At 3 Chater Road in Central, across the road from Chater Gardens, stands a 25-storey grey-and-white building, which is the famous Hong Kong Club Building. There are three top clubs in Hong Kong, namely the Jockey Club, the Yacht Club, and the Hong Kong Club, of which the Hong Kong Club has the longest history and the most mysterious.

Founded in 1846, the Hong Kong Society has witnessed almost the entire colonial history of the British Empire in Hong Kong. It was first founded by a British admiral, and its members were all high-ranking foreigners such as Jardine Matheson, Swire, HSBC, and the East India Company, and it can be called a symbol of power and status in Hong Kong during the British era. Before the 80s, the Chinese were not even eligible to join, and only provided the most intimate entertainment and business space for the British.

However, now that the times have changed, the unattainable Hong Kong Association has to bow its head and follow the trend of the development of the times. The Hong Kong Society, which originally only accepted British male members, joined the first Chinese female member in 1985, and this person was Li Xuan's wife, Chung Chuhong.

In 1984, the third generation of the Hong Kong Club was inaugurated, and the new club building was developed and constructed by Hongkong Land on behalf of the Hong Kong Club. At that time, Hongkong Land and the Hong Kong Club agreed that the third basement to the fifth floor of the building would be used as the Hong Kong Clubhouse, and the rest would be leased to Hongkong Land. Hongkong Land is entitled to the first 25 years of rent for the building, after which it is required to return the full title of the building to the Hong Kong Club.

Less than a year after the completion of the Hong Kong Club Building, Li Xuan, together with other Chinese-funded tycoons, forcibly took the Hongkong Land Company from the Jardine Group, and then completely divided and dismembered the Land! The part of the rights and interests of the Hong Kong Club Building, which originally belonged to the Hongkong Land Company, happened to be inherited by Li Xuan at that time.

So Li Xuan's wife became the first female member in the history of the Hong Kong Association, because Li Xuan himself was not very interested in joining this and that association. Not to mention using his prestige to raise the gold content of this small group with strong British colonial colors.

"Mr. Mak Ruobin, it is not a good choice for you to come to the East at this time!" Li Xuanzheng said with a smile to His Excellency Mak Ruobin, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy and British Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in a small but elegantly decorated meeting room of the Hong Kong Parliament.

Prime Minister John Major, who has been in office for almost three months, finally has time to spare energy to deal with the rotten affairs in the Far East after first pacifying various factions in the Conservative Party and then sending troops to closely follow the "Gulf War" launched by its ally the United States against Iraq.

This rotten incident is the so-called "Rose Garden Project" that was forcibly launched by Hong Kong Governor Wilson last year in order to revive Hong Kong's confidence. The new airport plan, with an original budget of more than HK$200 billion, was thrown out by Wilson in his policy address last year without consulting the Chinese side at all.

As a result, this core airport project was naturally met with strong resistance from the Chinese side, who saw it as a conspiracy by the British to empty the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange reserves before leaving. The construction plan of the entire new airport is huge, and the construction period will inevitably need to be extended to after the return of 97. But the Chinese side now clearly disagrees with the new airport plan, which makes it highly likely that the huge credit surrounding the behemoth project will default due to political risks.

This is because the new Hong Kong government authorities after the 97th period may refuse to repay the loan on the grounds of not admitting the debt. As a result, banks had to reconsider the risk of granting credit to the new airport project, and even if the banks did not dare to lend, even if some enterprises won the bid, they did not dare to enter the site to start construction.

This has put the British authorities in a dilemma all of a sudden, and if the new airport project is announced now, it will undoubtedly seriously deal a blow to the prestige of the British authorities in Hong Kong and even the British government. And trying to force the new airport project without China's support now seems to be impossible.

The British had no choice but to communicate with the Chinese side if they wanted to solve this problem, so John Major sent two envoys to the Far East. Sir Collida has already gone to Beijing to communicate directly with the Chinese high-level officials, while Deputy Envoy Mak Ruobin has come to Hong Kong first.

Because Hong Kong public opinion is also very dissatisfied with this expensive new airport, Hong Kong is no longer the Hong Kong of ten years ago, and the rise of local voices has even begun to make the British authorities in Hong Kong feel very uncomfortable. And the main promoter behind this is the "God of Wealth Li" with a faint smile in front of Mai Ruobin.

So Mak Ruobin arrived in Hong Kong, and after communicating with the Hong Kong Governor Wilsson, he immediately sent an invitation letter to Li Xuan.

Mak is a veteran British Foreign Affairs officer, having joined the British Foreign Office in 1958. He is also a "China expert", who was sent to Hong Kong as soon as he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for two years Chinese, and can communicate fluently in Chinese.

In the 60s, Mak was sent to the British Office in China twice, and in the 80s, he was involved in the negotiations between China and the United Kingdom on the Hong Kong issue, and was the No. 3 leader of the British negotiating team.

"Oh, please let Mr. Li give me advice!" said Mai Ruobin with a deaf look.

The Chinese with the round accent, with the subtle body movements, if it were not for a white face, it would be impossible to tell that the person who spoke was a ghost.

"Do you know what is the biggest problem facing the Chinese government right now?" Li Xuan did not wait for the other party to answer, and then asked himself, "Because of last year's turmoil, China has been collectively boycotted by you Western countries until now! If China wants to open up the current situation of diplomatic isolation, Britain is obviously the best breakthrough for him!

Having heard that Sir Sir Collida has gone north to mediate for His Excellency the Governor's 'Rose Garden Project', I am confident that the Chinese side will eventually make concessions. As long as you cut part of the budget for the new airport, and at the same time ensure that you can leave enough financial reserves for the post-97 Xingang-government, the Chinese side will nod and agree to your new airport plan!

But after all, this is a super infrastructure project costing tens of billions of pounds, and it is not too much for China to ask Prime Minister Major to attend the signing ceremony in person, right? This is a trouble caused by you Britons, and it is impossible for the Chinese leader to go to London to sign the agreement, right?

So, Mr. Mak Ruobin, are you and Sir Collida ready to convince Prime Minister Major to visit Beijing and sign a memorandum of understanding on the new airport project?"

Li Xuan's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Mai Ruobin's chest one by one. If it weren't for his decades of career as a diplomat, he would have already cultivated the psychological quality of Mount Tai collapsing forward without changing his face, and his face would have changed a lot at this moment. However, although his face was indifferent, his heart was far from being so calm.

Li Xuan's analysis just now was logical, and Mai Ruobin couldn't find any flaws to refute at all. He seemed to have seen the picture of John Major's visit to Beijing with a smile on his face in advance, and this trip to the Far East was indeed not a good errand!

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