In July 1952, in the midst of fierce fighting on the Korean battlefield, the disturbing news came from southern China: the Portuguese, who had colonized Macao, had launched an artillery attack on the People's Liberation Army. They blew up one of our national flags and killed and wounded 32 PLA soldiers. This was the first direct conflict with the old Western powers since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it could have turned into a major war. However, in the end, the incident did not have serious consequences. With just one move, the Portuguese paid the price they deserved. Since then, the West has never dared to underestimate China. What kind of special battle is this?
Let's start with Portugal.
Nowadays, when it comes to the "empire on which the sun never sets", people think that it is a proper noun to describe Britain. In fact, there are many "empires on which the sun never sets" in the world, and Portugal was not far from this goal. In July 1497, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set sail and set off to usher in the Age of Discovery. At that time, Portugal and Spain divided South America equally, and the first generation of "the sun never sets" myth was achieved. Brazil, which is now rich in land, was once a Portuguese colony.
In 1553, the Portuguese came to Asia and began to do business with the Chinese. For the sake of convenience, China** acquiesced in their residence in Macau. For hundreds of years after that, the Portuguese had been mixed with the local Chinese, although there were quite a few of them, but they were still under the jurisdiction of the Chinese ** at that time. In 1887, the weak Qing Dynasty** could not hold its own territory and signed an unequal treaty with the Portuguese, the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peace and Commerce, which was valid for 40 years. Since then, Macao has been officially colonized by Portugal. Later, although the treaty expired, the Portuguese still refused to leave and continued to stay here. And the Beiyang**, which dominated China at that time, was unable to defend the country's territory, so it could only let the Portuguese continue to do whatever they wanted.
In the blink of an eye, the year 1949 came. The troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army are directly aimed at Hong Kong and Macao. Looking at the situation in the whole country, the new regime has already been established, and believes that it is still necessary to temporarily ease these two areas that can maintain communication with the West, so that New China can have a buffer when it is encircled by the West. In this way, the Portuguese of Macau continued to stay, and still retained their former privileges.
At that time, China and Portugal set up a checkpoint between Guangzhou and Macao, and there was a neutral zone about a few tens of meters long in the middle, and neither country was allowed to cross this boundary. And the division of the neutral zone is an ancient "rejection of horses". This kind of isolation device, which was widely used in China during the Qin and Han dynasties, has a strong symbolic meaning.
In 1950, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, and the Chinese People's Volunteers began to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Portugal, as a Western country, did not participate in the war. They did not make any excesses, except for some arrogant gestures at the beginning.
However, in July 1952, the act of a Portuguese soldier shattered the peace.
On that day, everything was calm and normal. However, a black Portuguese soldier was on his own duty, and he would"Rejection of horses"Pushed about half a meter to the Chinese side. Chinese border guards immediately issued a stern warning, demanding that he restore the "rejection of horses".
The Portuguese soldiers ignored the warning, and the Chinese soldiers took matters into their own hands and pushed the "rejection horse" back. China's territory is sacrosanct, and not an inch of such a foolish loss is allowed. The best people will never take the initiative to stir up trouble, but they can't be afraid of things, and whoever wants to take advantage of our country can't allow it!
At this time, the Portuguese soldiers beckoned a few more companions, and together they pushed the "rejection of horses" to the Chinese side. Our sentry first signaled them again to stop their movements, and when they did not reply, they stepped forward to stop them. At this time, the Portuguese soldiers openly spat on my soldiers, urinated, and did everything they could to insult them. Seeing that our sentries did not back down, they even took out their bayonets and attacked them, resulting in many wounds among our sentries.
The Chinese sentry, who could not bear it anymore, took out a grenade and threw it into the neutral area to contain the threat of the Portuguese soldiers. However, they took out submachine guns and fired at the Chinese side, resulting in many Chinese soldiers. The Portuguese soldiers did not stop, but instead brought in howitzers and continuously ** on the Chinese side, blowing up our flag.
Immediately after the incident, the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee ordered the closure of the checkpoint and the prohibition of anyone from entering or leaving. At the same time, this message was also reported to **. When he learned about it, he was furious, slapped the table and got up, saying yes"Destroy them! "
According to the order of ***, the 29th Regiment of the People's Liberation Army immediately convened an emergency meeting and formulated a strict battle plan. They fought back against the Portuguese on the border with high morale, and also used artillery. The Portuguese soldiers were simply unable to resist and were beaten to the ground, and some even fell into the water as they fled. However, in this conflict, our side also has losses. Together with the sentries who were wounded on the border, a total of 32 people appeared. This is another blood debt on the aggressor.
This incident is known internationally as the "Border Incident". Faced with this situation, countries such as Portugal and the United Kingdom began to spread rumors about China and impose their evil deeds on China. During this period, there were a lot of negative reactions to Chinese comments in the world. China has disclosed the truth, but because the leading power is not in its own hands, China's voice is rarely heard.
Subsequently, Portugal sought direct assistance from the United Kingdom, and publicly stated that Portugal had signed a military alliance treaty with the United States, and that the American military would intervene at any time. Sure enough, the Americans really came, and they drove the ** stationed in Taiwan to the vicinity of Macao, and began to interfere with the normal maritime navigation of our country. At this time, the British also used political means to freeze our country's bank accounts in Hong Kong. And Portugal**, it was decided to implement it"Retreat"strategy, to completely cut off the material exchange between China and Macao. They think that China is still unable to deal with threats from the sea, and we will still compromise like the Qing **.
However, they did not realize that Macao was not self-sufficient in materials, and such a blockade cut off their own food imports. As time passed, prices in Macau became more and more popular, and local residents gradually fell into chaos. Seeing that the situation was out of control, the Portuguese governor of Macao urgently sought help from Portugal**. Portugal** soon called back and instructed the Macau side:"Retreat doesn't work, please negotiate with China! "
The Governor of Macao did want to talk, but the direction of his negotiations was wrong from the beginning. He tried to negotiate the Lisbon Treaty between China and Portugal as a base to calm the situation. However, this is an unequal treaty that is inherently legitimate, long since abrogated, and cannot be used as a basis for negotiations between the two countries. Moreover, the ** problem of 32 people in my country cannot be solved by this draft agreement. As a result, China quickly rejected Portugal's request for negotiations.
Seeing the seriousness of the situation, the Governor of Macao decided to ask a Macao man named Ho Yin to come forward and let him act as an intermediary to express his demands to the Chinese side in order to help mediate the dispute. Although Ho Xian has no official position, he has a very great prestige in the political and business circles, and is known as the "King of Macau". His intervention gave hope for the resolution of the matter.
After discussing with the Portuguese side, Ho Xian came to a consensus: a peaceful solution was the best option at the moment. Then, he came to Guangzhou and began contact as an official representative.
The person who met He Xian was the future marshal of the Chinese side who was in charge of negotiations, who had been engaged in ** work for a long time, and negotiations were commonplace for him. The two were in a quiet room and had a long conversation. He Xian bluntly stated his views and expressed his hope to get a good result of the conversation.
After He Xian finished speaking, ** opened his mouth and said: "In the relations between countries, major matters should be strict, and small things should be lenient. Macao compatriots are our own people, and the retreat sanctions will only hurt ourselves! We will also take a tolerant attitude towards this incident. However, we also have our own requirements. ”
Then, three conditions were formally proposed:
First, Portugal must ensure that it will not provoke China or do anything that insults China's dignity.
Second, the Portuguese side must publicly apologize to the Chinese side for this incident.
Third, the Portuguese side must compensate the Chinese side for its losses.
These three conditions are reasonable, powerful and responsible, and there are no unreasonable demands. He Xian saw the hope of a peaceful settlement and immediately went back to make a report. At the beginning, the response of the Portuguese side was not ideal, this kind of old capitalist country, when is it used to being the boss, when has it ever apologized? They stated that two conditions were unacceptable except for the first one.
However, the Chinese side said it would never compromise on its own conditions. There are 32 Chinese soldiers**, and the national flag has been blown up, so it is reasonable to apologize and compensate. For a time, the two sides were at a stalemate, and neither of them would budge.
However, the situation in Macau is still gradually deteriorating, and ordinary people are fleeing the besieged land. Those who can't walk use various methods to express their desire to return to a peaceful life as soon as possible. Faced with this situation, the Portuguese side finally made concessions and agreed in principle to the three conditions of the Chinese side. Next, the two sides began to argue at the negotiating table. After more than a dozen encounters, the matter was finally resolved satisfactorily.
Soon after, the Portuguese side publicly published a letter of apology. In the letter, the Portuguese side not only expressed its deep apologies for the "border incident", but also promised not to repeat the mistakes of the past in the future. In the end, they also agreed to compensate the Chinese side for the damage caused. The specific amount is 4.4 billion yuan. Of course, if converted into new yuan, the amount of this amount is 440,000. It's not a huge amount, but it's enough to show an attitude.
After the apology letter was issued, the Chinese side lifted the blockade on land, and the trucks carrying food and water entered Macau again, and the situation on the ground improved. The Portuguese side, for fear of a similar incident, set the cordon back by 50 meters. Since then, Macau has become calm.
Portugal's apology letter and attitude are not only a concession on paper and deeds, but also the understanding of the Western powers for the new era. In this new era, it is no longer possible for the West to rise high and crush the world.
For China, the end of the "border incident" has become a manifestation of the country's growing strength. Its peaceful settlement shows that even though China is still in the midst of the Korean War, it still has the strength, courage and wisdom to safeguard its national dignity and demonstrate its great power bearing and national self-confidence. In the face of the enemy, China no longer bows its eyebrows and pleases its eyes, but stands tall and is not afraid of any challenge!
It is very interesting to note that the peaceful settlement of the "Border Incident" has not only not caused a regression in the relations between China and Portugal, but has shown signs of improvement. In 1974, Portuguese soldiers staged a coup d'état that overthrew Caerno's fascist rule, and then announced the renunciation of most of their overseas colonies. In the meantime, they said they could return Macau to China. Considering that it was not ready to receive it at that time, China politely rejected the other party's kindness. In the end, the two sides decided that Macao would be officially returned to China in 1999. During this period, the Portuguese side did not set up many obstacles to interfere with the return process, as the British did. Today, the friendship between China and Portugal is still developing amicably. It can be seen from this that friendship between countries can sometimes be achieved by force.