Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 967 When the old troublemaker meets the new colleague (first update, please subscribe)
Malaya independence!
Is this good news?

The answer is obvious. This means that Britain will leave Asia in a real sense. Although Malaya and Singapore will become part of the Commonwealth in the future, that is all.

In any case, when the British chose to let them be independent, it meant that Britain left Asia.
Well, except Hong Kong Island.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the British leave or not. It is very wise for them to leave now.

After all, in fact, Nanyang’s influence on the two places must be far greater than that of Britain. Not to mention the Nanyang garrison in Malaya, even its economic influence is unmatched by any other country. Moreover, through several years of efforts, the Tangshan population in Malaya has increased to 530 million, accounting for 57% of the population, and the population with the right to vote has reached 72%.

The time for Malaya's independence is indeed ripe now. After they become independent, we can launch a comprehensive layout in Nanyang.

In the future, Nanyang can form the closest alliance with these Tang countries, although Li Yian has always rejected the establishment of the so-called "alliance". The reason for his rejection is that he is just dragging a group of poor buddies there to entertain himself, or in other words, he is dragging a group of poor buddies to add bricks to their sky.

Nanyang would definitely not do such a thing.

But nothing is absolute. For Li Yian, he will also visit your own circle of friends, and this circle of friends is connected by blood, such as Malaya, Singapore, Mindanao, Surabaya. This is not just a circle of friends, but also a responsibility and obligation.

Now the British people's understanding has given Li Yian an opportunity.

After thinking about it, Li Yian said.

“Cocos Islands and Christmas Island.”

"what?"

Aiden was stunned and said.

"Your Excellency means..."

As he had recently studied the issue of independence for British Singapore, he certainly knew where these two places were.

They are all overseas territories of British Singapore, both located in the Indian Ocean. The Cocos Islands are a small island with an area of ​​only a dozen square kilometers. Last year, Australia showed great interest in it and proposed to buy it, but it was strongly resisted by the Deputy Commissioner of British Singapore and protested by the public.

Although the British Singapore authorities eventually rejected Australia's request under pressure, in fact, everyone knew that this was London's attitude - in London's view, the independence of Malaya and Singapore was inevitable, and the influence of Southeast Asia on the two countries would be unprecedented. Therefore, Britain had the idea of ​​transferring the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island to Australia.

It has to be said that when it comes to playing the offshore balancing strategy, Britain has always been an expert, or rather... Britain is an old troublemaker, and being a troublemaker is almost their instinct.

Even if it is for an "ally", we have to stir it up a bit, whether there is shit or not, we have to mix it up first.

"Before Singapore becomes independent, London must promise its territorial integrity, which includes the two islands!"

Li Yian smiled and put forward his request - to maintain Singapore’s territorial integrity!
In another world, for the so-called "balance", Britain first instructed British Singapore to transfer the Cocos Islands to Australia. After finding that there was no resistance, it sold Christmas Island, which covers an area of ​​more than 100 square kilometers and is inhabited by a large number of Chinese, to Australia.

For Singapore, although Christmas Island has an area of ​​more than 100 square kilometers, it is not important at all, and may even only increase its financial burden. However, for Nanyang, its strategic location is very important, and there is an airport and port on it, and Nanyang wants to enter the Indian Ocean.

Christmas Island is one of the best bases. When the time comes, we can rent or buy it from Singapore through negotiation.

"This……"

Faced with the conditions proposed by Li Yian, Aiden hesitated. Originally, they had a plan for these two places - to hand them over to Australia. The reason why Britain did so was also its usual trick. Before its colonies became independent, it always had to do something to weaken the colonies as much as possible in order to better control them and obtain the greatest benefits.

Australia is also very interested in these two places, but there is strong opposition from Singapore.

It now seems that Singapore’s strong opposition is supported by Nanyang.

Nanyang is also interested in these two places! The so-called maintenance of Singapore's territorial integrity is simply an excuse. Everyone knows that Malaya and Singapore are almost Nanyang's own sons. Compared to Nanyang, Britain is more inclined to give Australia, after all, the latter is its own son!

But thinking of the Suez Canal and, of course, Singapore's strong opposition, Eden hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

"Yes, we can guarantee it!"

Then Aiden looked at Li Yian and said.

"Okay, now let's get to the point!"

This is the biggest advantage of negotiating with the imperialists. Both sides know each other's character and they also know that the conditions proposed earlier were just appetizers and not conditions at all. After all, the British knew very well that as long as Singapore insisted, they would never be able to transfer the two islands to Australia.

Nanyang made this request just to avoid some trouble, the real conditions still need to wait for Britain to come up with!

"Share!"

Aiden spoke up.

"In the future, we will persuade France to each take out a certain proportion of the shares of the Suez Canal Company, and eventually Nanyang will profit from about 10% of the company's shares."

Although the UK is the one who is negotiating this matter, in fact, the largest shareholder of the Suez Canal is France. In 1854, the French Consul in Egypt, Ferdinand de Lesseps, and the Governor-General of the Ottoman Empire in Egypt, Sayyid Pasha, signed a contract to build the Suez Canal. On April 1859, 4, the "International Suez Canal Company" established by Liceup began to officially dig the canal. After ten years of hard work, the Suez Canal was finally completed on August 25, 1869, and officially opened to navigation on November 8 of the same year.

In the following decades, the equity structure of the Suez Canal has undergone many changes. Initially, 56% of the shares were owned by French citizens and 44% were owned by the Egyptian Pasha family. In 1875, the Egyptian Pasha transferred 44% of the shares to the British, who then sent troops to the canal zone and controlled the Suez Canal. This situation has continued to this day.

In other words, Britain controls the canal with a 44% stake. Although Britain's shares are not as large as France's, Britain has a controlling stake because about 56% of France's 30% belong to French citizens, and the official company only owns 26%. It is for this reason that Britain is the actual controller of the Suez Canal.

Over the past few decades, countless countries have shown interest in the Suez Canal Company's shares. Even large American companies have tried to acquire the company's shares, but their acquisitions have all been resisted by Britain.

According to the British idea, if they could not drive France away, they would have driven France away long ago and fought the canal alone. Now that the British have taken the initiative to offer shares in the Suez Canal Company, it is enough to show their sincerity. After all, they have never allowed others to get involved in the Suez Canal in the past. Now they are taking the initiative to open the door, which is simply a great thing.

"The shares of the canal are a matter for the future. Before France agrees, it is just a piece of paper. A 10% share is meaningless to Nanyang!"

Li Yian refused without even thinking about it.

Why would you refuse?

Because this is just a hollow dumpling - the British just used an empty promise.

What canal shares?

Even if Britain is willing to transfer some, what if the French are unwilling?
But the French were willing to take 10% of the canal shares, which was meaningless to Nanyang at all. It was just an increase of tens of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

If a problem can be solved with money, is it still a problem?
The British Empire has so many good things, but the least valuable and least worth mentioning one is the Suez Canal.

Besides, it's only 10% of the shares. Do these British really think they can be fooled?
Refused!
Aiden was a little confused.

After rejecting the so-called good intentions, Li Yian just started smoking the cigar.

After a moment's silence, he spoke.

"Mr. Prime Minister, compared to these promises about the future, the interests of the present are more important."

(End of this chapter)