Hong Kong issue is an issue of China's sovereignty, and the issue of sovereignty is an issue that cannot be discussed. China has no room for maneuver on this issue. "
Mrs. Thatcher still refused to give up, and Mr. Deng did not give up. Under Mr. Deng's firm attitude, Mrs. Thatcher was finally defeated. After the talks, Mrs. Thatcher felt lonely. Deng Gong's words, "If there are huge fluctuations in Hong Kong during the transition period, China will have to consider another way to take it back." She has been lingering in her mind.
Her current mood is exactly like "I must suppress the small melancholy in my heart". Because of this, she fell, and this fall was like a prediction that Britain would gradually lose the initiative in negotiations.
After that, China and the United Kingdom conducted more than 20 rounds of negotiations. Although our country finally won the negotiation, this does not mean that it was smooth sailing for us during the negotiation.
For example, on the very important issue of garrisoning troops, we almost suffered a big loss.
It was during the two sessions of in May 1984. Since the return of Hong Kong was very important, discussions on Hong Kong issues were indispensable in the two sessions of this year. Seeing repeated setbacks in frontal negotiations, the British side decided to find a new breakthrough point before my country's two sessions.
Therefore, the British side incited a large number of Hong Kong media to go to the venue of the two sessions to find and inquire about China's latest news and attitude towards Hong Kong issues. As one of my country's diplomatic representatives, Geng Biao has naturally become the target of these "media".
At that time, Geng Biao dealt with too much work and did not get a good rest, so he relaxed for a while. The media seized this time and kept asking questions, such as "Will China station troops in Hong Kong?" Geng Biao did not answer directly, but said: "Maybe we will garrison troops in Hong Kong..."
Geng Biao's original intention was that the issue of garrisoning troops must wait for the outcome of the negotiations before he can give you an accurate answer. Unexpectedly, these media seized on this and made a big deal The article said that China was not planning to station troops in Hong Kong, and the British side even exaggerated it.
When Duke Deng found out, he was very angry. He said angrily: "What is the basis for Geng Biao's remarks? In the future, regarding Hong Kong issues, I have the final say, the Prime Minister has the final say, and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office has the final say!"
Then, Through our media, Mr. Deng solemnly stated on the issue of garrisoning troops that China would not give up its right to garrison troops. It was only because of Deng Gong’s emergency declaration that a big trap was avoided.
And what Deng Gong said, "In the future, regarding Hong Kong issues, I will have the final say, the Prime Minister will have the final say, and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office will have the final say." This sentence quickly reached Zhao Ziyang. Since then, he has been dealing with Hong Kong issues. on, more cautious and careful.
Normally, when was dealing with documents on Hong Kong issues, Zhao Ziyang would read them several times, and even compare them word for word, resolutely leaving no loopholes, because he knew that once problems arose, they would add to the problem of Hong Kong's return. resistance. In addition, Zhao Ziyang is like a "doer" when dealing with Hong Kong issues.
Because of this, the British side likes to ask Zhao Ziyang to explain their views on the Basic Law and the management of the Hong Kong government after 1997. As for their explanations, Zhao Ziyang would always listen carefully, and then correct and state the tricks they wanted to play in their explanations, so that the British side could understand our attitude.
In 1984, after the 22nd round of negotiations, the two-year negotiations were finally coming to an end. On September 26 of the same year, China and Britain held an initialing ceremony for the "Sino-British Joint Declaration"; on December 19, the two sides formally signed it. The official signing ceremony of
was held grandly at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. More than a hundred people from all walks of life in Hong Kong came to the scene to watch this exciting moment. In addition, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian and other national leaders attended the signing ceremony.
In a solemn atmosphere, Zhao Ziyang and Mrs. Thatcher took their seats on the side with the national flags. They will sign the joint statement on behalf of their national governments. Soon, the two picked up China's Desktop Hero gold pen and signed their names on the joint statement.
Signing ceremony site
Suddenly, the entire venue burst into applause. Everyone knew that after the agreement was signed, Hong Kong was waiting for the official return of Hong Kong in 1997. Time flies, and the time soon comes to July 1, 1997. Hong Kong finally returned to the embrace of the motherland after being separated for a century and a half. And Hong Kong, returning to the embrace of "mother", will also usher in his new life...
