The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 528 Carrot and Stick

After World War II, Britain and France still had large colonies.

With the assistance of the US's 'Marshall Plan', the economies of Britain and France continued to develop steadily and recovered quickly.

But how come the large colonies of Britain and France have almost disappeared?

National liberation wave!

But who is driving the wave of national liberation?

The answer is the United States and the Soviet Union!

As the two countries that contributed the most to World War II, they naturally wanted to gain the most benefits. If Britain and France were allowed to keep their large colonies, their national strength would recover quickly, and the situation after World War I would return, with the United States excluded from Europe and the Soviet Union also blocked from Europe.

Therefore, the United States cooperated with the Soviet Union to promote the wave of national liberation and directly seize the vast colonies of Britain and France.

In the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956, under the strong pressure of the United States and the Soviet Union, Britain and France finally failed, Egypt obtained the sovereignty of the Suez Canal, and Britain and France accepted the ceasefire agreement. This incident made Britain and France lose face, and it marked that the United States and the Soviet Union had essentially become the dominant forces in the Middle East and the world.

The British-French era ended, and the world entered the American-Soviet era.

The United States stabs its allies in the back, and Britain and France have also stabbed the United States in the back.

For example, Churchill's famous 'Ironwood Speech'!
After World War II, Britain and France lost a large number of colonies, with only one in ten remaining. Both sides lost their huge influence on the world. Britain even gave up its financial hegemony and gradually became dependent on the United States.

The United States has become a pole in the world.

James Baker was anxious and angry, because this time he had a mission.

The United States compromised on the Libya issue, but the losses in Libya were enormous. The United States needs to make up for it from other aspects and replenish its blood, otherwise it will die from excessive blood loss.

Seeing the current situation, James Baker knew that he would not be able to gain any advantage from this meeting.

But he must achieve some results, otherwise he will suffer a lot when he returns.

James Baker looked sharp and said in a stern tone, "Mr. Takeshita, Japan and the United States have a huge trade surplus. Japan's trade surplus with the United States has reached an alarming level. What do you think about this issue?"

"After the Plaza Accord, Japan's external surplus has not weakened. The trade surplus has reached a historical high, and foreign exchange reserves have reached 400 billion US dollars. Your overseas assets have increased rapidly, and your foreign investment has increased significantly." James Baker looked unkind, "Our army is protecting you, allowing you to reduce military spending."

Now that Britain and France are on the same side, it seems that West Germany will find it difficult to break through.

Then let’s start with Japan.

At the very least, Japan should buy more US bonds, and then the yen should appreciate further.

Liu Tao came to Hong Kong after the National Day.

Hong Kong is becoming more and more prosperous, with bright lights, bustling traffic at night.

In just a few years, Hong Kong's development has reached a new level and its economic structure has also undergone significant changes.

Originally, the development of Xiangjiang was mainly concentrated in Hong Kong Island, and later spread to Kowloon, Yau Tsim Mong District, etc.

But now, Yuen Long District, North District, Tai Po District, Sha Tin District, Western District and Tsuen Wan District have developed industries, including automobile industry, motorcycle industry, electronics industry, home appliances, games and so on.

Several docks were also built in these places for transporting goods.

A lot of goods from the mainland are transported to Hong Kong for transit and then exported to Europe, America, Japan and other places.

In just a few years, the population here has exceeded two million, which has also led to the opening up of real estate in this area. Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and other places are developing in the fields of office, finance, film and television, and trade.

The total population of Hong Kong has now exceeded 650 million.

The reason why Liu Tao came to Hong Kong this time was because the Hong Kong section of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway was finally completed, allowing traffic from Pengcheng to Hong Kong to be opened.

The Xiangjiang section is only 34 kilometers long, but it takes a long time.

The entire Beijing-Kowloon Railway is almost connected and is undergoing the final rush work, but the 34-kilometer Hong Kong section has just been completed. It is conceivable that building railways and highways in Hong Kong is not an easy task.

The next step will be to conduct a test of approximately 40 kilometers from Pengcheng Station to Kowloon Station, which will include train testing and signal testing.

Of course, there are also personnel management work tests.

The two sides are separated by the Pengcheng River. The northern part is under the jurisdiction of the Yangcheng Railway Group, and the southern part is under the jurisdiction of the Xiangjiang Railway Company.

As for the distribution of the money, that has naturally been discussed.

As for opening to traffic, that would have to wait until 1987!
When the entire Beijing-Kowloon Railway is opened to traffic, the first train will be a special train for leaders departing from Beijing and heading south to Hong Kong. This will also be the first shot for the opening of the entire Beijing-Kowloon Railway. At that time, the train will run the entire journey and it will be broadcast live by CCTV.

Now the China High-Speed ​​Railway EMU Production Group is working overtime to produce and manufacture EMUs to ensure that 1987 EMUs will be put into operation after the entire line is officially opened to traffic in 8.

In addition to attending the completion ceremony of the Hong Kong section of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Liu Tao will also attend the completion ceremony of several major roads in Hong Kong.

These main roads will be the roads for the Hong Kong garrison and the main roads for future troops to travel. The standards will be very high to prevent tanks and armored vehicles from crushing the roads.

Compared with building railways, the construction of urban roads is much easier.

Many sections of the road are already open to traffic.

After attending the completion ceremony, Liu Tao did not leave Hong Kong immediately, but went to the working group.

It is called a working group, but in fact it is quite large in scale and has enormous power.

It covers various systems, including police system, intelligence system, economic system and so on.

The main tasks of the working group include ensuring a smooth handover in 1987, allowing Hong Kong to smoothly return to the embrace of the motherland, preventing the Governor of Hong Kong from causing any trouble, and ensuring that most of Hong Kong's tax revenue in recent years is used for the people of Hong Kong instead of being taken away by the British.

In addition, I came here to learn how to manage and develop a modern city.

In this regard, the mainland is clearly lagging far behind the rest of the world. Hong Kong happens to be a very good learning window for study and research.

Currently, the best and fastest developing city in the mainland is Pengcheng. In recent years, Pengcheng has been learning from Hong Kong, including urban planning, so as to better develop the city.

And strictly speaking, when necessary, the working group can consult with superiors and, with the approval of superiors, mobilize all of China's forces in Hong Kong, including all of Panshan Group's forces in Hong Kong. This shows how great its power is.

The working group was involved in the previous cross-strait negotiations on the "Three Links".

This time Liu Tao came to the working group to discuss matters for next year.

There is no doubt that 1987 is a year destined to be recorded in the history of China. It will be a grand event for the whole of China, so we naturally have to be extremely cautious.

This involves many aspects, including celebrations and so on, and none of them are trivial matters.

(End of this chapter)