In 1841, after the British occupied Hong Kong Island, the Qing government tried to regain it by force. Emperor Daoguang issued dozens of edicts to this end, and some feudal officials also submitted official documents. However, the Qing government There is no ability to defend the country’s territorial integrity and sovereign independence.

During the Beijing government, at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and the Washington Conference in 1921, Chinese representatives raised the issue of recovering the leased land. However, it was severely frustrated by Britain's stubborn resistance, the warlords' fighting at the time, the political instability, and the lack of strength to back up diplomacy.

After the Revolution of 1911, Mr. Sun Yat-sen clearly stated the goal of abolishing the unequal treaties imposed by imperialism on China in the declaration adopted by the First National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang. The leased land was placed in a prominent position.

The Nationalist Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek never formally proposed to Britain the return of the Kowloon Leased Land until the outbreak of the Pacific War. From the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941 to Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945, there were two opportunities to take back the Hong Kong and Kowloon leases. However, the Chiang Kai-shek government implemented wrong policies and missed the opportunity to recover twice.

The return of Hong Kong is the successful practice of the great concept of "one country, two systems" and the policy of Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong. The more than 100 years of history of recovering Hong Kong once again proves to us the unbreakable truth that backwardness will be beaten and that weak countries have no diplomacy. It proves that only socialism can finally realize the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation for generations.

By taking history as a mirror, we can know the ups and downs. From the British occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 to the return of Hong Kong to the motherland in 1997, China has experienced the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China (including the Beijing government and the National Government) and the New China period. Both the Qing government and the Beijing government and the Nationalist government during the Republic of China made efforts to regain Hong Kong. However, all these efforts failed. History shows that only New China can finally realize the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation for generations. Today, as Hong Kong's return to the motherland is imminent, a comprehensive review of my country's arduous journey of regaining Hong Kong over the past century will help us truly understand the profound meaning of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and draw due inspiration from it.

The British occupation of Hong Kong Island and the collapse of the Qing government’s plan to regain Hong Kong Island by force

Since the British occupation of Hong Kong Island by force in January 1841, the Qing government has launched a struggle to regain the island. . In order to explain this struggle, it is first necessary to understand the British occupation of the island.

So far, some writings and media have described how the British occupied Hong Kong Island during the Opium War: In August 1840, after occupying Dinghai, the British army marched north to the mouth of Baihe River in Tianjin. The government urgently sent Qishan, the governor-general of Zhili, to Dagu to negotiate with the British plenipotentiary envoys Yilu and Yilu. On January 25, 1841, Qishan signed the infamous "Chuanbi Grass Treaty" with the United Kingdom. The first clause of the treaty was to cede Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom. The next day, British troops occupied Hong Kong Island. This argument seems to believe that Britain's occupation of Hong Kong Island has a definite "treaty basis." In fact, the British occupied the island without any treaty basis. Emperor Daoguang neither knew about it in advance nor gave his permission. Therefore, there is an urgent need to recover.

According to Chinese and British archives, on August 30, 1840, Yilu went to Dagu, Tianjin and submitted the "Letter from Viscount Palmerston to the Emperor of China as Prime Minister" to the Qing government, proposing to cede a piece of land along the southeast coast. The island or several islands were given to the British and other invaders. In accordance with Emperor Daoguang's decree, Qishan rejected the British request for aggression and persuaded the British army to return to Guangdong to continue negotiations. A few months later, Qishan arrived in Guangzhou to continue negotiations with the British. Emperor Daoguang clearly instructed Qishan that if the British insisted on their request for aggression, they would take decisive measures and resolutely use force to fight the invaders. However, Qishan was frightened by the powerful British ships and artillery and tried to compromise. Because Emperor Daoguang's attitude was very tough, Qishan only agreed to compensate for the price of cigarettes when negotiating with Yilu and refused to cede Hong Kong Island. On January 7, 1841, the British army brutally captured Dajiao and Shajiao at Humenkou, and then made demands such as occupying Shajiao.

On August 21, 1841, the British sent Pu Dingcha to replace Yilu to expand the war of aggression against China, leaving a small number of land forces and five warships in Hong Kong, and personally led the main force northward. Emperor Daoguang believed that as the main force of the British army moved northward, Hong Kong Island would be empty, and this would be a good opportunity to regain Hong Kong. He warned Yishan: "If we can manage to regain Hong Kong, we can atone for the mismanagement in the past." After that, he repeatedly ordered Yishan and others to train local braves and take the opportunity to regain Hong Kong. After the defeat in the Battle of Guangzhou, Yishan was well aware of the strength of the British army. The land attack was a complete failure, let alone crossing the sea to regain Hong Kong Island. In addition, the forts inside and outside Humen had long been leveled and there was no danger to stop them. The navy had no ships and no guns. He believed that the only solution now was to strictly guard the land routes to prevent burning and looting. Although Emperor Daoguang repeatedly ordered to regain Hong Kong and not to wait and see, the Guangdong side still went its own way and tolerated the situation and did not attempt to attack. In October 1841, the British army successively captured Dinghai, Zhenhai and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, and China and Britain began to fight on land. Emperor Daoguang believed that land warfare was the strength of the Qing army. He appointed Yi Jing as a powerful general, mobilized troops from all over the country, and prepared to defeat the British army in one fell swoop and regain the lost territory. He once again ordered Yi Shan and others to take advantage of the Guangdong sea, where there were few British ships and Hong Kong was empty. At that time, they immediately carried out a campaign of suppression and regained Hong Kong. Unexpectedly, the Qing army failed in the land battle again, and General Yangwei fled to Hangzhou. The ironclad facts prove that the Qing army is not only incapable of fighting at sea, but also cannot be relied on on land. However, the British army's occupation of Hong Kong was still a worry for Emperor Daoguang. On March 27, 1842, the Qing government appointed Qiying as General of Hangzhou, and on April 11, he was awarded the title of Imperial Envoy, Guan Fang. On May 18, the British army captured Zhapu. At this critical moment, on May 25, Emperor Daoguang unexpectedly ordered Qiying to take the imperial envoy Guan Fangchi to Guangzhou to serve as general. Having been occupied by the rebels for a long time, if the Guangdong forts and other fortifications are properly prepared, they can take advantage of the opportunity to attack openly and secretly to regain Hong Kong to show their national prestige. "This is the last edict we can see to regain Hong Kong. However, Emperor Daoguang had to change his mind 10 days later and ordered the senior citizens to postpone their trip to Guangdong to confirm the movements of the British in Zhejiang and handle matters of restraint against the British. At this time, Jisi has actually become synonymous with begging for surrender. When the British army captured Wusong, Shanghai, and reached Zhenjiang, Emperor Daoguang authorized the Qiying to act in an expedient manner and decided to surrender. Later, the British army captured Zhenjiang and marched to the gates of Nanjing on August 4. Qiying and Iribu accepted the peace terms proposed by the British, and signed an alliance under the city on August 29 - the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing. Finally, Ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain.

The above facts show that after the British occupied Hong Kong Island, the Qing government tried to regain it by force. Emperor Daoguang issued dozens of edicts for this purpose, and some officials from the frontiers also submitted documents and consulted with them. Yi Shan, demanding the resumption of Hong Kong Island by force. However, in the end, the Qing government not only failed to regain Hong Kong Island, but instead ceded it in the form of a treaty, which showed that the Qing government was no longer capable of defending the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The backwardness of the country and the corruption of the ruling class fundamentally determined this outcome. In 1860, the British used force to force the Qing government to sign the Sino-British Treaty of Beijing, and ceded the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island. In 1898, amidst the frenzy of Western powers to carve up China, Britain took advantage of the situation and forced the Qing government to sign the Sino-British "Special Treaty on Expanding the Boundary Site of Hong Kong" and seized the "lease" of a large piece of land in my country's Xin'an County and 235 surrounding islands as well as vast waters. "right" for a period of 99 years, and renamed it the "New Territories" and incorporated it into the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.

China’s efforts to recover the Kowloon leased land from the Revolution of 1911 to the Pacific War

After the Revolution of 1911, the Chinese government and people continued to make unremitting efforts to recover Hong Kong.

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Chinese representatives raised the issue of recovering the leased areas (including the Kowloon Leased Area) to the Peace Conference in accordance with the instructions of the Beijing government. Since the Peace Conference was dominated by Britain and France, the two main victors in the First World War, they both held leased territories in China and were unwilling to give up their vested interests. The chairman of the Peace Conference, French Prime Minister Clemenceau, excused China's proposal as "not within the purview of the Peace Conference" and said that the matter should be considered by the League of Nations in the future, and easily vetoed it.

Although the British government took strict precautions against China on the Kowloon lease issue, it failed to notice that its policy was bringing fatal danger to its rule in Hong Kong. For many years, Britain has been pursuing the policy of appeasing, currying favor with, and conniving Japan, dreaming of reaching a compromise with Japan in order to safeguard its colonial interests in the Far East and Southeast Asia. Little did they know that this policy not only failed to work, but instead encouraged Japanese militarism to advance southward, leading to the outbreak of the Pacific War and Japan's occupation of the entire Hong Kong area. It shot itself in the foot. As an Australian scholar said, "At this period, it can almost be said that the greater threat to Hong Kong... came not so much from the Chinese as from the British Foreign Office."

1942 The Sino-British negotiations on the return of the Kowloon Leased Territory and the loss of two good opportunities to regain Hong Kong

At the end of 1941, the Pacific War broke out and the Japanese invaders attacked Hong Kong. At that time, Britain was busy with the war in Europe and defending its homeland. It was unable to resist in Hong Kong and abandoned its armor and fled with its troops in just 18 days. Hong Kong Governor Yeung Mu-ki surrendered to Japan on Christmas Day of the same year, and Britain's century-old rule of Hong Kong was replaced by Japan. At the same time, the British ace warships "Prince of Wales" and "Quiet" were destroyed by Japanese attacks in the Malay Sea. The British colonial system in the Far East and Southeast Asia quickly collapsed. By June 1942, the British army had withdrawn from Malaya, Singapore, Myanmar and other places, and Japan deployed troops on the India-Myanmar border, forming a direct attack on India's door. The British Empire's former glory was completely wiped out. The British rout in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia marked the complete destruction of the international balance of power in the Far East established by the great powers through the Washington Conference after World War I. China, the United States, and Britain have now become allies against Japanese aggression. This situation forced Britain to consider China's request to abrogate unequal treaties.

At that time, the anti-fascist wars between the East and the West were linked together, and China's war of resistance merged with the wars of the Allied Powers. The changes in the international situation are not only conducive to the Chinese people's victory in the Anti-Japanese War, but also provide a good opportunity for the recovery of Hong Kong. The U.S. government, headed by Roosevelt, was well aware of the huge restraining effect of the Chinese battlefield on Japan. In order to make the Nationalist Government insist on fighting Japan and to fill the vacuum that Britain might leave in the Far East after the war, it also began to attack Britain in the Far East out of its own interests. China retains colonial privileges and does not return Hong Kong to China. The attitude of the United States undoubtedly put pressure on Britain and inspired the National Government and prompted it to take action.

At the end of August 1942, the Nationalist Government officially requested that the United States and China hold negotiations to abolition unequal treaties, thereby urging Britain and China to hold similar negotiations. When the British Foreign Office heard about this, it panicked and hurriedly instructed its ambassador to China, Xue Mu, to "take the initiative." On October 10, the United States and Britain issued separate statements stating that they were prepared to negotiate a treaty with the Chinese government to "immediately give up extraterritorial rights in China and resolve related issues." Negotiations between China, the United States and China and Britain on the abolition of unequal treaties and the establishment of a new treaty began immediately. This negotiation involved the issue of abandoning the concession in China. The Nationalist Government believed that the concession and the concession were in the same category, and took advantage of the situation to demand the return of the Kowloon concession (i.e., the New Territories of Hong Kong). This was a logical thing.

After that, the United States and Britain respectively proposed drafts of the New Testament for consideration. Sino-British negotiations were held in Chongqing, with Song Ziwen and Xue Mu, the foreign ministers of the National Government, representing the two countries respectively. The British draft includes the abolition of extraterritorial rights in China, the termination of the 1901 Xinchou Treaty, and the return of some concessions to China. However, although the British side knew that China was most concerned about taking back Hong Kong (at least the New Territories), it deliberately did not mention this issue in its draft. On November 10, British wartime Prime Minister Churchill personally took action and declared forcefully on the Hong Kong issue: "I did not become the King's Prime Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire." He also said that he "will never give up any territory of the British Empire." ”, thereby demonstrating Britain’s stubborn stance on Hong Kong’s colonial rule.

On November 13, the Nationalist Government proposed a "Revised Draft" to the British draft, which included the abolition of the Sino-British "Special Treaty on Expanding the Boundary Site of Hong Kong" of June 1898: " The administrative and management rights of the British side in the Kowloon Leased Area, together with its official assets and official debts, should be transferred to the Government of the Republic of China. "It should be said that the return of the Kowloon Leased Area is not required, and it is already a compromise. At this time, public opinion in Chongqing was agitated and opposed any foreign country's continued occupation of Chinese territory. Public opinion in the United States also sympathized with and supported China's legitimate demands. The situation is favorable to China.

When the UK received China's "Revised Draft", it hurriedly studied countermeasures. The Director-General of the Far East Department of the British Foreign Office, Gerson Clark, proposed three options: (1) accept the request; (2) categorically refuse; (3) delay as much as possible. He believed that the first option was not feasible because the New Territories were economically and strategically important to Hong Kong; the second option was also not feasible because it would cause dissatisfaction and criticism from the United States (Britain was very dependent on the United States during the war). Therefore, he believes that the third option should be chosen and delayed as long as possible. Foreign Secretary Eden believed that the director's proposition was neither firm nor clear, and he strongly opposed it. He preferred the second option, which was to categorically declare that the Kowloon Leased Land did not fall within the scope of this treaty and refuse to return it. Eden's proposal received strong support from Churchill, and a corresponding resolution was made at the British War Cabinet meeting on November 30. The British policy towards the Kowloon Leased Territory was therefore decided.

On November 30, Xue Mu, in accordance with the instructions of the British government, announced to Soong Ziwen that Britain was not prepared to negotiate with China on the Kowloon lease issue. Song Ziwen repeatedly reiterated China's principled position on taking back the leased land. There was a dispute between the two parties, but no result was achieved. After learning of this situation, Chiang Kai-shek stated that if the Sino-British New Treaty did not include the recovery of the New Territories, he would refuse to sign the treaty. Negotiations reached a deadlock.

Under this circumstance, Song Ziwen, the chief representative of China, was shaken. In order to break the deadlock in negotiations, he was prepared to trade principles and make concessions to Britain on the Kowloon lease issue. However, he did not dare to state his views directly to Chiang Kai-shek, so he asked Gu Weijun, a veteran of the diplomatic community and ambassador to Britain who was returning to China to report on his duties, to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to make concessions to Britain. Gu Weijun was entrusted to go and told Chiang Kai-shek that he "understood the chairman's intention, saying that the gift should be sent in one go, but the British are willing to send it in two parts." "In my opinion, it is better to accept the first gift first. It would be possible to suggest that we were awaiting the arrival of this second gift, so as to avoid any misunderstanding." Moreover, "solidarity" among the Allies in wartime was "extremely important." Gu Weijun's persuasion played a considerable role in Chiang Kai-shek.

In subsequent negotiations, the British side continued to adhere to its stubborn stance on colonialism. In order to prevent the negotiation from completely breaking down, Song Ziwen retreated and asked the British side to issue a statement expressing their intention to return the Kowloon Leased Territory in the future. For this reason, China would never urge the British to return the Kowloon Leased Territory before the end of the war. At the same time, it was emphatically announced that if the British side continued to do this China has also not expressed its intention that China will not sign the treaty. In this regard, Britain only agreed to "discuss the future of the leased area after the victory of the war" and was unwilling to make any commitment to return the leased area after the war. It even threatened that the British side would also "refuse to sign a new treaty." At this time, Japan, which was carrying out bloody and barbaric aggression against China, proposed to "quickly revoke" Japanese concessions and extraterritorial rights and other privileges in China in order to confuse people's hearts and sow discord among the allies, in order to show "China-Japan goodwill" in an attempt to grab Contracted with Wang Puppet before China, America and China. Under the double pressure of Britain's "refuse to sign a new treaty" and the possibility that the Japanese and puppets might rush to sign a treaty before China and Britain, Chiang Kai-shek made fundamental concessions to the British. On December 31, 1942, he instructed the Nationalist Government to formally agree not to take back the Kowloon leased land. The question was raised in conjunction with issues such as the abolition of extraterritoriality. He wrote in his diary that day: "Diplomacy with Britain is quite troublesome." "Bing is unwilling to resolve the issue of the return of Kowloon (leased territory) at the same time in the new treaty." Signed the treaty; "After I sign, I will explain to them in writing that the issue of returning Kowloon will be reserved for the time being to continue negotiations in the future and serve as the basis for future negotiations.

He also vowed to write that as a "last resort", he was prepared to "use military means to take back (the Kowloon leased land) from the Japanese army as soon as the war is over." Even though he is cunning, there is nothing he can do. ”

Chiang Kai-shek’s original intention was to sign the Sino-US and Sino-British New Treaties on New Year’s Day in 1943 before the Japanese and puppets. However, due to British delays, these two treaties were not signed until January 11, 1943 (Japanese The pseudo-treaty was signed on January 9). In the "Treaty on the Abolition of British Extraterritorial Rights and Related Privileges in China" signed in Chongqing on the same day, there was no mention of the issue of the Kowloon Leased Territory. On the same day, Song Ziwen sent a note to Xue Mu, stating that China. The government “reserves the right to discuss the Kowloon Leased Land in the future. "China's wartime negotiations to take back the Kowloon Leased Land ended in China's failure.

1942 was a favorable opportunity for China to abolish the special privileges and unequal treaties of the great powers in China. It cannot be denied that the war effort led by Chiang Kai-shek Although the Nationalist Government was heavily dependent on Britain and the United States, it did want to seize the opportunity to take back as many foreigners' rights in China as possible. Through the Sino-British New Treaty in January 1943, China abolished British extraterritoriality in China and the 1901 Treaty of Xin. The ugly treaty took back the administrative rights of the embassy concession in Peiping and the public concessions in Shanghai and Xiamen, and took back the British concessions in Tianjin and Guangzhou, etc. This happened when the British used gunboats to open the door to China and force China to sign. The 100th anniversary of the British Treaty of Nanjing cannot but be said to be a historical coincidence. This achievement is fundamentally speaking. It should be attributed to the Chinese people who are fighting bloody battles against the Japanese invaders.

However, it should be pointed out that the failure to recover the Kowloon leased land in this negotiation was indeed the incompetence of the Nationalist government in China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In a statement issued the day after the signing of the treaty, it was announced that China had since achieved "the status of complete independence, equality and freedom" on par with other countries. This was an exaggeration. China's failure to take back the Kowloon lease this time was certainly due to Britain's insistence on colonization. It was caused by doctrine, but it was also directly related to the National Government's ineffective struggle and weak attitude. As mentioned above, there were excellent international and domestic conditions for the recovery of the Kowloon Leased Land. We should have seized the opportunity, fought hard, and adhered to principles to achieve success. Even if Britain is stubborn and refuses to give up, it might as well refuse to sign a new treaty and wait for the future. Even so, Britain cannot blame China for undermining the unity of its allies. On the contrary, as an ally of China, it is harmful to hold on to the privilege of leasing territory in China. The allies were united. Therefore, the treaty failed, and the injustice was still on the British side. During the world anti-fascist war, the wave of national liberation was unprecedentedly high, and the collapse of the imperialist colonial system was irreversible. How could Britain maintain its privileges and leased territories in China for a long time? As the chief representative of China, Song Ziwen was unable to understand the general trend of the world, was short-sighted, and had a weak mentality. He tried to compromise and make concessions in exchange for "unity" with Britain. As a result, China retreated and Britain advanced. , which finally resulted in a situation where the Chinese side was justified and defeated, and the British side was unreasonable and victorious. As for Chiang Kai-shek, although he wanted to take back the Kowloon lease and made some efforts, the British were stubborn. Faced with this position, they still did not stick to the end, and ultimately complied with the British, resulting in the recovery of the Kowloon Leased Land being missed and a good opportunity was missed.

After Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945, the good opportunity to recover Hong Kong came again. Because Chiang Kai-shek pursued the erroneous policy of targeting internal affairs and resolutely opposing Japan, and was eager to seize the fruits of victory in the Anti-Japanese War, he had long forgotten his vow to re-launch negotiations after the war and to "use military force to take back" the Kowloon Leased Land from the Japanese Army. ; On the contrary, he hurriedly announced to the United Kingdom that he had "no ambitions" for Hong Kong. The result was that the British reoccupied Hong Kong first. Not only that, as the supreme commander of the Allied China Theater (Hong Kong belonged to the China Theater), Chiang Kai-shek had the right to accept the surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong, but in the end even this right to surrender was actually taken away by the British. This is the second time that the Nationalist Government missed an opportunity to regain Hong Kong. It is a great irony for China, one of the "Big Four", and it is also a historical tragedy for it.

The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 announced the end of China's semi-colonial era and laid a solid foundation for the return of Hong Kong for the first time. As my country's national power grew stronger, the lease of Hong Kong's New Territories was about to expire, and the international situation experienced favorable changes, by the early 1980s, the recovery of Hong Kong was on the agenda. The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong in 1984 finally resolved the issue of Hong Kong's return in principle. According to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was recently elected and the main officials of the Special Administrative Region government were appointed. Hong Kong's smooth return and smooth transition were expected. This is the successful practice of the great concept of "one country, two systems" and the policy of Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong. A century of humiliation is about to be wiped out. The Chinese people are all proud of this and have full confidence in the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong after the return.

While celebrating the imminent return of Hong Kong, we must not forget the long and arduous journey of regaining Hong Kong, and remember that today’s achievements were hard-won. The more than 100 years of history of recovering Hong Kong once again proves to us the unbreakable truth that backwardness will be beaten, and that a weak country has no diplomacy. It proves that a country that is closed to itself, does not seek innovation, has internal instability, weak national strength, and is corrupt and backward can never If it cannot maintain its independence and territorial integrity, it is impossible to ask it to "clean up its old mountains and rivers all over again." Only under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which faithfully represents the interests of the people of all ethnic groups in China, and adheres to socialism, can the long-cherished wish of the Chinese nation for generations be finally realized. Only through reform and opening up, maintaining stability and unity, self-reliance and self-reliance, and striving to be advanced , and continuously increasing national strength is the only way to defend the country and rejuvenate it.