Chapter 234: Vice-National VIP
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The United States of America supports the reform and development policies pursued by the Chinese Government in order to revitalize the economy and improve the living standards of the people. ☆www.☆⊙ Top Novel, Welcome China to a more open attitude and integrate into the global economy!
This was a remark made by Bush Sr. during his half-day inspection of the Special Administrative Region, and Li Xuan got the news as soon as possible. The deep-sea SEZ was originally a testing ground for the central government, but until the second generation of the second generation of the project's southern tour, there was still a debate about the significance of the SAR in favor and against the two factions in China.
As vice president of the United States, Bush's remarks naturally represent the US Government's viewpoint, and they are bound to make the deep-sea SEZs the focus of the world's attention, and may also trigger domestic controversies and contradictions over the SEZs in advance. Li Xuan also didn't know what kind of impact this would have in the future. But at least for now, the picture tube factory invested by Dongfang Electronics in Shekou Industrial Zone will become a model of Sino-US economic cooperation and will be escorted by the special zone.
Naturally, the U.S. government does not own a luxury royal yacht with a tonnage of more than 5,000 tons, as the British royal family does. In the twentieth century, when airplanes had become the most convenient means of transportation, only the British royal family of the empire on which the sun never set, still adhered to their maritime traditions, and insisted on building royal yachts for hundreds of years.
HMS Britannia is the 87th and last royal yacht. Li Xuan remembers that his last mission was to carry Crown Prince Charles and the last governor of Hong Kong out of Hong Kong after more than a decade, announcing the end of a colonial era. There is a text describing Hong Kong's return to the motherland, "Farewell, Britanniak", which has made countless Chinese students remember the name of the yacht.
Although the U.S. government does not have royal yachts, it does have Air Force One and Air Force Two for the travel of the President and Vice President. Bush Sr.'s special plane "Air Force No. 2". Like the private jet that Li Xuan customized to Boeing at the beginning of this year, it was converted with a Boeing 747. Li Xuan's private jet. It won't be delivered to him until next year at the earliest.
In 1982, before the construction of an airport had begun in the deep-sea special zone, the "Air Force No. 2" sent Vice President Bush from Beijing to Guangdong. Mr. Vice President then took a special train from Guangdong to the Deep Sea Special Economic Zone. In order to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was willing to toss like this, which was completely unexpected by Li Xuan.
After visiting the deep-sea special zone, Vice President Bush boarded Li Xuan's yacht from the wharf of the Shekou Industrial Zone, left the mainland under the escort of the Chinese Navy, and then entered the waters of Hong Kong, where the patrol boats of the Hong Kong Marine Police took over the escort.
Li Xuan's new yacht has been ordered and is being built in the dockyard of a well-known Italian yacht company. Like private jets, the 120-foot luxury yacht will have to wait a long time to be delivered. So Vice President Bush took this ride. It was the 75-foot (23-meter) long "Mermaid" before Li Xuan.
The Mermaid began to slow down and slowly docked at Queen's Wharf. Li Xuan and Governor Youde beside him also stopped communicating and prepared to welcome the distinguished guests ashore. The two just took advantage of the waiting time to exchange many topics.
For example, in the preparatory work of the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Li Xuan, as the chairman of the preparatory committee, has convened education experts to hold two seminars in London and Hong Kong. The site was preliminarily determined, and the Hong Kong government agreed to set aside a 15-hectare piece of land in Kowloon Tong as the permanent site of the City Polytechnic. Li Xuan also introduced it to His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong. The Preparatory Committee is conducting an update on the progress of the selection of the school's first dean around the world.
As Li Xuan had predicted, Sir Youde arrived in Hong Kong at the beginning of the year and was confronted with surging public opinion. Therefore, when he first expounded his policy agenda to the people of Hong Kong, it was in the following period. The Hong Kong government has made a series of commitments on education, industry and people's livelihood policies.
For example, we will increase efforts to support the transformation and upgrading of Hong Kong's industry, and we will continue to promote the construction of higher education in Hong Kong. Another time and space, after the British completed negotiations on the Hong Kong issue. He changed his previous colonial style and began to vigorously support the liberal trend of thought. Especially in the early nineties. After the last Governor Chris Patten took office, he used a series of means to accelerate the process of so-called democratization of Hong Kong. It brought great trouble to the mainland government that took over later.
Before the 80s, Hong Kong was a colony, and these voices were tried to suppress. What the British government in Hong Kong wanted most was for all Chinese to be docile second-class citizens. After Li Xuan acquired ATV, he intended to awaken the public rights consciousness of the Hong Kong people in advance, so that the colonial government could also feel the power of democracy.
It can be said that Li Xuan's choice of this time is very good, the curtain of Sino-British negotiations is about to open, and the Hong Kong government does not dare to suppress public opinion too ruthlessly. Because the support of Hong Kong citizens is an important card for Thatcher's future negotiations with Beijing. Li Xuan happened to have access to Guò Asia Television, one of Hong Kong's most important media channels, to create an atmosphere of public opinion that was favorable to him, thus forcing the Hong Kong government to introduce a series of policies that were favorable to him.
For example, the Hong Kong government will increase the allocation of funds to HKU and CUHK in the next year's financial plan to support the two universities to increase the number of places in the electronics department. In addition, the Hong Kong government has also decided to allocate HK$20 million to set up Hong Kong high-tech incubators in Sha Tin and Tai Po to support Hong Kong people's entrepreneurial enthusiasm. The participation and support of the government is undoubtedly crucial to the development of the industry. No matter how strong Li Xuan's personal strength is, it is impossible to replace the role of the government.
And if you look at Youde's resume, he has never stepped out of the realm of diplomacy in decades of work, and has no experience in governing places at all. The reason why Downing Street chose him to succeed MacLehose as Governor of Hong Kong was that he served as ambassador to China from 1974 to 1978 and was a well-known China expert in the British Foreign Office.
Youde did not come to Hong Kong to build Hong Kong better, but to use his diplomatic experience to help the Thatcher cabinet better deal with Beijing. Therefore, if there is no strong public opinion behind the promotion and persecution, the will of the governor of Youde will not be too strong.
In addition to ATV, Li Xuan has acquired a 40% stake in Hong Kong Economic Journal and a 20% stake in Ming Pao in the past year. Li Xuan had private exchanges with the founders of the two newspapers, Mr. Lin Xingzhi and Mr. Jin Yong. Li Xuan's stake in two of Hong Kong's strictest and most credible Chinese newspapers will not be directly involved in the management, but ATV and the two newspapers will form a tacit understanding in the coverage of many hot news topics.
At the same time, Li Xuan was preparing for a full privatization, and the South China Morning Post, another strict English-language newspaper in Hong Kong. His negotiators are close to striking a takeover deal with HSBC, the South China Morning Post's largest shareholder. The South China Morning Post is a listed company, and when Li Xuan's takeover team takes over HSBC's shares, it will issue a general takeover offer to all shareholders and then apply to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to withdraw the listing.
At this time, the "Mermaid" finally docked at Queen's Wharf, and Bush and his party walked out of the cabin. Li Xuan and Bush Sr. were already old acquaintances, and after the two shook hands cordially and exchanged a few words, Li Xuan focused all his attention on another old man next to Bush who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and had slightly gray hair.
"Hello Chairman Long, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to Hong Kong to attend my wedding!" Li Xuan said very sincerely.
Long Yiren, known as the "red capitalist" by Chairman Mao and currently vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, came to Hong Kong to attend Li Xuan's wedding as a representative of the central government of the mainland. He is also the first vice-national leader in Hong Kong's history to officially set foot in Hong Kong, and only Premier Chow has previously stopped in Hong Kong to attend various international diplomatic conferences.
Three years ago, when Mr. Huo Yingdong's eldest son got married, the central government did not send such a high-level delegation. Li Xuan didn't think that his relationship with the mainland could be as big as Huo Lao's face. Long Yi Ren came this time because of Charles and Bush Sr.
However, the mainland government has never recognized the legitimate British rule over Hong Kong, so Long Yiren did not come to Hong Kong as vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He came to Hong Kong as the General Manager of China International Trust & Investment Corporation.
In addition to attending Li Xuan's wedding, he will also communicate with Hong Kong's financial community in his capacity as president of Guosen Group to build momentum for the mainland's bond issuance in Hong Kong. At the same time, he will also meet with the Long family's relatives in Hong Kong. Therefore, his visit to Hong Kong this time is a commercial and private trip, and he tries to dilute the official status of the vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Standing not far from Li Xuan, there was an old man who was better maintained, but was also in his sixties. He is the helmsman of the Long family in Hong Kong, and he is also Long Yiren's cousin, Long Hongqing.
In 1949, when the People's Liberation Army approached Shanghai, the former "flour king" and "cotton spinning king" Longjia fell apart, some followed the Kuomintang to retreat to Taiwan, some moved to Hong Kong, and some lived overseas.
Long Hongqing is the best developed one among the brothers of the second generation of the Long family. His Nanyang Textile Mill, although not as important as the Long family's position in Shanghai, was also an important force in Hong Kong's textile industry. In recent years, Long Hongqing has handed over the textile factory in Hong Kong to his son, and he has turned his career focus to Taiwan, taking over the operation of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, and turning into a banker.
This time, he rushed back to Hong Kong from Taiwan to welcome his cousin's visit. Among the two Zhizi generations who followed him, one was the son of Long Yiren, who became a red tycoon by the Hong Kong media a few years later, and now he has just recedered from his youth in less than three years after he first arrived in Hong Kong, and he has not yet shown the powerful aura of the Xiangjiang River that he later had. (To be continued......)