Fok Yingdong borrowed a car for the Queen of England to visit China and gave the same Rolls-Royce
In the 20 years since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the practice of "one country, two systems" has yielded fruitful results. The city's prosperity and international influence are not only a testament to the foresight of Comrade ***, but also the world's recognition of China.
The return not only enhanced our country's international status, but also showed that the era of the "empire on which the sun never sets" has become history. After World War II, Britain became independent of its overseas colonies, and even Argentina dared to challenge its authority, and the former imperial majesty was gone.
Although Hong Kong has suffered from the great powers and turned away from the motherland, the people of Hong Kong have never succumbed, but many patriotic entrepreneurs have emerged.
Fok Ying-tung: The Arduous Journey of Hong Kong's Patriotic Entrepreneurs Hong Kong, as a pain in China's modern history, is a scar that can never heal in our hearts. It reminds us all the time that if we fall behind, we will be bullied.
Since the Opium War, Hong Kong has been devastated by the British and occupied by Japan, and the life of the Chinese people has been extremely difficult. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese people ended their past humiliation and began to gradually reclaim the land ceded by foreign powers, and Fok Ying-tung, as a patriotic entrepreneur in Hong Kong, also played an important role in this difficult process.
Hong Kong's handover to the motherland has been fraught with twists and turns, as its system is capitalist and has long been under British rule, and British influence in Hong Kong is deeply entrenched. British elements such as the pound, the statue of Queen Elizabeth, and the British in ** are everywhere in the old Hong Kong films, and even the Hong Kong-style Cantonese contains British characteristics, which shows the far-reaching influence of Britain on Hong Kong.
And Britain's confidence lies not only in its influence on Hong Kong, but more importantly, in the fact that they won the Falklands War.
After the end of World War II, Britain's status changed from an "empire on which the sun never sets" to "the sun sets", and the whole world witnessed the decline of Britain. Against this background, Argentina, seeing the plight of the British, began plotting to seize the British-occupied Falklands.
Britain never expected that as one of the five permanent members, it would be easily challenged by a small South American country. The war forced Britain to rush into battle, and although it was ultimately won, it was a real humiliation for Britain.
Although Thatcher's popularity in Britain was not high before the Falklands War, it was this war that brought her prestige to its peak. The embarrassing war gave Thatcher an unexpected self-confidence that she thought she had enough leverage to discuss Hong Kong's sovereignty with China.
At first, Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet tried to bargain over the handover of Hong Kong, and even considered negotiating with China in a "sovereignty for governance" approach.
** Comrade's words made the British Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher change her countenance: "Although China is still relatively poor, we will never back down in the war." ”
After that, the scene of Thatcher falling down in fright after hearing these words has become a widely circulated scene in history.
Despite its victory in the Falklands War, Britain was in irreversible decline. Thatcher's visit to China was preceded by Queen Elizabeth II's visit to China.
England has a long history, and the power of the monarch was weakened as early as the 17th century, and it has not changed to this day. Britain, unlike the Soviet Union, did not carry out a "cleansing" of the princely aristocracy, but retained the royal family, only stripped it of its powers, making it a symbol or mascot in the hearts of the nation.
However, losing power does not mean losing influence. When the Queen of England visits other countries, she is treated with even more courtesy than the Prime Minister.
For the visit of the Queen of England, China attaches great importance to it, and the personnel of relevant departments have improved the reception specifications for this purpose, which not only shows China's respect for the Queen's visit, but also hopes to show the international achievements of China's reform and opening up.
To this end, all aspects of hospitality specifications have been upgraded, including food, accommodation and travel. In terms of "travel", we have tailored an exclusive reception plan for the Queen of England according to her living habits.
However, in the process of upgrading the reception specifications, we ran into a problem. Prior to this, China usually used Hongqi cars when receiving foreign leaders' visits, but because the political intentions of the British Queen's visit were not strong, Hongqi cars were no longer applicable.
Therefore, we need to provide the Queen of England with a more suitable means of transport to ensure her comfort and safety.
After investigation, the Queen of England chooses to take a Rolls-Royce for daily travel, but at that time, China was still in the beginning of reform and opening up, and few people in the inland could enjoy such luxury cars, even if luxury car manufacturers sold them in China, few people could afford the price.
In those days, anyone who could drive a Santana was a successful person. Therefore, after careful consideration, the relevant departments decided to borrow a Rolls-Royce from Hong Kong wealthy businessman Fok Ying-tung.
Considering that the shareholder of the hotel that received the Queen of England was Fok Ying-tung, and that the people who could own Rolls-Royce at that time were very few in mainland China and Hong Kong, Fok Ying-tung was one of them.
Therefore, the relevant departments immediately contacted Fok Yingdong, hoping that he could help solve this problem.
Fok Yingdong selflessly lent his Rolls-Royce to the reception department, expressing his willingness to use it for a long time. After receiving his generous donation, the leaders of the relevant departments expressed their deep gratitude and immediately devoted themselves to the final preparations for the reception.
However, Fok Yingdong was not satisfied with this, he instructed his subordinates to investigate the model of the car that the Queen of England was riding, and learned that the Queen's Rolls-Royce was not only the same top brand, but also the level of craftsmanship reached the top in the world, far exceeding his own.
In order to maintain the dignity of China, Fok Yingdong decided to let the queen ride in a matching Rolls-Royce. He immediately assigned his secretary to England to buy the most expensive Rolls-Royce, and asked the manufacturer to speed up production.
After the car arrived, it was quickly transferred to the hotel where the queen was received. The leaders of the reception department gratefully shook hands with Fok Yingdong and expressed their heartfelt gratitude.
The Queen of England finally decided to visit China, and the distinguished guest was shocked to witness the tremendous changes in China after the reform and opening up, and said that it was a very worthwhile trip.
The Queen's high level of satisfaction with the Chinese reception brought the six-day visit to a successful conclusion. Just as the reception department was planning to return the Rolls-Royce to Fok Yingdong, he generously decided to leave the car to the state for future receptions of foreign guests.
Since then, the car has received many overseas guests and international friends, and Fok Yingdong's noble sentiments have become a widely praised story.
Fok Ying-tung is a real self-made entrepreneur who did not hesitate to gamble his life to support our party. Like many well-known figures, he has experienced war and famine.
However, it was these experiences that made him understand at a young age that only when the country is prosperous and strong can the people live in peace and contentment. Therefore, he has been committed to promoting the development of the country and contributing to the lives of the people.
In Fok Yingdong's heart, the prosperity of the country is his mission and the driving force for him to start a business. With his shipping career, he experienced all kinds of difficulties and setbacks in society, but he never gave up, and finally accumulated his first pot of gold at the age of 22.
Fok Ying-tung not only has excellent business acumen, but his patriotic feelings have also been throughout his career. He has always believed that a businessman must first be patriotic, which is his life's creed.
In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, China bravely formed a volunteer army to go deep into the Korean battlefield to resolutely resist foreign aggression and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
However, this heroic act did not gain respect and understanding from Western countries, but was subjected to unprecedentedly severe blockade sanctions. Even the small fish and shrimp in the waters near Hong Kong were banned from being exported to other countries, which is enough to see the severity and complexity of the international situation at that time.
Fok Ying-tung stepped forward at this critical moment and secretly delivered much-needed supplies to our country. You must know that the mainland is extremely short of medical supplies, and the domestic productivity is relatively backward.
This, coupled with the blockade of the West, has made the domestic predicament even more severe. Hong Kong is still under British rule, and naturally it is forbidden to send supplies to the mainland, and if someone violates it, the consequences will be extremely serious.
With years of accumulation of contacts, Huo Yingdong secretly sent urgently needed materials to our party, which was full of danger, but he was resolute. He made tremendous contributions to China's cause of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, and the party and the people will always remember his kindness.
In his later years, Mr. Fok Yingdong devoted himself to China's sports cause, actively helped China join the International Olympic Committee, and successfully participated in the United States Olympic Games eight years later. In order to realize China's dream of bidding for the Olympic Games, Huo Lao personally went out to conduct in-depth exchanges with the International Olympic Committee and did his best for China's Olympic bid.
His contribution to the sporting cause of our country is admirable.
In an interview, Fok Ying-tung said that if China succeeds in its bid to host the Olympics, he will go all out to support the construction of the Olympic stadium. Unfortunately, however, China did not win the right to host the Olympics in 2000.
The year 2000 is indeed a year of great historical significance, and many countries are looking to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Although Fok Ying-tung was not able to witness this historic moment at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, his contribution and spirit will always be etched in our hearts. A year later, when China's bid for the Olympic Games was successful, Fok Yingdong, as a far-sighted patriot, actively responded and took the lead in calling on people from all walks of life to contribute to the construction of the National Stadium.
He not only visited the construction site of the Water Cube many times, but also generously donated a huge amount of money to the construction project. Although he is gone, his spirit and dedication will continue to inspire us to contribute to the prosperity and development of our country.
After Huo Yingdong's death, ** expressed deep condolences to him and held a state funeral for him. You must know that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, very few people have enjoyed state funeral treatment.
Huo Yingdong's death was featured on CCTV, and he was hailed as a "close friend of the Communist Party of China". Fok Ying-tung's whole life was devoted to the prosperity and prosperity of the motherland, and his spirit will always be remembered by the world.