In Hong Kong, the British colonists were worried that the People's Liberation Army was approaching Hong Kong, and had prepared two sets of "civilian" and "military" strategies to prevent the mainland from regaining Hong Kong. At this time, two newspapers in Hong Kong, Wen Wei Po

In February 1949, the victory of three major battles announced to the world that the defeat of the Chiang Dynasty was only a matter of time.

In Hong Kong, the British colonists were worried that the People's Liberation Army was approaching Hong Kong, and had prepared two sets of "civilian" and "military" strategies to prevent the mainland from regaining Hong Kong.

At this time, two newspapers in Hong Kong, " Wen Wei Po " and " Ta Kung Pao ", which have good relations with our party, suddenly published two articles.

The two articles have different positions and different angles, but the signals they convey are similar, that is, the war of liberation in mainland China will not directly affect Hong Kong.

When the news came out, the general public breathed a sigh of relief. But the British colonists were still uneasy. They didn't quite believe the People's Liberation Army's rhetoric! In fact, in October 1949, the four rebel groups were already approaching Hong Kong. As long as the central government gives an order, Hong Kong will soon return to the embrace of the motherland! But just as the soldiers were gearing up for a big fight, Chairman Mao sent a telegram asking and to bypass Hong Kong and continue southward.

Many people are puzzled by this. We know that there was such a good opportunity at that time, why not let the People's Liberation Army liberate Hong Kong in one fell swoop? In fact, this choice was the result of careful consideration by Chairman Mao and other leaders of the older generation. Until today, we have to admire the foresight of the leaders of the older generation!

The Demand for the War of Liberation

Now when talking about Britain, many people's first impression is that it has a relatively developed economy and is an old capitalist country . However, in terms of military strength, it seems that it can only rely on the protection of the United States more often!

But in fact, in the late period of World War II, Churchill was tied with Roosevelt and Stalin, known as the "Big Three". At that time, Britain's international prestige and strength were second only to the United States and the Soviet Union, so Britain in 1949 was still very strong.

Of course, he returned from strength to strength. If New China wanted to liberate Hong Kong, it would definitely be unstoppable with the British military deployment in the Far East at that time. But at that time, Xinjiang and Tibet had not yet been liberated, and Britain had a strong influence in the Middle East, , Afghanistan, , and India in South Asia. If there is a complete falling out with the United Kingdom because of the liberation of Hong Kong, then the People's Liberation Army will inevitably have to pay a greater price if it later wants to liberate Xinjiang and Tibet.

Therefore, it is a wise choice to liberate Hong Kong after liberating Tibet and Xinjiang and stabilizing the northwest . But if we regain Hong Kong and then liberate Tibet and Xinjiang, we may have to create complications that will delay the overall liberation of the mainland.

Although New China had not yet been established at that time, Chairman Mao had already looked at the entire Asia with a forward-looking vision and comprehensively considered the issue of the domestic liberation war.

Therefore, as early as after the victory of the three major battles in early 1949, he had already considered that he would not be in a hurry to regain Hong Kong.

Although Guangzhou was liberated in October 1949, Hong Kong under the British colonial rule lost all barriers and opened its doors wide. The 4th Field and 15th Corps also arrived at the northern border of Hong Kong on October 17.

If we really want to regain Hong Kong, as long as the central government gives an order and the People's Liberation Army is unstoppable, Hong Kong may be able to return in just a few days. However, after careful consideration, the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao made the decision to temporarily bypass Hong Kong and go south to liberate Hainan.

Economic development considerations

On the other hand, and the most important reason, is actually the consideration made by the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao from the perspective of domestic economic development.

On the eve of the founding of New China in 1949, when Stalin, the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, sent Mikoyan, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , to learn about the domestic and foreign policies of New China, Chairman Mao also specifically talked to him about Hong Kong. He said:

"It is easier to liberate the mainland. Just send the troops there. But things on the islands are more troublesome and need to be solved more flexibly... It is not a big deal to rush to solve the problem of the return of Hong Kong and Macao." It makes sense; on the contrary, if we take advantage of the original economic status of Hong Kong and Macao, especially Hong Kong, it will be more beneficial to our import and export trade ."

It can be seen from this passage that although the country was still at war at the time, and later fought with the United Nations Army in North Korea for three years, Chairman Mao always took a long-term view and considered our domestic economic development.

Before the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, although China had already turned to the Soviet Union, there were many socialist brothers in the Soviet Union. After a hundred years of war in modern times, our country was in dire straits.

Under such circumstances, if we want to develop our own economy, of course. We cannot just rely on assistance from the Soviet Union. Developing trade with other countries around the world and introducing technological capital are of great significance to the construction of New China.

However, due to the confrontation between the two camps, the mainland is isolated and blocked in global trade. state. By bypassing Hong Kong at this time and not rushing to liberate it, it indirectly became a window for economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West. In this way, patriotic overseas Chinese wanted to help the development and construction of the motherland after the founding of the People's Republic of China. China's trade with third world countries can be achieved indirectly or directly through Hong Kong, the " free port ". In fact, Hong Kong still plays this role to this day, and all of this happened 70 years ago.

Therefore, Chairman Mao said that when he asked the People's Liberation Army to bypass Hong Kong, he was actually preparing for the construction of a new China in advance.

International relations hidden link

In addition, Chairman Mao did not The rush to liberate Hong Kong was actually considered from the perspective of international relations, leaving a hidden link between New China and capitalist countries such as Britain and the United States. In March 1946, Churchill delivered the famous "Iron Curtain Speech" in the United States. , kicked off the Cold War After that, a half-century-long camp confrontation began between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Due to the propaganda of the media and the deliberate guidance of the United States and the Soviet Union, for a long time, everyone believed that the Soviet Union was a socialist country. Capitalism The United States is like a natural enemy. No matter what state they are in, they will conflict with each other.

But this was not the case in June 1949, when Nanjing was liberated. The diplomatic ambassadors of Britain and the United States and other countries. They all stayed in Nanjing and planned to contact New China, but the Soviet ambassador moved south with the National Government of Chiang Kai-shek.

Although this move made us very angry and puzzled, it also made us deeply aware that although we and the Soviet Union They are all socialist countries , and there are ideological differences with capitalist countries, but if you want to develop and grow, you cannot do it behind closed doors, and your connection with the outside world must not be interrupted!

This is most vividly reflected in the diplomatic choices made before the founding of New China. Now we all know that after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, New China adopted a one-sided foreign policy, but in fact we also made two preparations!

To put it more bluntly, Stalin originally wanted the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to rule across the river. In this way, there would be a huge strategic buffer space of China between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union could free up more energy and focus on in European affairs.

But if we do this, it will naturally harm China’s interests. Therefore, Chairman Mao recognized the facts clearly from the beginning. Everything the Soviet Union did had its own considerations, and the decisive role was naturally the Soviet Union's own interests!

Those who make friends with each other for the benefit of others will lose all their benefits. When the People's Republic of China was first founded, the Soviet Union was indeed very good to us, but this good premise was that the existence of New China could effectively help the Soviet Union bear the pressure from Europe and the United States.

If we completely cut off ties with Britain, the United States and other countries because the Soviet Union was good to us, what if one day the Soviet Union regrets it?

Therefore, in order to retain a window for communication with the West, we left Hong Kong, the "tail" of capitalism, to make it easier for China to understand the Western world and for the West to understand China.

Facts have proved that Chairman Mao’s worries were right. Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union has been at odds with China for its own interests! Subsequently, New China was in a state of isolation internationally.At this time, the importance of Hong Kong was highlighted. Because of its existence, China and the United States could understand each other, and finally achieved the ice-breaking of Sino-US relations in 1972. It has opened up a new situation for China's diplomacy.

Britain's "cooperation"

Finally, the reason why Chairman Mao made the decision to temporarily bypass Hong Kong during the Liberation War was actually related to Britain's "cooperation".

To put it simply, in the late World War II, China and Britain became allies in the anti-fascist war . At that time, the relationship between the two sides was still good. After the war of liberation began, Britain did not support Chiang Kai-shek's regime as overwhelmingly as the United States did. Instead, it chose "neutrality" between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

In the late period of the Liberation War, as our party's advantages gradually expanded, the British government's stance became more "pragmatic". They are unwilling to give up Hong Kong, the largest colony in the Far East, and they are even less willing to give up China's huge market of nearly 500 million people.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to the Cold War, Britain did not establish diplomatic relations with China immediately, but substantive contacts between the two sides began long ago.

In the words of British media and politicians: "Pretending to be invisible to a government that controls most of China's regions and population is not only legally unworkable, but will also cause serious damage to Western countries' trade in China."

According to statistics from the British media at the time, the British investment in China before liberation amounted to 300 million pounds, the largest investment in China among all Western countries, not to mention Hong Kong, an Oriental Pearl that the UK "cannot lose".

In a word, because Britain's interests in Hong Kong and China were too great, it forced Britain not to blindly support the Chiang Kai-shek government like the United States did, but to become an enemy of the new regime that had already controlled most of the country at that time.

The British are unwilling to be enemies, and they have also revealed their acquiescence in the mainland's move to regard Hong Kong as a key node in the mainland's import and export trade. These factors have enabled our party's plan to use Hong Kong as a foreign trade bridge to become a reality.

To put it bluntly, it was in the interests of China and Britain at the time to "temporarily move Hong Kong". After the two sides contacted, they reached a tacit understanding, so Chairman Mao asked the People's Liberation Army to bypass Hong Kong.

Conclusion:

In fact, many things seem very simple now, but if you think about it from the perspective of decades ago, it is completely different.

Take the matter of bypassing the liberation of Hong Kong at that time as an example. Chairman Mao and others actually had to bear the pressure when making this decision. After all, Hong Kong was the first territory to be ceded through unequal treaties after the Opium War, which can be called the beginning of modern national humiliation.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to wipe away the shame, it did not recognize any unequal treaties. However, the People's Liberation Army fought as far as Hong Kong, but Chairman Mao finally asked them to bypass it. Others will inevitably think that you do not recognize any inequality. Is the treaty just empty words?

But after careful long-term consideration, he decided not to take back Hong Kong for the time being, but to keep it as a bridge for exchanges between the East and the West.

Before the reform and opening up, the importance of this was not known. But after the reform and opening up, when the mainland needed investment, technology, and integration with the international community, I realized how far-sighted Chairman Mao was when he said that temporarily letting go of Hong Kong would help China's foreign trade.

A decision made in 1949 , but profoundly affected the domestic construction after 1979. This advanced strategic vision was precisely what Chairman Mao was able to lead the older generation of proletarian revolutionaries to break through layers of fog, establish a new China, and protect her from growing stronger and becoming The core factor of today’s strong motherland.