Chairman of the Wisdom Canal,After a few years, it will be clever
In 1963, when Hong Kong suffered a severe drought, a song called "Moonlight shines on Hong Kong, there is no water in the mountains and no food" spread in the streets and alleys. People are looking forward to a sip of fresh fresh water when the water shortage is over.
At this time, on the desk of Zhongnanhai Juxiang Book House, distress letters from the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions and other circles flew like snowflakes, all requesting ** to help solve the problem of water shortage in Hong Kong.
Seeing that compatriots are in a difficult situation, and even drinking water has become a problem, the chairman is deeply saddened. He decided to build a canal from the mainland to divert water to rescue Hong Kong. However, when he brought the decision to the meeting, he was met with unexpected resistance.
Due to the specific situation at that time, many cadres voted against the construction of canals and diversion of water. Despite all the difficulties, the chairman of the ** committee managed to approve the water diversion plan against all odds.
It is only 19 years later that it is clear how clever the President's decision was. So, how serious was the water shortage in Hong Kong at that time? What are the reasons for the leaders' opposition to the diversion of water to Hong Kong?
What is the impact of the President's decision 19 years later? Let's take a look at the truth of this historical event.
Hong Kong's Water Problem: How to Solve Water Shortage in a Long-Lived Drought? Although Hong Kong is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has a humid and rainy climate, due to the lack of freshwater rivers and lakes on the surface, the underground rock formations are hard to store water, and the topography makes it difficult to store rainwater, making it a place where fresh water is scarce.
Coupled with the increasing population and the large increase in industrial production and domestic water, the problem of water supply has become increasingly prominent. At the beginning of the last century, Hong Kong experienced a severe water shortage.
How to solve Hong Kong's water problem is an important challenge for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, which is separated by water) After the end of World War II, Hong Kong's water supply problem has become a major problem that needs to be solved urgently. They tried a variety of ways to open source and throttle, but the results were not ideal.
However, they all know that the easiest solution is to divert water from the mainland. As early as 1950, some entrepreneurs took the initiative to seek help from the mainland. With the positive response of Guangdong Province, they began to explore the route of the canal and began the water diversion work with the permission of ***.
Although the process did not go smoothly, the water supply problem in Hong Kong was eventually solved, and the people of Hong Kong expressed gratitude and satisfaction for it.
Originally, Hong Kong's freshwater** was mainly dependent on the seaport, but this dependence made the British** unhappy. They are worried that if they rely too much on the mainland's water resources, they will be choked by the mainland's development throat.
Therefore, even if all sectors in Hong Kong ask for help from the motherland, the United Kingdom** is not willing to accept water aid from the mainland. However, this state of affairs lasted for ten years, until a new Governor took office.
He adopted the solution of diverting water from the mainland and began negotiations with the mainland. As a result of these efforts, representatives of China and Britain signed an agreement in November 1960 to provide Hong Kong with 5 billion gallons of fresh water annually from the Shenzhen Reservoir at the expense of Hong Kong and Britain**.
The signing of this agreement has finally solved the problem of fresh water in Hong Kong.
Although the agreement stipulates that the mainland** will charge a minimum fee of 1 cent per gallon, this is not a real purchase, but out of consideration for the emotions of Hong Kong and Britain**.
After all, for Hong Kong and Britain**, signing an agreement to buy water is much less threatening than free water supply from the mainland. However, even so, 5 billion gallons of water supply is not enough to solve Hong Kong's water shortage problem.
Hong Kong and Britain are betting that they don't think there will be a big drought. However, the drought of 1963 made this gamble a reality, and Hong Kong faced a severe water crisis.
From the end of 1962 to 1963, Hong Kong experienced the worst drought in nearly a century, and the sky did not rain for nine months. Without rain, Hong Kong's already inadequate surface water is evaporating at an accelerated rate, rivers and ponds are drying up and farmland is cracking.
At its worst, there was only enough water left in Hong Kong to feed the local population for 43 days. During the hot summer months, people are unable to do laundry, shower, or even drink water.
Does our society really care about and care about the survival needs of the people?
Hong Kong citizens waited in line for a water source, and although they grabbed it, they did not waste it, but took turns washing with the same basin of water as a family, and used the remaining sewage to wash clothes and flush toilets.
However, water scarcity has led to a drastic decline in sanitation and the spread of diseases such as cholera and malaria. Hospitals are crowded with patients of all kinds, and the health situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating day by day.
Under these circumstances, Hong Kong Ying** eventually appealed to Beijing for help and sent representatives to Guangdong in the hope of resolving Hong Kong's water supply problem through negotiation. In a conference room in Zhongnanhai, discussions are underway about whether to help Hong Kong build a major water project.
Cadres who oppose the plan give four reasons: First, our treasury is empty, and the people's lives are still poor. Secondly, the construction of large-scale water conservancy projects at this time lacked the right time, place and people.
Second, Hong Kong's water problem needs to be solved from Guangdong, which is also suffering from drought and cannot protect itself. Third, Hong Kong is still under British jurisdiction, and we have made great efforts to help divert water, and the final credit may be taken by them, which is not worth it.
Finally, it was the external environment at that time, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and India's frequent provocations in the near future, and China's national defense and security expenditures were huge and funds were tight. The opponents analyzed it head-on, putting practical difficulties before the chairman.
** After pondering for a moment, he made only one suggestion and decided to build an aqueduct. "You will understand in the future the importance of this little canal. * Understand that everyone is having difficulties now, but in the long run, the benefits of repairing the canal outweigh the disadvantages.
And what the Communists are best at is overcoming difficulties and making the impossible possible. In a word, it successfully changed the way of thinking of the people, and reached a consensus on the construction of the aqueduct.
In December 1963, after the premier concluded his visit to Southeast Asia, he flew directly to Guangzhou and brought important instructions: 35.84 million yuan was allocated to divert water from the Dongjiang River to help Hong Kong compatriots.
This amount of money was a huge amount of money for China at that time, and in order to come up with this money, it had to suspend several national construction projects. This fully demonstrates the motherland's mainland's concern for Hong Kong compatriots.
Guangdong Province acted quickly and came up with a bold idea based on the survey: to divert Dongjiang water into the Shenzhen reservoir and then to Hong Kong through steel pipes. However, the project is very difficult, with a total length of more than 80 kilometers, spanning six high-altitude peaks, and the complex topography of the Shima River flows through the area, which flows from south to north, requiring a large number of pumping stations to pump water up one by one.
Despite this, Guangdong Province has gone all out and started to build aqueducts in full swing to solve the problem of drinking water for Hong Kong compatriots.
The survival of 3 million Hong Kong and Kowloon compatriots has made the best people determined to promote the construction of the Dongshen Water Supply Project. In February 1964, the project officially started, and Guangdong urgently dispatched more than 10,000 strong laborers from all over the province to work overtime.
At its peak, more than 20,000 people were involved in the construction of the project. The project is located on the Shima River, and the labor number is loud. On the construction site, the slogan "Let the mountains bow their heads and make the river flow backwards" is eye-catching.
Despite the difficult conditions, without a house, they lived in makeshift tents; If the tools are not complete, they will find their own way and ask someone to bring them; Even the bedding and mosquito nets are solved by themselves.
Everyone insisted on working 13 hours a day, day and night, without taking a break. Typhoons, torrential rains, and floods could not stop everyone's pace of construction. There is only one goal in everyone's mind, and that is to get Hong Kong compatriots to drink water as soon as possible.
On February 25 of the following year, the project was finally completed. In just one year, we successfully completed this seemingly impossible challenge.
On that day, watching the Dongjiang River water rise all the way down the Shima River and flow to the Shenzhen Reservoir, the eyes of the project builders were full of excitement and hope. When the news reached Hong Kong, Hong Kong Ying ** also had to marvel at our amazing speed and execution.
The two places share the clear water of the two places, and the people of Guangdong have finished repairing the aqueduct, and the Hong Kong compatriots have drunk the sweet water of the Dongjiang River. With the clear water of the Dongjiang River, Hong Kong's water shortage problem has been completely solved.
After surviving the crisis, Hong Kong and Britain began to be wary of the mainland again. They have built large reservoirs and desalination plants in the hope of finding more efficient ways to desalinate and reduce their dependence on the mainland.
While the idea is good, it can be difficult to implement. A large amount of money invested in seawater desalination has been wasted.
With the continuous development of the economy, Hong Kong Ying** foresaw the great benefits in the future, so it decided to relax the restrictions on the water supply of the Dongjiang River and increase the amount of water supply. As a result, Hong Kong's economy was able to take off rapidly, and it became one of the famous "Asian Tigers" at that time.
However, on the other hand, in order to solve Hong Kong's drinking water problem, Guangdong has made great sacrifices. In order to ensure the quality of water supply, Guangdong** has refused to open heavily polluting industrial projects along the Dongjiang River.
This decision means that Guangdong has given up the opportunity to invest a lot of money. Although it did not reap good returns, Guangdong still had to invest heavily in planting shelterbelts along the project, and this "loss" was huge.
However, these sacrifices of Hong Kong and Britain cannot be seen, but the Hong Kong compatriots who actually use the water are remembered. In the year when Dongjiang water was introduced to Hong Kong, a documentary swept the Hong Kong film industry.
This documentary, titled "The Water of the Dongjiang River Comes Over the Mountains", not only set a box office record for Chinese and Western films that year, but also became the collective memory of the Hong Kong people for the water shortage, and it is also a manifestation of their deep gratitude to the mainland.
On the Hong Kong issue, our bottom line is very clear - in 1997, China must take back Hong Kong, don't try to play tricks, this time, you must make concessions. If you don't agree, we're ready to take it back by force.
China is not afraid of poverty, nor is it afraid of death, and when necessary, we will use force to safeguard the dignity and interests of the country. Hong Kong has prospered because of British governance, but that doesn't mean we have to continue to accept unequal treaties.
We have the determination and the ability to recover Hong Kong smoothly. Today's China is no longer a weak country that can be bullied by others, and we have the ability to protect our territorial integrity and national interests.
Therefore, Britain, we will not accept your unreasonable demands, and you have only two choices: either accept our conditions, or accept the results of the recovery by force.
In the face of Thatcher's stubbornness, **cleverly raised the issue of Dongjiang water supply, which is nearly 80% of Hong Kong's fresh water**. If water sources are cut off, Hong Kong will repeat its history of water shortage.
He warned: "If you are obsessed, we will take action too." Thatcher had no choice but to give up. It is amazing that the aqueduct built back then has played such an important role 19 years later.
Walking out of the negotiation hall, people were deeply admired for their foresight. Although China will not really cut off the water, this grace of water has become an important bargaining chip for China in the negotiations, and has strongly promoted the peaceful settlement of the Hong Kong issue.
The Dongjiang water, the source of life for Hong Kong, has endured hardships and deep affection between the two places. "One Country, Two Systems" has enabled Hong Kong to continue to lead the trend on the world stage. Thinking of the source of drinking water, thank you for the silent efforts of the builders of the Dongshen Water Supply Project, their loyalty and great love, hold up the hope of Hong Kong.
Let us remember the history, look forward to the future, and create a better tomorrow together.