Facing the heavy rain all day long, Qian Qichen, who was Ups and Downs tidal surge of emotion, wrote in the book: “I think people with different moods will have different feelings from this. The descendants of the Yellow Emperor all over the world will feel that the heavy rain is flowing freely, washing away China’s century-old shame and bringing Hong Kong a brand new future.”
Qian Qichen, 90, left us.
During Qian Qichen’s tenure as foreign minister, he not only participated in the most critical process of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, but also participated in the confrontation between China and Britain over the development of Hong Kong’s political system through superb diplomatic negotiation skills, resolutely uphold the principle of “One Country, Two Systems. It is the impression that Qian Qichen left to future generations in the Sino-British contest.
In his memoir “ten records of diplomacy” written by Qian Qichen, he once wrote with deep affection: “The return of Hong Kong is an important part of the great cause of the reunification of the motherland, generations of Chinese have fought bravely for it. The return process is long. As a generation, I have witnessed the return with my own eyes. I am very lucky and have the opportunity to participate in the return process personally. It is even more honored.”
Qian Qichen dealt with five foreign ministers of Britain before and after in the negotiation stage of Sino-British Hong Kong issue. However, no matter which negotiating opponent he faces, he can always maintain China’s principles well. In 1988, he began to directly participate in the consultation on Hong Kong issue. At that time, the “honeymoon period” between China and Britain was not over yet. It was expected that Sino-British relations a sudden change in the situation the following year. Jeffrey, the foreign minister of Britain at that time, unilaterally postponed the meeting of Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, he also wrote a letter to Wu Xueqian, then Chinese vice premier, saying that Hong Kong’s confidence was seriously frustrated, and he tried to “reverse the case” on the previous consensus of both sides in consultation, openly questioning the issue of China’s garrison in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, even asked China to postpone the promulgation time of the Basic Law.
Facing the sudden change of diplomatic situation, Qian Qichen was not polite and directly criticized the British side’s statement on Hong Kong’s confidence, pointing out that it was just a series of unfriendly measures taken by the British side that hit the confidence of Hong Kong people, “On the issue of Hong Kong’s political system, China cannot agree with the unilateral change of the British side.” After that, John Major succeeded Jeffrey as foreign minister and planned to speed up the pace of Hong Kong’s political reform. Qian Qichen once again showed the bottom line, “political reform must be linked with the Basic Law promulgated in the future, china advocates democracy in Hong Kong, but it must be gradual.”
From the end of 1989 to the middle of 1995, Qian Qichen and then British foreign minister Hurd launched an unprecedented confrontation in the history of Chinese diplomacy. During this period, the dispute between China and Britain over Hong Kong’s political system was also the most intense. “Our exchange of letters, official mutual visits, meetings, frequent contacts and repeated consultations at international conferences is because the Hong Kong issue is not only complicated but also because the two sides cannot dispute over some issues, plus there is a tight timetable. This kind of situation is rarely seen in my contacts with foreign ministers of other countries, “Qian Qichen said.
Originally, the relevant contents of the Basic Law were drawn up in accordance with the two principles of administrative leadership and the gradual development of Hong Kong’s democracy. However, after 1989, the British side changed its mind to greatly speed up the pace of political system reform and attempted to carry out “representative political system reform”, which affected the arrangement of the Basic Law on the future political system.
In the confrontation about the proportion of directly elected members of the Legislative Council, Qian Qichen exchanged seven secret letters with Hurd within one month, which was also the only written agreement reached between China and Britain. However, what Qian Qian did not expect was that these diplomatic documents that were later disclosed by both sides were actually destroyed by the British side.
In 1992, after Peng Dingkang, the last governor of Hong Kong, took office, he threw out a political reform plan of Hong Kong against China, which then evolved into an open and serious contest between China and Britain. In the direct confrontation with Patten, Qian Qichen never compromised and pointed out that Patten’s plan was “a challenge to Sino-British cooperation”, and the problem in the future was that the two sides “continued cooperation”, or “go their separate ways and start a new stove”. According to his memory, “these words are very heavy. We have never used this language in previous negotiations and negotiations during the transition period.”
From July 1993 to December 1995, Qian Qichen served as the director of the Preparatory Committee of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and from December 1995 to July 1997, he served as the director of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Qian Qichen repeatedly exposed the British attempt to undermine the political system convergence before and after Hong Kong’s return. In March 1996, in order to return smoothly, the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region formally decided to establish the Provisional Legislative Council of the special administrative region.
Looking back on the past, Qian Qichen gave a calm analysis, “after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 90’s of last century, the British authorities based on this change, wrongly estimated China’s situation and development prospects. They believe that in the Hong Kong issue agreement signed with China in the past, the British side made more concessions and suffered losses. They wanted to take the opportunity to reverse the case. I think this is the root cause of a big storm in Hong Kong’s political system.”
On July 1, 1997, Qian Qichen, as a member of the Chinese delegation, attended the political handover ceremony of Hong Kong’s return. Facing the heavy rain all day long, Qian Qichen, who was Ups and Downs tidal surge of emotion, wrote in the book: “I think people with different moods will have different feelings from this. The descendants of the Yellow Emperor all over the world will feel that the heavy rain is flowing freely, washing away China’s century-old shame and bringing Hong Kong a brand new future.”
2049
in the face of the heavy rain all day long, Qian Qichen, who was Ups and Downs tidal surge of emotion, wrote in the book: “I think people with different moods will have different feelings from this. The descendants of the Yellow Emperor all over the world will feel that the heavy rain is flowing freely, washing the shame of China for a hundred years.