htmlOn the afternoon of January 3, the official Weibo of Beijing Chao Chamber of Commerce released a message: Comrade Ke Hua, a famous diplomat in New China and the first president of the Beijing Chaoren Overseas Friendship Association, died at 9:21 pm on January 1, 2019 at the Beijing Hospital at the age of 103.
Ke Hua is known as the "diplomacy veteran". He is the first director of the Concierge Department of New China. He served as ambassador of the four countries. He assisted Premier Zhou Enlai in diplomatic work and participated in the negotiations on Hong Kong's return to .
According to public information, Ke Hua's original name is Lin Dechang and was born in December 1915 in Lihu Town, Puning County, Guangdong Province. He was admitted to the preparatory medical department of Yenching University in 1935 and participated in the 12.9 Movement that year. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1938 and studied at Yan'an Anti-Japanese University, Shaanxi North Public School , and the Central Party School. After the founding of New China, he served as deputy secretary of the Xi'an Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, secretary-general of the Cultural Education Committee and deputy minister of the Ministry of Culture, and deputy secretary-general of the Northwest Administrative Committee.
11954, Ke Hua was transferred to Beijing as the first director of the Concierge Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, he has been the director of Africa, director of West Asia and Africa, director of Asia, ambassador to Guinea, Ghana, Philippine , and British ambassador.
According to the People's Daily, in early 1955, a few days after Ke Hua served as the director of the Concierge Department, Zhou Enlai talked to him alone. This conversation "will be unforgettable for him for life."
At that time, Indian Ambassador to China, Nehru, asked Prime Minister Zhou's phone number and said he wanted to speak directly with Prime Minister Zhou. After discussion, the concierge politely declined and said that it could be conveyed, but the other party insisted on refusing. The Concierge Department reported the matter to the Prime Minister's Office, and the Prime Minister's Office agreed to the handling opinions.
When Zhou Enlai found out, he was very unhappy and called Ke Hua to the office and told him: "Chairman Mao attaches great importance to developing relations with India. I once told the Indian ambassador to China that he can call me directly if he has something to do."
Zhou Enlai emphasized: "Diplomatic affairs are not trivial, and ask for instructions when encountering more. Unlike you, you are a secretary of the municipal party committee, who is a prince with great power and can make decisions on many things by yourself. And every trivial matter in diplomacy cannot be neglected, it is related to national affairs."
From left to right: Chen Yi, Zhou Enlai, Ke Hua
A few years later, Ke Hua took office as ambassador of Guinea. During his tenure, Zhou Enlai praised him as "conscientious about his friends".
It was the early 1960s. After China won the men's singles world championship for the first time in the men's table tennis, a delegation composed of Huang Zhong, then deputy director of the Sports Committee, led by the champion Rong Guotuan and others to visit Guinea. The embassy held a reception, and Ke Hua invited senior officials such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guinea and diplomatic envoys from various countries to attend and watch the performance of the table tennis athletes. After the reception started, Guinea officials were not here for a long time. But as soon as the reception ended, the Guinea Foreign Minister led a group of officials to come hurried over and said to Ke Hua directly: "We really want to watch the world champion's performance." Ke Hua said nothing. The second reception began. Rong Guotuan and his teammates swung their shots again on the stage despite their fatigue. Before leaving, the Foreign Minister apologized to everyone.
Later, when Ke Hua was dating a Guinea friend, the other party also failed to make an appointment. After learning about the above situation, Premier Zhou praised Ke Hua for being "considered with his friends".
Before Hong Kong's return, Ke Hua was the Chinese ambassador to the UK at the time, "exploring the way" for Hong Kong's return and witnessed the first talks between the Chinese and British summits.
In September 1978, Ke Hua served as the Chinese ambassador to the UK. He returned to China in the summer of 1982 to attend a discussion on the revocation of Hong Kong. After returning to the UK, he had extensive contact with people from all walks of life in the UK and the British government authorities to understand the UK's reflection on China's revocation of Hong Kong and the British government's policies.
On July 12, 1982, Ke Hua invited a banquet for the then British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher, and based on China's consistent position, he explained to Mrs. Thatcher reasonably and reported to her at home. 212 days later, on July 24, Ke Hua served as the governor of Hong Kong at the same time, and the former governor of Hong Kong, McLeho , discussed the Hong Kong issue. The two sides debated for two or three hours and could not reach a consensus.
Yud and MacLeho said, "What should I do if I continue to argue like this and I can't agree!" Ke Hua replied, "This is easy. Aren't you sending troops to the island? It's more than 9,000 nautical miles away from the UK. It can't be recharged in the middle of the journey, so the plane can only refuel in the air, but have you been there yet? Hong Kong is only 8,000 nautical miles away from the UK, and it's convenient to replenish supplies along the way. You might as well give it a try."
Yud and MacLeho replied, "Of course it's impossible, you can only negotiate with China."
On the morning of the 9th of that year, Mrs. Thatcher visited China, and Deng Xiaoping and her negotiated on the Hong Kong issue. Ke Hua was there at the time. After the negotiations, Ke Hua and his wife accompanied Mrs. Thatcher to visit the Summer Palace.
In 1983, Ke Hua stepped down and returned to China, serving as an advisor to the Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council, ending his diplomatic career. On March 3 of that year, on the eve of Ke Hua's departure, Mrs. Thatcher's letter to the Chinese leader stated that she did not oppose China's negotiations on its own sovereignty over Hong Kong. The Sino-British negotiations have since turned around. On December 19, 1984, the two sides officially signed a Sino-British joint statement.
1988, Ke Hua was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and retired in 1995. After retiring from , Ke Hua used his remaining energy to introduce hundreds of millions of foreign capital to the country, but never gained benefits for himself. He once helped a brewery in Beijing introduce more than 100 million yuan of foreign capital. The factory wanted to give Ke Hua an introduction fee of 200,000 yuan, and he donated it all to a primary school in the district.
"Political News" (WeChat ID: zsenews) Written by Xu Tengfei Proofreading Lu Aiying
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