Every photo records a piece of history and carries an unforgettable time! When future generations see these photos, they will have a valuable immersive experience!
Today, in Zhuhai Municipal Archives , there is a precious photo. It is a photo taken of Premier Zhou Enlai and the fortress cadres when he inspected Wanshan Fortress in December 1963 (see the picture below).
In the photo, Premier Zhou is wearing a Mao suit , standing smiling among many military cadres in military uniforms. Next to him is Zhang Zhizhong, who is wearing a dark Mao suit.
This is the only photo of Premier Zhou in Zhuhai left in history, but there is no written record, and the story behind it is rarely known.
After many searches by later generations, people found that this seemingly ordinary photo is extremely precious. It not only records the historical fact of Premier Zhouโs inspection of Zhuhai, but more importantly, it also contains a little-known history behind it. .
It supports the historical fact that Premier Zhou held a secret meeting on the border of Guangdong in the 1960s.
In the photo of Premier Zhou
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, the man standing next to Premier Zhou wearing a dark Chinese tunic suit is Zhang Zhizhong, then the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission of the People's Republic of China, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Zhang Zhizhong, a former senior general and government official of the Kuomintang. During the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, he represented the Kuomintang in many peace talks with the Chinese Communist Party. He was known as the "Three Visits to Yan'an" and the "Peace General".
In 1950, with the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao, Zhang Zhizhong, who had many old ministers and friends in Taiwan, was selected to work on Taiwan.
Since then, Zhang Zhizhong has repeatedly promoted the CCPโs propositions against Taiwan through various media. In 1952, entrusted by Premier Zhou, he wrote a letter to Chiang Kai-shek in his own name, persuading him to abandon his "anti-communist" stance.
In 1954, on the Central People's Broadcasting Station , Zhang Zhizhong made a broadcast titled "A Report to the People in Taiwan", calling on the old people who had fled to Taiwan to "abandon the darkness and turn to the light."
In 1956, Zhang Zhizhong was interviewed by a reporter from " United Daily News ". He spoke highly of Premier Zhou's policy of striving to liberate Taiwan through peaceful means, and expressed his expectation for the third cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
In October 1958, Zhang Zhizhong wrote a short article "Taiwan should actively abandon the US imperialism", calling on those in Taiwan to abandon the US imperialism and return to the embrace of the motherland.
In addition, Zhang Zhizhong also repeatedly emphasized the correctness of the policy of peacefully liberating Taiwan at the Kuomintang Revolution meetings, and used various opportunities to make appeals.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United States stepped up its implementation of the "Two Chinas" policy. In order to safeguard the integrity of the country's territorial sovereignty, Premier Zhou and democrats such as Zhang Zhizhong, Fu Zuoyi, Li Jishen, Shao Lizi, Zhang Shizhao, etc. worked separately to find clues and channels to convey the sincerity and information of the CCP's peace talks to Taiwan's top leaders.
Entrusted by Premier Zhou, Zhang Zhizhong wrote to Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng and others, clearly stating the CCP's guidelines and specific policies towards Taiwan.
After Chen Cheng rejected the United States' solicitation, Zhang Zhizhong sent a letter to the Jiang family and Chen Cheng, explaining the nature of the United States' aggression.
In 1962, Premier Zhou invited Zhang Zhizhong, Fu Zuoyi, Qu Wu and others to have dinner at Diaoyutai . When the Taiwan issue was discussed during the dinner, Premier Zhou hoped that they would write to the Taiwan authorities and tell them not to "act rashly."
Later, Zhang Zhizhong wrote letters to Jiang Jingguo and Chen Cheng respectively, conveying Premier Zhou's meaning.
Premier Zhou (right) and Zhang Zhizhong
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In December 1963, Premier Zhou, together with Chen Yi and Zhang Zhizhong, secretly inspected the Pearl River Estuary. It was during this inspection that Premier Zhou came to the Wanshan Fortress Defense Area and took this precious group photo.
The late South China Sea Fleet Commander Wu Ruilin wrote a memoir during his lifetime, describing a secret escort operation he conducted for Premier Zhou in 1963.
According to Wu Ruilin's recollection, at the end of 1963, Luo Qingchang, then director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, came to Wu Ruilin's room and conveyed to him the important mission of Premier Zhou and the two chiefs to inspect the Pearl River Estuary, and explained the purpose of the trip. Importance and confidentiality requirements.
The South China Sea Fleet immediately made careful arrangements for the matter. In order to escort Premier Zhou's inspection of the Pearl River Estuary, the fleet arranged for a large landing ship to go to Neilingdingyang and other islands for training, and a medium landing ship to Sanzao Island for training.
In addition, they also arranged two minesweepers , two submarine hunting and a patrol boat to make all preparations for going to sea.
Wu Ruilin also widened the beds in the cabin dormitory and replaced the toilet in the bathroom so that Premier Zhou and other leaders could use it when they rest.
On the fifth day, Premier Zhou, Chen Yi, Zhang Zhizhong and others arrived at Huangpu. From Huangpu, they boarded the South China Sea Fleet Ship No. 846 and sailed to the Pearl River Estuary.
At dark, the ship anchored at the Lingdingyang anchorage. After breakfast the next day, Premier Zhou and others went ashore to the Wanshan Fortress defense area until returning to the ship in the evening.
The Wanshan Fortress Defense Area at that time had jurisdiction over 5 regiment-level defense areas and 1 organic regiment, which were responsible for the defense, national defense construction and training of the Wanshan Islands.
Fortress Guards
Since the Wanshan Fortress defense area is under the jurisdiction of the Army, the fortress commander, political commissar and other leading comrades all went to the dock to greet Premier Zhou and others. Wu Ruilin did not accompany Premier Zhou ashore for inspection. This photo of Premier Zhou, Zhang Zhizhong and the cadres of Wanshan Fortress clearly shows the scene after Premier Zhou landed.
After returning to the ship that night, Premier Zhou spent two hours visiting the five ships of the South China Sea Fleet performing missions, and boarded the ship's command tower to watch the night views of Hong Kong and Macau.
Premier Zhou also conveyed Chairman Mao's instructions to Wu Ruilin on the ship: to actively prepare the South China Sea Fleet for the upcoming climax of aiding Vietnam and resisting the United States; and also discussed the South China Sea Fleet's comprehensive preparations for war and the relocation of the fleet. , gave detailed instructions to Wu Ruilin.
Regarding the photo of Premier Zhou inspecting Wanshan Fortress, Luo Qingchang also mentioned it in the preface of the book "The Invisible General" written by Han Jing. The content is as follows:
"Han Jing was collecting historical materials. During the process, they also provided me with relevant information: Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Chairman Zhang Zhizhong (actually a member of the Standing Committee, and was elected as the vice chairman the following year) secretly met with guests at the Pearl River Estuary in 1963. It was me who arranged the meeting, but I did not leave any information. After downloading the photos from that time, he found a photo of "Premier Zhou taking a photo with the commander of the team directly under the Wanshan Fortress Area" in the Zhuhai Garrison Area, which enriched my historical data. Commander Wu Ruilin also didn't know the purpose of Zhou Enlai's inspection of the Pearl River Estuary. It was not until the Spring Festival of 1995, 31 years later, that Luo Qingchang revealed the purpose of Premier Zhou's top-secret trip when he met Wu Ruilin.
It turns out that at that time, Premier Zhou and Zhang Zhizhong went to the border of Guangdong Province to have a secret meeting with "people who can communicate the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party."
In the days following this secret meeting, the South China Sea Fleet undertook the task of conducting small-unit military exercises in nearby waters to cover the smooth progress of the meeting and ensure the safety of Premier Zhou and his party.
This memory comes from Luo Qingchang's article "He once escorted Premier ZhouโโRecalling two or three things about Comrade Wu Ruilin".
In fact, a year before the book was published, Hong Kong newspapers and magazines had reported on the secret meeting between Premier Zhou and Zhang Zhizhong, and made many inferences and speculations. They even inferred that the people Premier Zhou met were Chiang Ching-kuo and Chen Cheng. .
After Luo Qingchang's article was published, it was confirmed that Premier Zhou and Zhang Zhizhong did have a secret meeting at the border of Guangdong Province with "people who can communicate the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party." But who exactly was not specified.
In the article, Luo Qingchang also wrote that after reviewing some officers and soldiers of the South China Sea Fleet, โPremier Zhou and Chairman Zhang Zhizhong (then a member of the Standing Committee of the National Peopleโs Congress, and was elected as Vice Chairman of the National Peopleโs Congress the following year) boarded a ship of the Navy. frigate , began a secret voyage."
"Father of the Red Spy" Luo Qingchang
It took more than a day to travel from Guangzhou to the scheduled meeting place on the border. In order to facilitate Premier Zhou's rest, Wu Ruilin ordered the frigate to drive at a low speed to minimize engine noise.
That night, everything was calm. At about 9 o'clock the next morning, Premier Zhou had not woken up. Director Tong Xiaopeng said: "You can wake up the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has slept for an extra hour."
After Premier Zhou woke up, he looked at his watch and said happily: "I have not slept for so many hours in many years. "
Luo Qingchang's article also elaborated on the effectiveness of this meeting: "This meeting communicated the facts between the Taiwan authorities at the time (Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, and Chiang Ching-kuo) and the mainland, who all advocated that there is only one China. "
years later, in 2005, the large-scale documentary "Witnessing the Troubles in the Taiwan Strait" written by Li Li, a senior journalist and famous expert on Taiwan issues, was published. The book reads: At the end of 1963, Zhou Enlai detoured to Guangdong during his visit to 14 Asian and African countries and met with relevant people going to Taiwan. He hoped that he would tell Chen Cheng and the Taiwan authorities that the United States was taking more actions to turn Taiwan into an independent political unit. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party can form a united front on the issue of opposing the "two Chinas"... We proceed from the great cause of national justice and the great cause of the reunification of the motherland. Today, the border issues around the motherland have been resolved, but the southeastern corner has not yet been completed. This great cause of reunification should be completed together. "
At the end of 1963, Zhou Enlai detoured to Guangdong during his visit to 14 Asian and African countries and met with relevant people going to Taiwan. He hoped that he would tell Chen Cheng and the Taiwan authorities that the United States was taking more actions to turn Taiwan into an independent political unit. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party can form a united front on the issue of opposing the "two Chinas"... We proceed from the great cause of national justice and the great cause of the reunification of the motherland. Today, the border issues around the motherland have been resolved, but the southeastern corner has not yet been completed. This great cause of reunification should be completed together. "
As for the person of this meeting, although there are many speculations, no authoritative person has confirmed it.
Fortress scenery
On April 28, 2009, Phoenix TV " Take off China " broadcast "Chiang Kai-shek's Cross-Strait" "Unification Plan", which mentioned: "At the end of 1963, under top-secret circumstances, Zhou Enlai and Vice Chairman Zhang Zhizhong came to the border of Guangdong Province and secretly met with Zhang Zhiqun, a well-known person in the cultural circles of Hong Kong, who could bridge the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. , thus communicating with the Taiwan authorities and the mainland, and the two sides reached a tacit understanding on the issue of only one China. . Thus, the person responsible for Premier Zhouโs secret meeting was locked on Zhang Zhiqun.
Coincidentally, Zhang Hanzhi was recalling the process of establishing diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Shi also mentioned:
According to Tong Xiaopeng, director of Premier Zhou's Office, the "person who can bridge the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party" that Zhou Enlai met this time was Zhang Zhiqun, a well-known person in the cultural circles of Hong Kong.
But for some reason, there is currently no information about Zhang Zhiqun. Very few.
We look forward to the emergence of more new historical materials to restore this period of history more completely.
Premier Zhouโs meal
Main references:
โ Luo Qingchang: "He once escorted Premier Zhou - Memories of Comrade Wu Ruilin." "Two or Three Things", published in "The Loveliest Person", published by Beijing Reform Press in 1997.
โก Dou Yingtai: "Zhou Enlai went to the South China Sea to meet with Kuomintang dignitaries", published in "Party History Expo", Issue 7, 2004.
โข Li Li: "Sun Strikes in the Taiwan Strait", published by Huayi Publishing House in February 2005
โฃ "Memoirs of Zhang Zhizhong" and "General Zhang Zhizhong" published by China Literature and History Publishing House
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