Since China and Britain signed the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" in 1984, which clarified that Hong Kong would return to the motherland on July 1, 1997, Mr. Deng often talked to the staff around him: When Hong Kong returned to the motherland, he would personally set foot on th

Since China and Britain signed the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" in 1984, which clarified the return of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, Mr. Deng often said to the staff around him: Wait until Hong Kong returns to , he wants to set foot on that land in person and appreciate the charm of Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, just five months before Hong Kong's return, on February 19, 1997, , who had made a lot of efforts for Hong Kong's return, he closed his eyes forever.

People shed tears for him and felt sorry for him. The staff who followed Mr. Deng recalled the autumn of 1982 after seeing the five-star red flag flying high on the streets of Hong Kong.

It was in that year that Deng Gong had a fierce debate with Mrs. Thatcher , the then British Prime Minister , on the issue of Hong Kong's return. The scene in which Mr. Deng relied on China’s “trump card” to silence Mrs. Thatcher obediently became the scene in which the staff present admired Mr. Deng the most.

What is this "trump card"? What harm did it bring to Mrs. Thatcher?

Since the news spread that " Deng Xiaoping will meet with Mrs. Thatcher at the Great Hall of the People on the morning of September 24, 1982, to discuss Hong Kong's return to China in depth, reporters from all over the world have been waiting eagerly. Looking forward to the unfolding of this "battle".

One is an empire that has gradually declined, and the other is an emerging country that adheres to the path of socialism. The whole world is waiting to see who will come out on top in the issue of whether to stay or leave Hong Kong.

In the early morning of September 24, 1982, countless Chinese and foreign reporters rushed to the door of the Great Hall of the People with their "long guns and short cannons" , looking forward to taking pictures of the precious scene of the meeting between Deng Xiaoping and Mrs. Thatcher.

Thatcher

A few minutes before nine o'clock, Mrs. Thatcher, who had always regarded herself as the "Iron Lady", appeared at the door of the Great Hall of the People with proud steps. At that time, Mrs. Thatcher, who had just won the "Battle of the Falklands" , was full of confidence. She believed from the bottom of her heart that she could win the permanent sovereignty of Hong Kong for Britain.

As the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mrs. Thatcher has always been confident in the strength of the United Kingdom. She did not believe that the British Empire would lose to China. Therefore, Mrs. Thatcher's face was filled with a winner's smile even when shaking hands with Ms. Deng Yingchao who came to greet her.

Mrs. Thatcher's confidence was sufficient until the door of the Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People opened. But she didn't expect that the first words she said when she met Deng Xiaoping made her almost unable to accept it.

Deng Xiaoping and Thatcher met

When Mrs. Thatcher and her entourage were about to arrive at the door of the Fujian Hall, the door of the Fujian Hall suddenly opened from the inside. Deng Xiaoping walked out of it and walked quickly to Mrs. Thatcher with his staff. A sense of majesty unique to a revolutionary instantly overshadowed Mrs. Thatcher's self-confidence.

At that time, Mrs. Thatcher, who had not yet appreciated Deng Xiaoping’s superb negotiation skills, did not feel uncomfortable with Deng Xiaoping’s strong aura. She stretched out her hand to greet Deng Xiaoping : “Mr. Deng, I am visiting China as the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. , nice to see you."

Deng Xiaoping laughed and held Mrs. Thatcher's hand : "I know several British prime ministers, but all of them have stepped down. "

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Thatcher paused slightly. Sure enough, when experts meet, the first thing they say is . Perhaps feeling that she had an opponent, Mrs. Thatcher walked into the venue with Deng Xiaoping with some excitement to discuss the Hong Kong issue .

If there were reporters around, China and Britain could still maintain a friendly atmosphere, but since the reporters were asked to leave, the atmosphere in the entire Fujian Hall has gradually become a tense situation.

Mrs. Thatcher, who did not pick up Deng Xiaoping's first words, took the lead in asking questions after the reporters left. I saw Mrs. Thatcher sitting on the sofa, raising her head domineeringly. She took her time to challenge Deng Xiaoping : "Mr. Deng, China and the United Kingdom have already signed three treaties on the issue of Hong Kong. Since These treaties still exist, so they must be observed."

First from the left: Edward Heath

Faced with Mrs. Thatcher's point of view, Deng Xiaoping did not look angry at all. After all, in order to gain the support of international public opinion, as early as April 1982, after the visit of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath to China, the United Kingdom expressed this view in front of the international media many times, and won the support of many European and American countries. support.

Unfortunately, this view is not convincing to New China. As early as 1949, when New China was founded, Chairman Mao Zedong discussed the "three major foreign policies" with the leaders of the Party Central Committee, namely "turning one side to one side", "starting over again, and "cleaning the house before treating guests" .

Among them, "start anew" and "clean the house before treating guests" refer to the remaining power and privileges of imperialism in China. New China will not recognize it at all. Regarding the old diplomatic relations established by the Kuomintang government with other countries around the world, New China must Re-examination and agreement.

Therefore, New China will not recognize all unequal treaties signed by the Qing government and Britain, and New China will not "sell land for glory" like the Qing government Don't say no. An equal treaty is a hundred unequal treaties, and the Chinese government will still take back the territory that originally belonged to China.

Deng Xiaoping, who was well prepared, not only did not discuss these three unequal treaties with Mrs. Thatcher, but he pointed out bluntly. , there are three issues to be discussed in this negotiation: In addition to the issue of Hong Kong's return to China, one is what method should be adopted to manage Hong Kong in 1997 so that Hong Kong can continue to prosper, and the other is what measures China and Britain should take to ensure that There were no big fluctuations in Hong Kong before the handover in 1997.

In fact, these three questions are about before the handover in 1997, and after the handover in 1997. Of course, the focus of the question is before and after the handover. The return of Hong Kong is a certainty.

In order to show the determination of New China to take back Hong Kong, Deng Xiaoping also gave an example to Mrs. Thatcher: "If Hong Kong is not taken back, it means that the Chinese government is the late Qing government, and the Chinese leadership People are Li Hongzhang ! "

Seeing that Deng Xiaoping was so tough, Mrs. Thatcher was not to be outdone. She still said aggressively that Hong Kong's prosperity and development were achieved under the rule of the United Kingdom. Only the United Kingdom can guarantee the development of Hong Kong, and it cannot be unilaterally controlled by China. Abolish the treaty.

Deng Xiaoping was gradually angered by Mrs. Thatcher's repeated use of the treaty to "blackmail" China. He could not help but complain in a low voice to an assistant on the side: "I simply can't talk to this woman. She. It doesn't make sense at all! "

Seeing that China refused to give in at all, Mrs. Thatcher even showed her "trump card" : "If you insist on announcing the takeover of Hong Kong, it will have disastrous consequences! The UK will use non-peaceful means to retain its right to govern Hong Kong."

The UK, which used artillery and force to seize China's territory more than a hundred years ago, still attempted to threaten China with force more than a hundred years later. Especially when the British army just After winning the battle in the Argentine Islands, Mrs. Thatcher was quite showy at this time.

However, how can China, which has experienced more than a hundred years of war, be afraid of the British threat of force? As a leader who came out of the war years, Deng Xiaoping laughed when he heard Mrs. Thatcher used force to threaten China. : "If we can't reach an agreement on some principled issues, China will also consider taking back Hong Kong. "It's time and method."

While talking, Comrade Deng Xiaoping adjusted his clothes and changed his sitting posture. But in such a calm state, he said something that made Mrs. Thatcher turn pale : "The Chinese are poorer, but they are not afraid of death when fighting a war."

looked at it because Mrs. Thatcher's face changed drastically at her own words, and Deng Xiaoping no longer meant to beat around the bush. Since Britain has shown its "trump card", China has nothing to hide.

Deng Xiaoping leaned back on the sofa, as if he wanted to find a topic to ease the depressive atmosphere in the hall. : "The Chinese government has always hoped to expand the scale of the Dongshen Water Supply Project to further solve the water problems of Hong Kong residents. It has also been Work hard on this matter. I hope that the water problems of Hong Kong residents can be further improved in the future.”

Before Deng Xiaoping’s words came to fruition, Mrs. Thatcher’s face became even more ugly. She did not expect that New China had been working hard to take back Hong Kong, nor did she expect that China had been working hard for 20 years to wait for the day when it would take back Hong Kong.

In 1963, at the early stage of Hong Kong's rapid development, the city, surrounded by the sea on three sides, experienced a severe drought that had never happened in a century. Although Hong Kong is a seaside city, fresh water resources are very scarce. Faced with such a severe drought, the British Hong Kong government at that time was helpless and had to impose mandatory water supply restrictions, providing water once every four days for four hours each time.

Such policies have made Hong Kong residents living in a hot climate miserable, making it difficult to sustain their basic lives. Just like a child who is suffering always thinks of his parents first in a critical moment, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong and other organizations request assistance from the motherland on behalf of 3.5 million Hong Kong compatriots.

China at that time was actually not rich in wealth, but it would never stand by and watch its compatriots. After receiving the news, the Party Central Committee immediately assigned Guangdong Province to supply 20,000 tons of tap water to Hong Kong citizens for free every day. At the same time, it began to build the "Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply Project" , using modern technology to divert water from the Dongjiang River to alleviate Hong Kong's predicament.

On February 20, 1964, under the personal instructions of Premier Zhou Enlai, the Dongshen Water Supply Project was started across the board. The Chinese people used their strong infrastructure capabilities to quickly divert water from the Dongjiang River to "quench Hong Kong's thirst."

Although Hong Kong's drought was later alleviated as the weather changed, Hong Kong, which has always been short of water, still cannot cut off the "main artery" of the Dongshen Water Supply Project.

Building water supply projects for Hong Kong

Especially when the British government saw that mainland China was willing to help Hong Kong, which was still their colony, for free, it continued to negotiate with China and continued to increase the water supply to Hong Kong from the Dongshen Water Supply Project.

By 1982, the Dongshen Water Supply Project was supplying .743 billion cubic meters of water to Hong Kong every year, providing tap water to thousands of households in Hong Kong.

Now when Deng Xiaoping mentioned the Dongshen-Shenzhen water supply project, he just wanted to tell Mrs. Thatcher or the British government two things: First, Hong Kong's tap water "main artery" is in the hands of China. If Britain really wants to use force against China , once the water supply project is closed, the tap water supply of the entire Hong Kong will be a big problem for the United Kingdom. At that time, Hong Kong citizens will definitely be dissatisfied with the British government..

Second, Hong Kong has been a part of China since ancient times. Even if it is not connected to mainland China, the blood and family ties between mainland residents and Hong Kong residents are unbroken.China can solve Hong Kong problems that the UK cannot solve; China can provide guarantees that the UK cannot provide for Hong Kong. Therefore, no matter which method China uses to take back Hong Kong, it is a general trend and a historical necessity.

China’s “trump card” is not just a big move played 19 years ago, but also the flesh-and-blood kinship that has been inherited by the Chinese nation for five thousand years.

After understanding the situation, Mrs. Thatcher fell back on the sofa. She was so angry when she came that she could only raise her neck and gasp for air. She tried hard to calm down her mood and did not speak for a long time.

After six hours of negotiations, Mrs. Thatcher walked out of the conference room with forced elegance. The reality that Hong Kong must be returned to China has made this arrogant "Iron Lady" a little tired.

It was under such circumstances that , who had always been known for her elegance, fell on the steps of the Great Hall of the People, with even her shoes and handbag scattered on the ground.

Although the staff beside her quickly helped her up, Deng Xiaoping, who learned the news, also told the staff that he would save some face for Mrs. Thatcher. But none of the hundreds of Chinese and foreign reporters present refused to let go of this front-page headline. The next day, the photo of Mrs. Thatcher falling spread to all over the world.

Hong Kong's return

In 1997, after going through many difficulties and dangers, Hong Kong finally returned to the embrace of the motherland. At the defense change ceremony at 0:00 on July 1st, countless Hong Kong citizens rushed to the scene in the rain and sang the national anthem of the People's Republic of China excitedly along with the " March of the Volunteers " that rang over the venue.

That is the most beautiful moment for children who go home.