Chapter 694: Hong Kong Island Governor Chris Patten

Director Chen looked at Lin Yu with a complicated expression, and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

This kid is a character! That calm and mountain-like bearing is by no means pretended.

The sons and brothers I have seen are not one or two, many of them are older than Lin Yu, and their family backgrounds are also very high, but there are very few people who are as good as Lin Yu.

Zheng Yuanguang couldn't help laughing, he was used to seeing Lin Yu's chic and calm, and now he was a little unable to adapt to seeing him put on an old-fashioned appearance.

"I don't dare to give advice." The corners of Director Chen's mouth also moved, looked at Lin Yu with a smile, and said, "Xiaoyu, I came to you for help this time." ”

"Asking for help?" Lin Yu's brows furrowed again.

Lin Yu was a little puzzled, when did he have anything to do with this united front work.

Director Chen smiled a little awkwardly, his eyes swept over Zheng Yuanguang's face intentionally or unintentionally, with a hint of suggestion.

Who knew that Zheng Yuanguang actually just smiled faintly, completely ignoring his hints, and since he finished introducing them, he closed his lips tightly and said no more.

Seeing that Zheng Yuanguang ignored his hints and said a few words for himself, Director Chen forcibly suppressed his anger, but he also knew that although Zheng Yuanguang was lower in rank than himself, he was a close person next to the old man, the so-called "Son of Heaven and Close Minister", but he couldn't afford to offend, maybe one day, a word could make his life's work go to waste.

"yes, for help!" Director Chen laughed dryly twice and continued, and his words were very polite: "That's right, in accordance with the arrangements of the central government's work, the ministry specially invited some celebrities from Hong Kong Island to visit the capital this time. The chief also attaches great importance to this work, not only to personally meet with these representatives, but also to instruct our department to invite you to participate. So I'm here to disturb, Xiao Xiaoyu, you can make it convenient, if there is any presumptuousness, Xiao Xiaoyu can understand.

Director Chen is worthy of being engaged in united front work all year round, although he is very depressed in his heart, he has been in politics for many years, and although united front work will inevitably encounter all kinds of incidents and troubles, it is the first time since he became the principal leader that he has encountered this kind of thing. But what he said was still as good as he could have said, and it was reasonable, so that people couldn't find fault at all.

Over the years, Lin Yu has seen a lot of various officials and officials, some are arrogant, some are elegant, and some are just a kind and peaceful and cautious official like Director Chen, which is really rare, no wonder he can become the director of the Third Bureau of the United Front Work Department.

Of course, Lin Yu also knew that the reason why Director Chen treated him so cordially and politely was that in addition to being a little taboo about his identity, perhaps the instructions of the old man were the ones who played a role. With the order, let alone inviting a person, even if it is a cat or a dog, Director Chen has to pinch his nose to do it.

Lin Yu didn't reply to Director Chen immediately, and after pondering for a while, he slowly asked, "Who are the people here?" ”

As the return of Hong Kong Island is approaching, the situation of stability and unity is particularly important. However, Britain was clearly not willing to accept its own defeat, and Patten brought with him a shocking political reform plan that not only made the through train arrangement between China and Britain completely undone, but also caused serious difficulties for a smooth transition on Hong Kong Island.

Lin Yu still knows a little about the person of Patten, in the previous life, Hong Kong Island was under his governance on the eve of the return, but in the previous life, Patten only began to serve as the governor of Hong Kong after 92, but in this life, Patten served as the governor of Hong Kong in early 91.

In 1966 he joined the Conservative Party's Research Department, until 1970 he joined the Cabinet Office, and from 1972 to 1974 he became Lord Carrington and William Brown. Whitelaw's personal assistant and political secretary (both of whom were Conservative Party presidents). In 1974, at the age of 30, he was appointed head of the Conservative Party's research department, and many of the subsequent campaign manifestos in the 1979 general election were written by him.

In May 1979, Patten was elected to the House of Commons in the Bath constituency. After the 1983 general election, he was appointed Private Secretary to the Northern Ireland Chancellor, and in September 1985 he became Minister for Education and Science, and in September 1986 he was transferred to the Foreign Office as Minister for Balance. In July 1989, Patten was first elected to the cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment, where he was responsible for the much-criticized poll tax, which was pointed out in his 2006 book, Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain and Europe in the New Century, as Margaret Thatcher's mistake.

In November 1990, John . Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. Major had a good relationship with Patten, so he immediately appointed Patten as president of the Duchy of Lancaster and chairman of the Conservative Party. Under Patten's planning, the Conservatives were able to win a surprise victory in the 1992 general election, but ironically, he himself was defeated by the Liberal Democratic candidate, Don Brown. Forster was defeated and lost his seat in the House of Commons in the Bath constituency, thus withdrawing from the House of Commons. According to John. According to Major's autobiography, if Patten had been able to sit in the parliament, he would have had the opportunity to become finance minister or foreign minister.

Patten, a conservative who did not approve of Margaret Thatcherism, wrote to Margaret Thatcher in 1979 pointing out the flaws with her monetarist ideas, and was one of three cabinet ministers who urged Margaret Thatcher to resign in 1990.

Under the arrangement of Ma Cheuk-on, Patten was appointed as the 28th Governor of Hong Kong on 9 July 1992, a position he held until 30 June 1997, the last day of the United Kingdom's exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong Island. Unlike previous governors, Chris Patten is the only Catholic governor of Hong Kong, and he is also one of the few governors who was not born in the Foreign Office, but from the National Assembly. Patten did not accept any honours before taking office, nor did he wear the traditional colonial uniform when he took office. Because his body is slightly fatter and his Chinese translation is very Chinese, he was nicknamed "Fat Peng" by the market and even the media after taking office.

Although there was a wave of immigration during Patten's tenure and there were signs of the withdrawal of traditional British capital, Hong Kong Island's economy is still booming, with the property market and stock market being the most significant. On 10 December 1993, the Hang Seng Index broke above 1 point for the first time and closed at 10 points. On April 1 of the same year, Chris Patten established the Hong Kong Island Monetary Authority to ensure the stability of the banking system. In addition, Hong Kong Island became the world's eighth-largest trading region during Patten's tenure.