After the outbreak of the First Opium War, in August/842,/kloc-0, one of the contents signed by China and Britain was to cede part of Kowloon to Britain, that is, 1898, and to divide Hong Kong to Britain with the Shenzhen River as the boundary, with a term of 99 years, July 1,1999.

The following is the relevant information:

1842 After the British occupation of Hong Kong Island, the Qing government tried to recover it by force. Daoguang Emperor issued dozens of imperial edicts for this purpose, and some government officials also performed music performances, but the Qing government was unable to defend the territorial integrity and sovereign independence of the country.

During the Beijing government period, at the 19 19 Paris Peace Conference and the 192 1 Washington Conference, the representative of China raised the issue of recovering the leased land. However, Britain suffered a serious setback because of its obstinacy, scuffle with warlords at that time, unstable political situation and lack of diplomatic backing.

After the Revolution of 1911, in the declaration adopted by the first National Congress of the Chinese Nationalist Party, Dr. Sun Yat-sen clearly put forward the goal of abolishing the unequal treaties imposed on China by imperialism, among which the abolition of foreign concessions in China was placed in a prominent position.

Until the outbreak of the Pacific War, the National Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek never formally asked Britain to return the leased land in Kowloon. From 194 1 the outbreak of the Pacific War to1Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945, the leased land in Hong Kong and Kowloon had two chances to be recovered. However, Chiang Kai-shek's government implemented the wrong policy and missed two opportunities for recovery.

The return of Hong Kong is a great concept of "one country, two systems" and a successful practice of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. The recovery of Hong Kong's more than 100-year history has once again proved to us the irrefutable truth that backwardness is bound to be beaten and weak countries have no diplomacy, and that only socialism can finally realize the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation for generations.

Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall. From the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 184 1 to the return of Hong Kong to the motherland in 1997, China experienced the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China (including the Beijing government and the National Government) and the New China period. The Qing government, the Beijing government and the National Government during the Republic of China all made efforts to recover Hong Kong. However, all these efforts failed. History shows that only the new China can finally realize the long-cherished wish of generations of Chinese people. Today, Hong Kong's return to China is just around the corner. A comprehensive review of the arduous course of China's recovery of Hong Kong in the past 100 years is helpful to truly understand the profound meaning of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and get the enlightenment from it.

When Britain occupied Hong Kong Island, the Qing government's plan to recover Hong Kong Island by force was dashed.

Since the British occupied Hong Kong Island by force in 184 1, the Qing government has launched a struggle to recover Hong Kong Island. In order to illustrate this struggle, we must first understand the process of British occupation of the island.

So far, some books and media have described how Britain occupied Hong Kong Island during the Opium War:1In August of 840, after British troops occupied Dinghai, they arrived at Baihekou, Tianjin. The panicked Qing government sent Qi Shan, governor of Zhili, to Dagu to negotiate with British plenipotentiaries on an imperial law and a just law. 184165438+1On October 25th, Qishan signed the infamous Draft Convention on Nasal Perforation with Britain, the first paragraph of which was to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain. The next day, British troops occupied Hong Kong Island. This statement seems to think that the British occupation of Hong Kong Island has a definite "treaty basis". In fact, Britain occupied the island without any treaty basis, and Daoguang Emperor had neither heard of it nor allowed it in advance. Therefore, there is a desperate move to recover.

According to the records in the Chinese and British archives, 1840, Yili went to Dagu, Tianjin, and submitted a letter from Viscount Bamai to Prime Minister China, proposing to cede one or more islands along the southeast coast to Britain and other aggressive demands. Qishan rejected the British invasion request according to the will of Daoguang Emperor, and persuaded the British to return to Guangdong to continue the negotiations. A few months later, Qishan arrived in Guangzhou to continue negotiations with the British side. Daoguang Emperor explicitly instructed Qishan that if the British side persisted in its aggression, it would take decisive measures and resolutely use force against the aggressors. However, Qi Shan was afraid of British ships and made every effort to compromise. Because Daoguang Emperor's attitude was very tough, Qishan only agreed to compensate the price of cigarettes and refused to cede Hong Kong Island when negotiating with Yifa. 184110/On October 7th, the British army brutally captured Dajiao and Shajiao at the Tiger Gate, and then demanded to occupy Shajiao. Under the coercion of the British army, Qishan had no choice but to take pictures of Britain. If the British army returns Dinghai, Shajiao and other places, he can ask Daoguang Emperor to give "a place to stay" outside the Pearl River estuary. 14 10/4 14, Yili proposed to divide Tsim Sha Tsui and Hongkong in Kowloon. Qi Shan replied that he could only choose a "berth", and once the British side selected it, he would broadcast the petition. On October 20th, 65438/kloc-0, Yi Law suddenly announced that it had reached a "preliminary agreement" with Qishan, the first of which was to cede Hong Kong Island and port to the British king. On October 26th, 65438/KLOC-0, British troops occupied Hong Kong Island flagrantly without any treaty basis. 1October 27-28, in order to force China to recognize that its occupation of Hong Kong Island is legal, Liu Yi and Qishan held talks in Lianhua Mountain. The two men had a dispute over the important terms put forward by the British side, namely, the cession of Hong Kong Island and trade. Qi Shan said that the draft agreement drafted by Yi Fa could not be withdrawn before reconsideration. It can be seen that the "preliminary agreement" announced by the Justice Law 654381October 20th is sheer nonsense. On October 30th, 65438/KLOC-0, the British side did the same thing again. Berman, commander of the British Expeditionary Force Navy, wrote down the words of Lai Anjue, deputy commander of China Dapeng Club, and once again lied that Yi Law and Qi Shan "have agreed on everything, and it is well documented that the whole island of Hong Kong will be handed over to the British", and asked China officers and men to withdraw from all parts of the island. Two days later, the British posted a notice on Hong Kong Island, falsely claiming that "it is well documented, and everything has been agreed with the imperial envoy Juege Bu Tang to cede Hong Kong and other places to the British host. Therefore, residents of Hong Kong and other places are now subjects of the British monarch. " The historical fact is that under the gun of the British army, Qishan did allow the emperor to play for him and the British to stay in Hong Kong. However, the word Hong Kong at that time did not refer to the whole island of Hong Kong, but only to the southwest of the island, which is now the corner of Aberdeen. On the other hand, the British side deliberately turned a corner into an entire island, turned a "boarding boat" into an occupation, and described "playing for others" as "agreeing to everything" and "having a written record". This fully shows how Britain, an old colonial empire, has done whatever it takes in diplomacy.

After Britain invaded Hong Kong Island by force, the Qing government was extremely shocked and immediately made arrangements to recover Hong Kong Island by force. 184 1 On February 26th, 2008, Daoguang Emperor received a memorial from Guangdong Governor Yiliang about Qishan and the British making good use of the island and the British army occupying Hong Kong Island. In other words, it was determined that the British occupation of Hong Kong Island was caused by Qishan's ultra vires and selfish interests. The imperial edict said, "I rule the world and I rule the country, but isn't the country owned by the country?" Qishan is good at trading with Hong Kong and dares to beg. " It is no accident that Daoguang Emperor severely punished Qi Shan. He has long been dissatisfied with the blind compromise of the British in Guangdong. 65438+ 10 On 27th, Emperor Daoguang learned that the fortresses of Dajiao and Shajiao had fallen, and immediately ordered Qishan to be handed over to the Ministry for consultation. Three days later, he appointed Yishan, the minister in charge of the imperial army, as General Jing Inverse, appointed Long Wen, the minister, and Yang Fang, the prefect of Hunan Province, as counselors, and conquered the British invaders in the south. After the British invaded Hong Kong Island, recovering Hong Kong Island by force became an important goal for Yishan and others to go south. At that time, Yishan and others were still on their way south. Daoguang issued a decree saying: "Even if Hong Kong is not in danger, we will try our best to recover Hong Kong as soon as possible. We must never give Hong Kong to foreigners, which will lead to future troubles." Later, he issued a decree to recover Hong Kong Island one after another: "When Hong Kong is occupied by insurgents, we must try our best to recover it and make the insurgents watch forever, so that we will not be appointed." Although the number of Yishan troops ordered by Daoguang Emperor was several times that of the British army, they were all army troops, and they could only defend Guangzhou by land, but they could not attack Hong Kong Island at all. 1841may18, the British army almost rushed out to attack Guangzhou. Yishan rushed to fight, the Qing army was defeated, and all the fortresses outside Guangzhou fell. Yishan was forced to form an alliance under the city, paid 6 million yuan in compensation within a week, and withdrew from Guangzhou. Afterwards, Yishan lied about the military situation and turned defeat into victory, which led Daoguang Emperor to mistakenly think that the British army returned to Hong Kong Island from Guangzhou after the conditions were met, which was the victory of China's conquest of Yingyi. As for Hong Kong Island, Daoguang Emperor accepted the new appointment of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Suggest and agree to suspend the retouching. There happened to be two hurricanes on Hong Kong Island, and many British ships sank and were destroyed. When Daoguang Emperor learned this news, he immediately rewarded twenty pillars of Tibetan incense and asked Yi Kuang and others to go to the temple to thank the gods, mistakenly thinking that he would be "frightened and afraid to covet again".

1841August 2 1 day, Britain sent troops to replace Pu Dingcha, who expanded the war of aggression against China, leaving a few army troops and five warships in Hong Kong and personally leading the main force northward. Daoguang Emperor believed that if the British main force went north, Hong Kong Island would be empty, which was a good opportunity to recover Hong Kong. He warned Yishan: "If we can manage to recover Hong Kong, we can make up for the past mishandling." Since then, he has repeatedly asked Yishan and others to train Xiang Yong and seize the opportunity to recover Hong Kong. After the defeat in Guangzhou, Yishan knew the strength of the British army and attacked and suppressed it on land, not to mention crossing the sea to recover Hong Kong Island. In addition, the battery inside and outside Humen has been razed to the ground and there is no danger of being captured. The navy has no boat or gun. He believes that the only solution today is to strictly guard the land and prevent burning, killing and looting. Although Daoguang has repeatedly ordered Hong Kong to be taken back, don't wait and see, but Guangdong still insists on its own way, tolerates peace and does not seek attack and repression. 184 1 10 In June, the British army successively captured Dinghai, Zhenhai and Ningbo in Zhejiang, and China and Britain began land operations. Daoguang Emperor believed that land warfare was the strength of the Qing army. He appointed Yi Jing as General Yangwei, mobilized troops from all over the country, and prepared to defeat the British army in one fell swoop and recover lost ground. He once again ordered Yishan and others to take advantage of the fact that there are few British ships along the coast of Guangdong and Hong Kong is empty. But the Qing army lost again on land, and General Yang Wei fled to Hangchow. Hard facts prove that the Qing army can't fight at sea and can't be relied on on on land. However, the British occupation of Hong Kong is still a heart disease of Daoguang Emperor. 1On March 27th, 842, the Qing government appointed Qi Ying as the general of Hangzhou. 1 1 On April 27th, the Qing government awarded him an imperial envoy for customs defense. On May 18, the British army captured Zhapu. At this critical moment, on May 25th, Daoguang unexpectedly ordered Guan Fangchi, the former imperial envoy of Jian Xian, to be the general of Guangzhou, and ordered him to say, "Hong Kong cannot be occupied by foreigners for a long time. Now, if the fortifications such as the Guangdong Fort are properly prepared, we can seize the opportunity to make progress, carry out open and secret attacks, and recover Hong Kong to expand our national prestige. " This is the last law we can see to recover Hong Kong. However, after 10 days, Daoguang had to change his mind, ordered Yong Ying to suspend his trip to Guangdong, and ensured Ying Cha people's movement in Zhejiang to deal with the detention of Britain. At this point, the shackles have actually become synonymous with begging for surrender. When the British occupied Wusong and Shanghai and arrived in Zhenjiang, Emperor Daoguang even authorized senior citizens to act cheaply and decided to surrender. Later, the British army captured Zhenjiang and took Nanjing to the city on August 4. The "Old Citizen" and Ilbu accepted the British peace proposal and signed the Sino-British treaty of nanking on August 29th, finally ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain.

The above facts show that after the British occupation of Hong Kong Island, the Qing government tried to recover Hong Kong Island by force, and Daoguang Emperor made dozens of decrees for this purpose. Some government officials also played with folding musical instruments and consulted Yishan, demanding the recovery of Hong Kong Island by force. However, in the end, the Qing government not only failed to recover Hong Kong Island, but ceded Hong Kong Island in the form of a treaty, which showed that the Qing government was unable to defend the territorial integrity and sovereign independence of the country. The backwardness of the country and the corruption of the ruling class fundamentally determine this outcome. 1860, Britain forced the Qing government to sign the Sino-British Beijing Treaty by force, and occupied the southern tip of Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island. 1898, in the frenzy of western powers to carve up China, Britain took advantage of the fish in troubled waters and forced the Qing government to sign the Sino-British Special Provisions on Expanding Hong Kong's Border, which seized a large area of land in Xin 'an County and 235 surrounding islands and vast waters for 99 years, and renamed it "New Territories" and incorporated it into the British colony of Hong Kong.

China's efforts to recover the leased land in Kowloon before the Revolution of 1911 and the Pacific War.

After the Revolution of 1911, the government and people of China made unremitting efforts to recover Hongkong.

19 19 at the Paris peace conference, on the instructions of the Beijing government, the representative of China raised the issue of recovering the leased land (including the leased land in Kowloon) to the peace conference. As the Peace Conference was dominated by Britain and France, the two major victors of the First World War, they both occupied the leased land in China and were unwilling to give up their vested interests. French Prime Minister Kerry Duhamel Du Monceau, president of the Paris Peace Conference, said that China's proposal was "outside the scope of the Paris Peace Conference" and should be considered by the League of Nations in the future, so he easily rejected it. As we all know, this Peace Conference, which flaunts the establishment of "international justice" and aims at "creating permanent peace in the world", unfairly treats China. Through the resolution of ceding Germany's aggressive rights and interests in Shandong to Japan, it triggered the May 4th Movement in China and prompted China's representative to refuse to sign the Peace Conference's peace treaty with Germany.

On February 3rd, China put forward a new proposal on behalf of Gu Weijun to abolish foreign concessions in China. The motion lists the fact that the foreign concessions in China destroyed China's territorial and administrative integrity, endangered China's national defense, dragged China into the vortex of conflicts among foreign powers, and were used by foreign powers to establish their own spheres of influence, and demands that these concessions be cancelled or abolished as soon as possible. At that time, it was at the climax of the post-war world national liberation movement. Driven by the May 4th Movement, China set off a wave of people's "foreign struggle for state power" and the abolition of unequal treaties. At the same time, the United States and Japan are competing for each other's advantages in the Far East. The United States is trying to contain Japan's aggressive expansion momentum, and there are also many contradictions among other big countries. These two factors prompted Britain and Japan to agree to give up the leased land in Ahava and Jiaozhou respectively. However, on the issue of canceling the concessions in Kowloon (that is, the Hong Kong New Territories) and Luda, the representative of China met with strong opposition from the representatives of Britain and Japan. Belfo, the British representative at the meeting, the President of the Privy Council and famous as a "bloody man", resolutely refused to return it on the pretext that "without the Kowloon Concession, Hong Kong could not defend itself". On February 7th, 65438, Gu Weijun refuted Belfo's fallacy in far eastern commission. Belfo turned a deaf ear to this, while the Japanese representative remained silent and the American representative remained indifferent. Since then, the issue of Kowloon Concession has not been discussed at the Washington Conference. Due to Britain's stubborn refusal, China warlords' scuffle, political instability and lack of diplomatic support at that time, China's just demand for recovering the Kowloon Concession was seriously frustrated.

After the Washington Conference, the people of China were very disappointed with the result. The abolition of unequal treaties has increasingly become the common demand of all political parties and people from all walks of life throughout the country. 1924 65438+ 10, with the support and help of China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen presided over the first national congress of the Chinese Kuomintang. In the Declaration of the General Assembly adopted on 23rd of the same month, the goal of abolishing the unequal treaties imposed on China by imperialism was clearly put forward, among which the abolition of foreign concessions in China was placed in a prominent position. The declaration reads: "All unequal treaties that infringe on China's sovereignty, such as foreigners' concession of land, consular jurisdiction, foreigners' right to manage tariffs and foreigners' exercise of all political rights in China, should be abolished, and new treaties of equality and mutual respect for sovereignty should be signed. "This passage became the guiding principle of China's diplomacy in the later period.

After the establishment of the National Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, although it relied heavily on imperialism, especially Britain and the United States, in order to consolidate its position, it had to consider the urgent desire of the general public and Dr. Sun Yat-sen's last wish of "freedom and equality in China", put forward a foreign policy of "amending unequal treaties" and repeatedly asked the foreign powers to abolish concessions and concessions. However, this time, the diplomacy of amending the treaty achieved little except tariff autonomy, recovering several concessions and recovering the land leased by ahava 1930 as promised by Britain. Until the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Nanjing National Government never even formally asked Britain to return the leased land in Kowloon.

Contrary to the National Government, the British Government and the British authorities in Hongkong have been paying attention to the future of the Kowloon Concession, and are nervously watching the trend of the National Government and China public opinion on this issue. Governor Jin not only resolutely opposed the return of the leased land, but also repeatedly suggested that his government formally carve up the land in exchange for the return of Ahava, or deliberately provoked conflicts with China to create opportunities for merger. After the full-scale outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, another governor, Joffrey Noscott, also tried to take advantage of people's danger. In 1938, he suggested that China urgently needed foreign loans to support its currency. He might as well use this opportunity to exchange a loan for a franchise or an extension of the lease in Kowloon. However, the suggestions of the above two governors were not adopted by the British government, which tended to adopt a policy of procrastination, silence and avoidance. As long as China doesn't talk about it, he will never take the initiative to deal with this problem.

Although the British government was very strict with China on the issue of renting Kowloon, it didn't realize that its policies were bringing fatal danger to its rule in Hong Kong. For many years, Britain has been pursuing a policy of appeasement, flattery and connivance towards Japan, fantasizing about reaching a compromise with Japan to safeguard its colonial interests in the Far East and Southeast Asia. Who knows that this policy not only failed, but also encouraged Japanese militarism to push southward, which led to the outbreak of the Pacific War and Japan's occupation of the entire Hong Kong region, shooting itself in the foot. As an Australian scholar said, "In this period, it can almost be said that the threat to Hong Kong is even greater ... not so much from the people of China, but from the British Foreign Office."

1942 The Sino-British negotiation to return the leased land in Kowloon lost two good opportunities to recover Hong Kong.

194 1 At the end of the year, the Pacific War broke out and Japanese invaders attacked Hong Kong. At that time, Britain was busy fighting in Europe and defending its homeland, and its resistance in Hong Kong was weak. It has been away for only 18 days. On Christmas Day of the same year, Hong Kong Governor Yang surrendered to Japan, and Britain's century-long rule over Hong Kong was replaced by Japan. At the same time, the British ace warships "Prince of Wales" and "Enemy" were attacked and destroyed by the Japanese in the Malay Sea, and the British colonial system in the Far East and Southeast Asia quickly collapsed. In June, 1942, the British troops successively withdrew from Malaya, Singapore, Myanmar and other places, and the Japanese troops came to the India-Myanmar border, forming a situation of directly knocking on the door of India. The past glory of the British empire has gone. The rout of Britain in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia marked the complete destruction of the balance of international power in the Far East established by the great powers through the Washington Conference after the First World War. At this time, China, the United States and Britain have become allies who jointly oppose Japanese aggression. This situation forced Britain to consider China's request to abolish the unequal treaties.

At that time, the anti-fascist wars between the East and the West were closely linked, and China's war of resistance was integrated with the battles of the Allies. The changes in the international situation are not only conducive to the victory of China people War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, but also provide a good opportunity to recover Hongkong. The U.S. government, headed by Roosevelt, is well aware of the huge containment effect of the battlefield in China. In order to make the Kuomintang government insist on fighting against Japan and fill the vacuum that Britain may leave in the Far East after the war, it also began to attack Britain's practice of retaining colonial privileges in China and not returning Hong Kong to China from its own interests. The attitude of the United States is undoubtedly a kind of pressure on Britain and an inspiration to the national government, prompting it to take action.

1942 At the end of August, the National Government formally requested the United States to hold negotiations with China to abolish the unequal treaties, so as to urge Britain to hold similar negotiations with China. When the British Foreign Office heard about this incident, it panicked and quickly instructed its ambassador to China, Mu Xue, to "take the initiative". 101October10, respectively, the United States and Britain issued statements to negotiate a treaty with the government of China, so as to "immediately give up its extraterritorial jurisdiction in China and solve related problems". Negotiations between China and the United States and between China and Britain on the abolition of unequal treaties and the establishment of new covenants began immediately. This negotiation includes giving up the concession in China. The National Government thinks that concession and concession belong to the same category, so it is natural that they should be returned to Kowloon Concession (that is, Hong Kong New Territories).

Since then, the United States and Britain have put forward a draft of the New Testament for consideration. The Sino-British talks were held in Chongqing, with Song Ziwen and Mu Xue, Foreign Ministers of the National Government, representing the two countries respectively. Britain's draft includes the abolition of extraterritorial jurisdiction in China, the termination of the 190 1 year's treaty of love and ugliness, and the return of some concessions to China. However, although the British side knew that China was most concerned about recovering Hong Kong (at least in the New Territories), it deliberately did not mention this issue in the draft. On June165438+1October 10, British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill personally went out and strongly declared that "I am not the king's prime minister who presided over the liquidation of the British empire" and that he "will never give up any territory of the British empire", thus indicating that Britain adheres to its stubborn position on colonial rule in Hong Kong.

165438+1October13rd, the national government put forward a revised draft on the basis of the British draft, which added the content of abolishing the special clause of 1898 on the expansion of Hong Kong's border: "The administration and management of British leased land in Kowloon, its official assets and official debts were transferred to the government of the Republic of China." It should be said that it is a compromise to only return the leased land in Kowloon, but not the whole Hong Kong area. At that time, the public opinion in Chongqing was fierce and opposed to any foreign country's continued occupation of China's territory. American public opinion also sympathizes with and supports China's just demand. The situation is favorable for China.

When Britain received China's revised draft, it hastily studied the countermeasures. Clark, director of the Far East Department of the British Foreign Office, put forward three options: (1) Accept the request; 2 flatly refused; 3 try to delay. He thinks that the first option is not feasible, because the New Territories are very important to Hong Kong's economy and strategy. The second plan will not work either, and it will cause dissatisfaction and criticism from the United States (Britain has great dependence on the United States in wartime). Therefore, he believes that the third option should be chosen and can be postponed. Regarding the Secretary's proposal, Foreign Minister Aidan thought it was neither firm nor clear, and tried his best to oppose it. He prefers to adopt the second option, that is, categorically declare that the leased land in Kowloon does not fall within the scope of this treaty and refuse to return it. Aiden's idea was strongly supported by Churchill, and a corresponding resolution was made at the British wartime cabinet meeting on June 30th, 165438. The British policy of leasing land in Kowloon was decided by this important decision.

1October 30th, Mu Xue announced to Song Ziwen that Britain was not prepared to negotiate with China on the Kowloon Concession. Song Ziwen has repeatedly reiterated China's principled position of recovering leased land. There was a dispute between the two sides, and there was no result. Knowing this, Chiang Kai-shek said that if the New Testament signed by China and Britain did not include the recovery of the New Territories, he refused to sign the treaty. The negotiations are deadlocked.

In this case, China's chief representative Song Ziwen wavered. In order to break the deadlock in the negotiations, he is prepared to make a principled deal and make concessions to Britain on the issue of leasing land in Kowloon. But he was afraid to tell Chiang Kai-shek what he thought, so he asked Gu Weijun, a senior diplomat and ambassador to Britain who was returning home at that time, to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to make concessions to Britain. Entrusted to Gu Weijun told Chiang kai-shek, he "understood the meaning of the chairman, and said that the gift should be sent once, but Britain is willing to send it twice". In my opinion, it is best to accept the first gift first, which can imply that we are waiting for the arrival of the second gift, so as not to cause any misunderstanding. In addition, the "unity" between wartime allies is "extremely important". Gu Weijun's persuasion played a considerable role in Chiang Kai-shek.

In the subsequent negotiations, the British side continued to adhere to the stubborn position of colonialism. In order to prevent the complete breakdown of the negotiations, Song Ziwen asked the British side to issue a statement indicating its intention to return the leased land in Kowloon in the future. Therefore, China will never urge Britain to return the leased land in Kowloon before the end of the war. At the same time, he emphatically announced that China would not sign the treaty if Britain did not even express this will. In this regard, Britain only agreed to "discuss the future of leased land after winning the war", unwilling to make any commitment to return leased land after the war, and even threatened that Britain would "refuse to sign the New Testament". Just then, Japan, which is carrying out bloody and brutal aggression against China, proposed to "revoke" Japan's concession and extraterritoriality in China as soon as possible in order to disturb people's hearts, provoke relations between allies, show "Sino-Japanese goodwill" and sign a contract with Wang puppet before China and the United States. Under the double pressure of Britain's refusal to sign the New Testament and the possibility that Japan and the Puppet could sign the contract first between China and Britain, Chiang Kai-shek made fundamental concessions to Britain. 1942, 12, 3 1 day, he instructed the national government to formally agree not to merge the issue of recovering leased land in Kowloon with the issue of abolishing extraterritorial jurisdiction. In his diary that day, he wrote: "Diplomacy with Britain is quite tiring" and "the issue of returning Kowloon (leased land) is unwilling to be solved at the same time in the New Testament", so he had to "temporarily endure" and agree to sign the Sino-British Treaty; "After I sign it, I will explain to him in writing and temporarily return the Kowloon issue so as to continue negotiations in the future and serve as the basis for future negotiations." He also vowed that as a "last resort", he was prepared to "recover the leased land in Kowloon by military means" after the war. Then, although he was cunning, there was nothing he could do. "

Chiang Kai-shek's original intention was to sign the Sino-American and Sino-British New Testaments on New Year's Day 1943 before the Japanese puppet regime. However, due to the delay of Britain, these two treaties were not signed until 1943 65438+ 10/(the Japanese-Puppet Treaty was signed on June+10/9). The Treaty on Abolishing British Extraterritoriality and Privileges in China signed in Chongqing on the same day made no mention of the Kowloon Concession. On the same day, Song Ziwen sent a note to Mu Xue, stating that the China government "reserves the right to discuss the leased land in Kowloon in the future." During the war, China's negotiations to recover the leased land in Kowloon ended in failure in China.

1942 is a favorable opportunity for China to abolish the treaty of privileges and inequalities of great powers in China. Undeniably, although the National Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek relied heavily on Britain and the United States, it really wanted to seize the opportunity to recover the rights of foreigners in China as much as possible. Through the Sino-British New Testament of 1943+0, China abolished the British extraterritoriality in China and the Sino-British treaty of 190 1, and recovered the administrative power of the Beijing Embassy Concession, the public concessions in Shanghai and Xiamen, and the British concessions in Tianjin and Guangzhou. It happened on the occasion of the 0/00th anniversary of/kloc-that British gunboats opened the door to China and forced China and Britain to sign the treaty of nanking, and China began to become a semi-colony. This is a historical coincidence. This is a great event in the history of the Chinese nation's struggle to abolish unequal treaties. Fundamentally speaking, this achievement should be attributed to the people of China who are fighting bloody battles with the Japanese aggressors.

However, it should be pointed out that the failure to recover the leased land in Kowloon in this negotiation is indeed the incompetence of the National Government. In the announcement issued the day after the signing of the new Sino-American and Sino-British covenants, the National Government declared that China was "completely independent, equal and free" with other countries, which was an exaggeration. China's failure to recover the leased land in Kowloon was caused by Britain's persistence in colonialism, but it was also directly related to the weak struggle and attitude of the National Government. As mentioned above, there are good international and domestic conditions for recovering the leased land in Kowloon. In order to succeed, we should seize the opportunity, argue and adhere to the principle. Even if Britain stubbornly refuses, it may refuse to sign tomorrow's New Testament. Even so, Britain cannot accuse China of undermining the unity of its allies. On the contrary, Britain, as an ally of China, is obsessed with the privilege of leasing land in China, which is harmful to the unity of its allies. So the treaty failed, and the irrationality still lies in the British side. In the world anti-fascist war at that time, the wave of national liberation was unprecedented, and the collapse of the imperialist colonial system was irreversible. Even if the New Testament is not signed for the time being, can Britain maintain its privileges and concessions in China for a long time after the victory of the war? As the chief representative of China, Song Ziwen was short-sighted and weak-willed, trying to "unify" with Britain by making concessions. As a result, the more China retreated, the more Britain advanced. Finally, China was frustrated and Britain won unreasonably. Song Ziwen should not be blamed for this. As for Chiang Kai-shek, although he wanted to recover the Kowloon Concession and made some efforts to this end, he did not persist in the face of Britain's stubborn stance, and finally he reached a compromise with Britain, which made the recovery of the Kowloon Concession fall short and missed the opportunity.

After Japan surrendered unconditionally in August, 1945, a good opportunity to recover Hong Kong came again. However, because Chiang Kai-shek pursued the wrong policy of targeting at home and resolutely opposing the Communist Party, and was eager to snatch the fruits of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he had long forgotten the oath of renegotiating after the war and "retaking the Kowloon Concession from the Japanese by force". On the contrary, he hastily announced to Britain that he had "no ambition" for Hong Kong. As a result, Britain preempted Hong Kong. Not only that, Chiang Kai-shek, as the supreme commander of the Allied China War Zone (Hong Kong belongs to the China War Zone), had the right to accept the surrender of the Japanese army in Hong Kong, but in the end, even this surrender right was actually taken away by the British. This is the second time that the National Government missed the opportunity to recover Hong Kong. This is a great irony to China, one of the "Top Four", and also a historical sorrow of China.

1949 The establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) declared the end of China's semi-colonial era and laid a solid foundation for the first return of Hongkong. With the strengthening of China's national strength, the expiration of the new territories lease in Hong Kong and the favorable changes in the international situation, the recovery of Hong Kong was put on the agenda in the early 1980s. 1984 The Sino-British Joint Declaration finally solved the problem of Hong Kong's return in principle. Not long ago, according to the Basic Law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) SAR, the first Chief Executive of the SAR was elected and principal officials of the SAR government were appointed. The smooth return and transition of Hong Kong is predictable. This is the great concept of "one country, two systems" and the successful practice of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. A century of humiliation is about to vanish, and all China people are proud of it and full of confidence in Hong Kong's prosperity and stability after its return.

While celebrating the imminent return of Hong Kong, we must not forget the long and arduous process of recovering Hong Kong, and think that today's achievements are hard-won. The recovery of Hong Kong's history of more than a hundred years has once again proved to us the irrefutable truth that backwardness is bound to be beaten and weak countries have no diplomacy. Facts have also proved that a country with closed doors, no innovation, internal instability, weak national strength and backward corruption can never maintain its independence and territorial integrity, and it is also impossible to ask it to "clean up the old mountains and rivers." Only under the leadership of China, the faithful representative of the interests of the people of all ethnic groups in China, and adhering to socialism, can we finally realize the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation from generation to generation. Only reform and opening up, maintaining stability and unity, self-reliance, striving for advancement and constantly enhancing national strength are the only ways to defend and prosper the country.