Wilsson's term as Governor of Hong Kong would end on 8 July 1992, when he was only 57 years old and three years away from retirement.

But Wilson made a very serious mistake, and his "core airport plan" was seized by the Chinese side. The new British Prime Minister John Major will soon be forced to become the first Western head of state to visit China in recent times, and go to Beijing to wipe his ass and the Hong Kong-British authorities!

And after Major's trip to Beijing, his dissatisfaction with Wilson will also reach its peak! Therefore, after the end of Wisson's term as governor of Hong Kong, he must get out of the way immediately, so that Prime Minister Major can vent his anger a little!

Don't look at Wilsson's various actions in the past year or so, which seem to have aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Chinese side, but in fact he is already a very good dovish official in the British government!

Compared with a professional politician like Patten, who was born as a parliamentarian and devoted all his energy to the parliamentary struggle, an official like Wilson who was a diplomat has a deeper understanding of international politics. He understands very well that on the Hong Kong issue, the British side has far more things to ask for from China than the Chinese side has to ask for things from the British side.

Parliamentarians like Chris Patten only see that Britain is now stronger on paper than China. So any concession made by Britain to China was seen as a weak and incompetent compromise.

But Patten didn't understand what qualifications Britain had to be tough?

Since the Boer War in 1899, the British Empire has ceased to be the invincible empire on which the sun never sets. Three wars in quick succession caused Britain to quickly exhaust all the national power it had accumulated over the centuries and began to fall into a century-long decline.

They were able to defeat Argentina in the Falklands War before, not so much because Britain still had strength, but because Argentina was too good! China was not Argentina, and Hong Kong was not the Malvinas.

The Malvinas Islands are 500 kilometres off the coastline of mainland South America, and Britain's only fairly capable navy is still in use. Hong Kong Island is separated from Kowloon by a shallow Victoria Strait, and if China and Britain go to war, it will definitely be the army, not the navy, that will decide the victory.

What is the level of the British Army, just look at its performance in World War II! Whether it is a duel with the "desert fox" Rommel in the North African battlefield or a duel with the Japanese army in the Southeast Asian battlefield, it is a thousand miles away. The reason why the German army finally failed in North Africa was not that Montgomer used his troops like gods, but that the German army was dragged down by its own weak logistics.

Although the current level of modernization of the Chinese army is insufficient, the total number of 3 million people alone has drowned the British army. Not to mention that now you can still wait for your work, waiting for the other party's labor expedition across half the world at your doorstep!

Of course, not to mention the final outcome of the war between China and Britain, as long as Hong Kong falls into the flames of war, there is a high probability that the hundreds of thousands of Chinese who already have British passports will flee to the British mainland for refuge. The instant influx of hundreds of thousands of war refugees alone could bring the British government to its conclusion!

Therefore, whether it wins or loses, it is practically impossible for Britain to go to war with China for the sake of Hong Kong. And with even the war card, the last deterrent, lost, can Britain have any other choice but to compromise with China?

It is precisely because of this that they know that they are not confident enough that when China and Britain first negotiated, whether it was Collida, Mak Ruobin, or Wilsson, and the late former Governor of Hong Kong Youde, these British representatives who were career diplomats all calmly suggested that Margaret Thatcher return Hong Kong to China.

It can be said that these British diplomats who have dealt with the Chinese powers are the group of people in the British government who are most aware of the real power contrast between China and Britain on the Hong Kong issue.

Therefore, instead of letting a politician like Chris Patten come to Hong Kong as a-stirring stick, it is better to let a diplomat who understands the situation in Hong Kong be the last governor of Hong Kong, which is the most conducive choice for a smooth handover of Hong Kong!

In fact, Li Xuan has already circled several candidate lists, such as the Prime Minister's special envoy Sir Collida on this trip to the Far East. He is not only a well-known "China expert" in British political circles, but also one of the main responsible persons of the British side who participated in the drafting of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Having worked in Beijing for many years as early as the 60s, Ke Lida fully understands the complexity of the Hong Kong issue. Because of his active persuasion of Thatcher to accept the Sino-British Joint Statement, he was even contemptuously called the number one "pro-China" in Britain by a small group of ultra-conservatives within the Conservative Party!

Cleida was an excellent candidate for the last governor of Hong Kong, but unfortunately he is 67 years old this year, long past the retirement age. He was able to stay and participate in Sino-British diplomacy because Thatcher trusted him very much. Now that Thatcher has stepped down, the highlight of Kelida's life is over!

And his luck was not bad, this time he was sent to Beijing by John Major as a special envoy. In other words, the next work of persuading Major to go to Beijing to sign a memorandum of understanding on the new airport will definitely fall on his head! This is a typical thankless job, and after Mei Jie returns from Beijing, he will probably pour his anger on his head.

The Prime Minister doesn't even need to find an excuse, just let Kolida retire!

In addition to Kelida, Li Xuan also has an alternate figure, Gao Denian, the current chief representative of the British side of the China-UK Contact Group. However, Gao Denian's biggest disadvantage compared to Mai Ruobin and Kelida is that he is slightly underqualified and has not held any weighty positions.

Just by virtue of his current status as the chief representative of the British side of the Sino-British Liaison Group, it will be very difficult to become a high-ranking Governor of Hong Kong!

Therefore, the first choice for Li Xuan is still Mai Ruobin, and he came to see the other party today because he also wanted to take this opportunity to observe the other party face to face and see if this person is worth his bet! It is not so easy to manipulate the appointment of the governor of Hong Kong, and it is necessary to make Prime Minister Major personally nod!

However, Li Xuan's friendship with Major Major, the new British prime minister, is far less profound than that of US President Bush! However, fortunately, the democracy and sovereignty in the West still serve capital in the final analysis. As long as Li Xuan can come up with enough benefits in exchange, someone will naturally come forward to communicate with the new prime minister on his behalf!

With nearly a year to go before the end of his term of office, Li Xuan can operate very calmly and slowly! However, his old friend, President Bush, has recently relied on the crushing performance of the US military in the Gulf War.

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