More than $100 million is nothing on Wall Street, and several Ivy League schools have more funds than that, but all of them are used to short the pound and make aggressive use of investment leverage, which will certainly attract the attention of US financial regulators.

People are afraid of being famous, and pigs are afraid of being strong.

Neither Li Weimin nor the current government of the Republic of Vietnam can be in the limelight like "Soros", and all transactions are carried out by more than 40 financial institutions, including the Bank of East Asia, the Bank of Saigon, the Overseas Chinese Bank of Indonesia, the Hong Kong Huasheng Finance Company, and the Yuehua Insurance, as well as offshore companies controlled by the Li family, and this hot money cannot flow into the United States at the same time.

To be sure, only a portion of the short positions were taken in New York, and the rest were carried out in London and South Africa.

The London foreign exchange market is the earliest established world market, with a long reputation, a long history and a large trading volume.

However, after the end of World War II, the status of the British pound as an international reserve and international trade payment currency was replaced by the US dollar, and strict foreign exchange controls were introduced. All foreign exchange transactions must be intermediated by more than 300 "designated foreign exchange banks" designated by the Bank of England, the central bank of England, and more than a dozen foreign exchange brokerage companies.

Shorting in the UK is more troublesome than in the US and South Africa, so Li Weimin came to London to learn about the preparations on the spot.

The Bank of East Asia's London Branch, the Saigon Bank's London Representative Office and the Indonesian OCBC Bank London Branch started working on this at the end of last year. In particular, the Bank of East Asia and OCBC Bank of Indonesia quickly opened up the situation by taking advantage of their operations in the two colonies of Hong Kong and Singapore.

It has established cooperative relations with more than 60 "designated foreign exchange banks", and has helped some customers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia while constantly placing empty orders. Hundreds of spot or forward forex trades have been made. Largely unnoticed by the Bank of England.

Make sure it's okay here. Li Weimin and his entourage rushed to South Africa non-stop.

With the economies of Britain and France shrinking, and West Germany and Japan adding to the wounds left by World War II, South Africa's economy is a standout in the world.

The financial centre has moved to the Boer region of Pretoria and Johannesburg, which has become the world's largest gold trading settlement, the world's largest diamond trading location, the largest financial center in the southern hemisphere and the largest stock market in the southern hemisphere due to its abundance of gold and diamonds.

Buildings. The streets are full of cars, wide and clean highways, fashionable men and women, and developed finance, law, communications, energy, and transportation, all with a modern atmosphere. In contrast, Saigon, the "Paris of the East", which has always felt good, looks like a second-tier city.

What is now South Africa is not the Republic of South Africa, but the Union of South Africa, which was formed by the union of the Cape, the Transvaal, Natal and the Orange Free State, and is a self-governing territory of the British Empire.

Having visited the representative of the South African Federation in London in the United Kingdom, Ngo Dinh Diem gave him the official status of a special envoy of the President of the Republic of Vietnam before boarding the plane, and the trip was not only to discuss business. It is not only necessary to engage in cultural exchanges, but also to negotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Federation of South Africa on behalf of the Vietnamese government. Establishment of Consulate General, etc.

The British occupy one place, the descendants of the Dutch, the Boers, the descendants of the Portuguese, occupy one place, and this federation is cobbled together, so there are three capitals, the executive capital (central government) in Tswane, the judicial (seat of the judiciary) capital in Bloemfontein, and the legislative capital (seat of parliament) in Cape Town.

The South African branch of the Bank of East Asia and the South African representative office of the Industrial Investment Corporation are located in Johannesburg, and the two directors made a special trip to Tshwane to meet them.

Due to the implementation of the "apartheid" policy, its reputation in the international community is not very good, and there is still a "prince of the emperor" on his head, and the Federation of South Africa has economic contacts with many countries, and its diplomatic relations are very ordinary.

There is a newly independent republic that is willing to establish diplomatic relations, and the federal government that also wants independence and a republic attaches great importance to it, and the reception standard is ridiculously high, the Minister of Arts and Culture greets him at the airport, and as soon as the welcome ceremony is over, he goes directly to the Prime Minister's Office, where he is personally received by Prime Minister Johannes Gerhardos Stitun.

The News Federation has been seen for so many years, and it is not difficult to be a diplomatic envoy.

After taking a group photo, presenting a "national gift" and a "handwritten letter" written on behalf of Ngo Dinh Diem on the plane, Li Weimin introduced the situation in Vietnam without slowness: "Since independence, China's industrial construction and agricultural production have developed healthily, and the gross national product has increased by 3.6 percent compared with the period of French colonial rule. During this period, through our own efforts and the help of the international community, we have successfully resettled more than 2 million refugees, solved the problems of several sects and warlords supported by the French colonial period, and basically achieved the goal of nationalizing the army......"

Prime Minister Johannes praised the achievements of South Vietnam under such difficult circumstances, and even shook off the translator and said in English: "I have seen the documentary "The Road to Freedom" composed by you, and I have watched this year's Oscar-winning film "Miss Hanoi", which is deeply touching and deeply sympathetic to the suffering of the Vietnamese people. ”

"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Prime Minister."

Li Weimin paused and said solemnly: "Although the Republic has made a series of achievements since independence, we have always faced the threat of North Vietnam, and our national conditions and geographical conditions are more complicated than those of the Korean Peninsula, with more than 1,000 kilometers of land borders and more than 1,000 kilometers of coastline with North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Just two years ago, because North Vietnam did not have the conditions for democratic elections, my Government could not ignore the fact that national elections were held in accordance with the French-led Geneva Accords, and that a war mobilization was carried out in response to a possible all-out offensive by North Vietnam, and that until now it is still in a state of emergency. ”

Johannes said with a serious face: "The Soviet Russian camp is not only frantically expanding its territory in Europe and Asia, but is also engaged in revolutionary export in the Middle East and Africa, which is a threat to your country and to peace-loving countries all over the world. ”

"Our President, Mr. Dim Dinh Diem, thinks so too."

……

After a long time of official talk, he only said beautiful words, but did not express any substance.

In his words, he seems to be more admiring the "non-alignment" movement pursued by India and does not intend to intervene in the confrontation between the two camps. At the same time, he supported national independence, and seemed to be very envious of South Vietnam's ability to get rid of France, break away from the French Federation, and gain real independence.

As expected, Li Weimin did not intend to get assistance from him.

This time it is the Yankees who clean up Britain, and in the near future it will be the turn of France and the United States to raise the bar, de Gaulle wants to be the boss of Europe and make gold skyrocket, and South Africa is rich in gold and is the world's largest gold trading market, and Li Weimin is here for this.

"Mr. Prime Minister, our government officials, including President Diem Diem, greatly appreciate the tremendous achievements of your country in economic development. To put it bluntly, our ongoing industrial village programme draws on many of your country's advanced experiences in industrial development. We sincerely hope that after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, they will be able to carry out more in-depth economic and trade exchanges. ”

South Africa is also crazy to attract investment, but one is in Asia, one is in Africa, one has a Southeast Asian market, one has a huge African market, one is a big brother, the other is a precarious little brother, there is little competition between each other, and they can cooperate completely.

In the past period, Vietnam has been sourcing frantically around the world.

Johannes was very interested in this, and introduced South Africa's industrial development and South Africa's investment promotion policy, and Li Weimin listened carefully and recorded it carefully.

At the end of the interview, he suddenly smiled and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, as the chairman of the Vietnam Industrial Estate Investment Company, I not only want to invite investors back, but also mobilize Vietnamese enterprises to come out." Your country has many mineral resources that China does not have, advanced industrial technology, rich management experience, and perfect laws and regulations. It is believed that in the near future, Vietnamese companies will invest in South Africa like European and American companies. ”

"Welcome."

Johannes muttered: "Mr. Li, your country also has resources that our country does not have, such as natural rubber and spices, etc., which can be completely complementary economically, and we can jointly establish a business and trade cooperation agency to coordinate economic cooperation affairs." ”

……

Overall, the talks were pleasant.

On the way to the hotel, Li Weimin said to the two unofficial representatives of Vietnam in South Africa: "Director Song, Manager Chen, although diplomacy is diplomacy and business is business, after the establishment of diplomatic relations, you cannot break off the contact with South African officials. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is superfluous, and if we want to gain a foothold in South Africa, it is ultimately up to us. ”

Song Bin, head of the representative office of the industrial investment company, said with a smile: "Mr. Li, rest assured, we know what to do." ”

"Is there any chance of winning the mining rights?"

"From the discovery of gold in 1886 to the present, the gold rush has endured, and the veins in the Johannesburg area have long been carved up. It is very difficult to directly obtain mining rights, and now you can only buy shares of mining companies or invest in some mining companies that are in urgent need of development funds. ”

This kind of thing is fast and slow, and if you don't have a chance, forget it.

Li Weimin said casually: "Then make a fuss in the stock and gold trading market of mining companies, go back and register a few companies, conduct some small transactions first, and help the Bank of East Asia accumulate some gold reserves by the way, and then make a big deal when there is a market in the future." ”

The representative of the Bank of East Asia in Johannesburg said with a smile: "Mr. Li, Mr. Liu has arranged that after all the foreign exchange futures are delivered, he will squeeze out a sum of money to purchase gold. ”

There is very little gold in Vietnam, and there is a great demand.

Some people want to buy gold to preserve their value, some people need gold jewelry, the Bank of East Asia has a gold business, they need gold reserves, and of course they have to come to South Africa, an important gold source, to pick up the goods.

Li Weimin nodded, and continued: "Listen to Prime Minister Johannes, South Africa will become independent sooner or later, and a republic will be established like Vietnam." After independence, we will develop national defense, and you should pay more attention to it, and establish good relations with the military as soon as possible, so that we can cooperate and cooperate when they develop the military industry in the future. ”

"Working with South Africa?"

"We have too few talents, our foundation is too thin, and we don't even have professors in the university, so we can only invite them from Europe and the United States. Professors can be hired externally, where can military experts be hired? South Africa is different, don't look at the white people are not many, but there are many talents, and there is a relatively complete industrial system, think about it and envy. (To be continued.) )