On January 15, 1949, the Kuomintang army was annihilated by the People's Liberation Army in Tianjin, leaving only the isolated Beiping in the important cities of North China. After our army took control of the port of Tianjin, Fu Zuoyi, who was in Beiping, realized that he had not many choices left: either hold on to the end, or disarm and surrender.
After the persuasion of our representatives, General Fu Zuoyi realized that Chiang Kai-shek could no longer serve him. The Kuomintang troops in Peiping, as well as the local people, longed for the end of the war.
Therefore, on January 21, the representative of our army and Deng Baoshan, the military representative of the Kuomintang in Beiping, signed the "Agreement on the Peaceful Liberation of Beiping", which took an important step for the armistice.
Subsequently, the Kuomintang troops in Beiping City, under the leadership of General Fu Zuoyi, withdrew from the city and accepted the reorganization of our army. So far, Beiping has been successfully liberated, and not a single shot has been fired in the whole process, and no personnel have been caused.
The People's Liberation Army officially entered the city on January 31, and this ancient city, which has stood for hundreds of years since the Yuan Dynasty, is about to open a new chapter in history. However, the grand ceremony of our army's entry into the city aroused the uneasiness of some envoys stationed in China.
The envoys were not from Beijing or China, they were based in foreign embassies in downtown Beijing. The heroic posture of the PLA soldiers seems to make them realize that Beiping will face great changes.
Sure enough, in 1950, it was decided to recover the area where foreign troops were stationed in Beiping.
Although this move of *** caused their joint opposition, the great man *** only issued an order: "What does Dongjiaomin Lane mean to Beiping?" Why is our party so determined to take back the eastern suburbs? "A lot of tourists who come to Beijing choose to go to Dongjiaomin Lane, especially those who like to take pictures and try new flavors.
This is because it is different from the antique Beijing architectural style, and it is full of a variety of European and American architecture. As soon as you walk in, you will feel like you have entered the streets of other countries overseas, and you will feel a strong sense of exoticism.
Minxiang in the eastern suburbs, once a gathering place for foreign embassies and banks, has now become an indispensable political and economic part of Beijing, with many important ** and non-governmental institutions concentrated.
Here, you can see a sign that reads "1992" and "Patriotic Education Base", which reminds us of that humiliating history. Dongjiao Hutong is the longest hutong in Beijing, which has existed since the Yuan Dynasty, and was originally named "Dongjiang Rice Lane".
Jiangmi Lane, an ancient street that carries historical memories, is said to have originated from the place where grain merchants stopped here to pay their taxes. It used to be the largest tax collector of the imperial court, and all dynasties have set up tax yamen here to bring convenience to the office.
In the Qing Dynasty, the surrounding facilities were constantly improved, and in addition to the tax department, the household department, the yamen, the internal affairs department and other departments also settled here, making it more prosperous and important.
This once bustling alley brought together both government and business, and became a unique scene in Beijing. Restaurants and shops are lined up, and people come and go every day.
However, in 1918, this former Chinese territory was occupied by foreign embassies, who not only changed the street names at will, but also blocked the entire alley, and no one except embassy personnel was allowed to enter.
Once violated, they will be humiliated, imprisoned, or even killed.
** Dissatisfied with China's inequality, he is determined to remove the stain on the face of the Chinese so that the Chinese can live proudly on their own land.
Finally, on January 31, 1949, the officers and men of the People's Liberation Army successfully entered Beiping. The chairman gave an order that the mechanized troops must advance along Dongjiaomin Lane.
The heroic posture of the People's Liberation Army made the people of Beiping feel extremely proud and gratified, holding small self-made red flags and slogans, chanting slogans to welcome the People's Liberation Army, releasing their own pain and anguish that had been suppressed for many years.
The embassy staff of other countries were frightened and uneasy, and they saw the strength and determination of the Chinese people. This victory marked that the Chinese people had stood up, and China's history had entered a new chapter.
As foreign ambassadors watched tanks and troops pass by, they seemed to realize that their privileges in China had been challenged by the new regime. They did not anticipate that the Chinese territory that their ancestors had occupied since 1860 would lose control many years later.
If Dongjiaomin Lane had life, it was hard to imagine that many years later, the squadron would walk on it with its head held high, with the attitude of a victor.
Since the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese and foreign countries have written to the imperial court to set up embassies in Beijing. With the permission of Emperor Kangxi, the envoys of various countries chose to set up embassies in Dongjiaomin Lane, which gradually formed a concentration of embassies of various countries, and the Qing Dynasty also adapted to the situation to set up diplomatic institutions here.
However, with the Qing Dynasty's seclusion and incompetence, the country's power gradually declined, and the ministers of various countries saw the decline of the Qing Dynasty clearly. After the Second Opium War, China's doors were forced to open and the desires of the Western powers swelled even more.
In the Second Opium War, the great powers were no longer satisfied with just ceding land and paying reparations, and they demanded that the core area of Beijing be opened so that more countries could set up embassies in Dongjiaomin Lane, and use this as a symbol to show their colonial power in China.
In desperation, the Qing **, who had just been defeated, could only obey the wishes of the great powers. As a result, more than 10 countries suddenly poured into Dongjiaomin Lane, in addition to the traditional Russian, French, Portuguese, Dutch and other countries, including the emerging Britain, the United States, Japan, Italy and other countries.
In this small alley, representatives of almost all the world's powerful countries at that time were gathered, which fully exposed China's weak position in the eyes of the great powers at the end of the Qing Dynasty and was slaughtered by others.
The historical wounds of Dongjiaomin Lane have not yet healed. In the 1900 invasion of Beiping by the Eight-Power Alliance, it was brutally devastated and looted, and the place that originally belonged to the Chinese has lost its traces of the Chinese.
Powers of various countries set up barracks and garrisoned troops here, as well as facilities such as churches, banks, and prisons. Western-style buildings are scattered throughout the streets, making it look more like "Little Britain" and "Little Italy", but it is no longer the traditional Chinese architectural style.
Although the Qing **'s performance after the signing of the Xinchou Treaty was disappointing, the cherishing of the land and the antipathy to oppression made it impossible for the people to tolerate the loss of the land. Because of the oppressive behavior of foreigners in Beiping, the people's hatred for them has deepened.
In June 1900, because the German minister was killed, foreign soldiers recklessly acted in the city of Beiping, triggering fierce clashes between the Boxers and foreign soldiers. In the face of the provocation of foreigners, the attitude of Qing ** is very subtle.
They did not dare to offend foreigners, nor did they dare to let them go. Because the anger of the people is very strong, if you sit idly by, it may cause even more trouble; But they are also suspicious of this kind of non-governmental organization, and they are more afraid of being replaced by Chinese people than they are afraid of being replaced by foreigners.
This contradictory trade-off led to a repeated position of the Qing Dynasty: what was even more odious was that the Qing army turned to the Boxers as the target of attack and replaced the generals who originally resisted the invaders.
The Boxers, who were originally superior, were forced to retreat under the treachery of the Qing **. The conflict, which lasted for nearly two months, finally ended, the Boxers were defeated, and the invaders won another victory.
The Boxer Rebellion incident emboldened the arrogance of foreign powers, and they posted notices at the entrance of Minxiang in the eastern suburbs: Chinese are forbidden to enter, and if they violate it, they have the right to unilaterally shoot and shoot.
What is even more distressing is that on May 25, 1915, the infamous "Twenty-one Articles" signed by Yuan Shikai during the ** period were born here. Even after the signing of the agreement, the vast number of patriotic youths were indignant, and they organized huge demonstrations and submitted objections to the embassies of various countries.
However, these opposing voices did not attract the attention of the foreign powers, after all, for a country that has lost its power and humiliated the country, how much weight can the voice of the people have?
Years later, the situation took a dramatic turn, and the once formidable ambassadors began to feel nervous. They had heard that the Communist Party was very different from the Manchus and warlords of the past, and even more resolute than Chiang Kai-shek.
But they don't know what this new regime will do with them. Although our Party's main focus at that time was to liberate the whole country, it was not until 1950, one year later, that a formal decision was made on how to deal with them.
On January 6, 1950, the Beijing Municipal Government issued a proclamation.
China** decided to recover the land of the barracks of various countries, and at the same time demanded that the countries with which it had diplomatic relations continue to use the eastern suburbs of Minxiang as the location of their embassies, and that the countries that did not have diplomatic relations should move their embassies out of Beijing.
This decision undoubtedly unnerved the countries, and they urgently convened a meeting to discuss the response. It was also the last meeting held by a foreign embassy on Chinese soil that was not convened by the host country, and all countries looked to the most powerful American ambassador in the hope of finding inspiration from his opinion.
As a facilitator of the meeting, the U.S. ambassador suggested joining forces to put pressure on China**. He is obviously too rigid in this thinking, and he believes that even if the leadership of China changes, their policy will not change.
The so-called announcement is only a superficial act of showing their status. Unlike the submissiveness of many small countries and the hardline attitude of the United States, the British ambassador has his own strategy.
He is observing the execution of the Communist Party before taking action. Since the U.S. ambassador has taken the lead in opposing it, let's look at his results before making a decision.
The U.S. ambassador, along with envoys from other countries, delivered a letter to China** at Dongjiaomin Lane, in which he referred to some clichés about the observance of old treaties. However, to their surprise, the letter was not directly forwarded to the leaders of ***.
Because at that time, the United States and China had not formally established diplomatic relations, so the U.S. ambassador was not qualified to negotiate with China. It was only then that the foreign ambassadors realized that with the liberation of Beiping by the Chinese Communist Party, all unequal treaties in history were considered null and void.
Britain showed foresight in diplomacy and was the first to recognize the status of the new China and the leadership of the Communist Party, thus obtaining the privilege of the British embassy without the need to relocate. Although the embassy was preserved, the British garrison still needed to be relocated.
When other countries were still hesitating and making slow progress, the chairman who was inspecting the Soviet Union issued a stern order: as soon as the chairman's order came out, whether it was the tough American ** team or the British ** team that was delaying for various reasons, they must finally leave the eastern suburbs as soon as possible.
On April 11, 1950, with the British barracks being ordered to move out, the stormy Eastern Suburbs finally ended its colonial history. The walls of privilege and the iron gates of colonial power have been torn down, and the land that once belonged to China is now back in our arms.
Other small countries with insufficient strength, seeing the determination of our country, can only obey our country's regulations, the powers of the past are no longer arrogant, they have to recognize and respect this country that has been bullied.
In 1900, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded, and Beiping suffered humiliation for half a century. However, with the efforts of the Communists, finally in 1950, the foreign ** team left Beiping.
Not only Dongjiaomin Lane, but also the whole of Beiping, North China, and even the whole of China have been washed clean by the blood and tears of the people. In order not to let such a shame happen again, future generations need to work hard to achieve the mission of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.