Chapter 528 Carrot and Stick

Britain and France still had large colonies after World War II.

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 are almost gone?

The wave of national liberation!

But who is behind 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 want to gain the greatest benefits. If Britain and France are allowed to maintain large colonies, then the national strength of Britain and France will soon recover. By then, it is likely that the situation after World War I will be the same, with the United States excluded from Europe and the Soviet Union blocked from Europe.

So the United States cooperated with the Soviet Union to directly seize the vast colonies of Britain and France by promoting the wave of national liberation.

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, marking that the United States and the Soviet Union have essentially become the dominant forces in the Middle East and the world.

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

The United States stabbed its allies in the back, and Britain and France 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, and only one in ten colonies remained. 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. This time he had a mission.

The United States compromised on the Libya issue, but the losses in Libya were huge. In this regard, the United States needs to recover from other aspects and make up for it, otherwise it will die of excessive blood loss.

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

But he must get some results, otherwise he will not have a good harvest when he returns.

James Baker looked sharp and said sternly: "Mr. Takeshita, Japan and the United States have a huge trade surplus. Japan's trade surplus with the United States has reached a shocking 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 the foreign exchange reserves have reached 40 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."

Since Britain and France are on the same side, West Germany seems difficult to break through.

Then take Japan as the first mover.

At the very least, Japan should be allowed to buy more US bonds, and then the yen will appreciate a little more.

After the National Day, Liu Tao came to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is becoming more and more prosperous. At night, Hong Kong is full of lights, wine and women, and traffic.

In just a few years, Hong Kong's development has reached a higher level, and its economic structure has also changed significantly.

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, Shatin District, Western District, and Tsuen Wan District have developed industries, including automobile industry, motorcycle industry, electronics industry, home appliances, games, etc.

There are also several docks in these places for transporting goods.

Many goods from the mainland are transported to Xiangjiang for transit, and then exported to Europe, the United States, Japan and other places.

In just a few years, the population here has exceeded two million, and the opening of real estate in this area has also been in full swing.

Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and other places are developing in the direction of office, finance, film and television, trade and other aspects.

Now the total population of Xiangjiang has exceeded 6.5 million.

Liu Tao came to Xiangjiang this time because the Xiangjiang section of the Beijing-Kowloon Line was finally completed, which can realize the opening of traffic from Pengcheng to Xiangjiang.

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

The entire Beijing-Kowloon line is almost fully connected, and the final rush section is underway. However, the 34-kilometer Xiangjiang section has just been completed. It is conceivable that building railways and roads in Xiangjiang is not an easy task.

The next step is to conduct a test of about 40 kilometers from Pengcheng Station to Kowloon Station, which includes train tests and signal tests.

Of course, there are also personnel management tests.

The two sides use Pengcheng River as the boundary. The north is under the jurisdiction of Yangcheng Railway Group, and the south is under the jurisdiction of Xiangjiang Railway Company.

As for the allocation of money, it has naturally been negotiated.

As for the opening of the line, it will 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 Xiangjiang. This will also be the first shot of the opening of the entire Beijing-Kowloon Railway. At that time, the train will travel the entire journey and will be broadcast live by CCTV.

Now the Huaxia High-speed Railway EMU Production Group is working overtime to produce EMUs to ensure that after the official opening of the entire line in 1987, 8 EMUs will be put into operation.

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

These major roads will be the roads for the Hong Kong garrison and the main roads for future troops to pass through. 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 have already been opened 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 not small in size, and its power is even greater.

It covers various systems, including the police system, intelligence system, economic system, etc.

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, avoiding any tricks by the Governor of Hong Kong, and ensuring that most of Hong Kong's tax revenue in recent years is used for the people of Hong Kong, rather than being taken away by the British.

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

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

Now the best and fastest developing city in the mainland is Pengcheng, and Pengcheng has been learning from Hong Kong in recent years, including urban planning, so that the city can develop better.

And strictly speaking, when necessary, the working group will ask for instructions from the superiors, and with the approval of the superiors, it can mobilize all the forces of China in Hong Kong, including all the forces of Panshan Group in Hong Kong. It can be seen how powerful it 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 next year's affairs.

1987 is undoubtedly destined to be recorded in the history of China. It will be a grand event for the whole of China, so it is natural to be extremely cautious.

This involves all aspects of things, including celebrations, etc., which are not trivial matters.