Wake up（282）

 282

 

Nan Tongda told Nan Yangsheng about his experience in Shanghai during the "One Attack, Three Antis" movement.

After the "One Strike, Three Antis" document was issued in 1970, leading organizations of the "One Strike, Three Antis" were established across the country to lead the movement within their respective administrative regions. Shanghai is no exception.

Nan Tongda said: Foreign-funded banks entered Shanghai very early, almost half a century earlier than Chinese-funded banks in the modern sense, and they also had a huge impact on the emergence of the latter. In 1847, the fourth year after Shanghai was opened as a port, the British merchant Liru Bank took the lead in grabbing Shanghai. Over the next 70 years, dozens of banks, led by British capital, including capital from France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States, successively set up branches in Shanghai. At that time, Shanghai was regarded as the freest city in the world. City. There are concessions in many countries, with a relatively relaxed political and economic environment, foreigners enjoy considerable privileges, and even do not need a visa when entering Shanghai. The above-mentioned foreign-funded banks took advantage of Shanghai's favorable environment to rapidly expand their business activities, which greatly promoted Shanghai's becoming a financial center.

Among these banks, quite a few are internationally renowned large banks. Many of their shareholders and clients are large conglomerates or large companies that play an important role in the world economy. The bank's decision-making will also have an impact on these enterprises, thus driving a large amount of capital to flow into Shanghai. Foreign-funded banks have become an important channel for Shanghai to attract foreign capital.

The influx of foreign banks has formed a fierce competition situation. Competition exists not only among foreign-funded banks, but also between foreign-funded banks and Chinese-funded banks. At that time, Shanghai's foreign exchange market exchange rate was listed and published by HSBC. In view of Shanghai's economic status, Shanghai's exchange rate was actually the national exchange rate.

     Foreign-funded banks are not governed by Chinese laws, and they have gradually changed from purely profit-making to political at the beginning of their establishment. To a certain extent, they have acted as the spokesperson of foreign governments' aggression against China. For example, in 1870, Macquarie Bank issued banknotes without authorization under the pretext of extraterritoriality. Some banknotes and money orders issued by foreign banks without authorization can even be circulated within a certain range because of their high reputation. This phenomenon damages China's national sovereignty and hinders China's currency reform.

     After the mid-1860s, the expansion of foreign financial forces in China entered a new stage. In 1865, the British HSBC Bank headquartered in Hong Kong was established. Soon after, the bank opened branches in more than 10 cities including Shanghai, Hankou and Guangzhou. At this time, the financial groups of Germany, France, Russia, Japan and other countries also accelerated the pace of establishing aggressive strongholds in China. Banks such as Germany's Deutsche Bank and Dehua Bank, France's France Bank and Amonix International, Japan's Yokohama Zhengjin Bank, and Russia's Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank entered China one after another. During the half century from 1845 to 1894, 20 foreign-funded banks successively set up head offices or branches and agency offices in China. By the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1899-1895, apart from those that had closed down or closed down, there were 9 foreign-funded banks in China with 58 head offices, sub-branches and agency offices in various places, and a financial network of foreign capitalism had initially formed.

     After the Sino-Japanese War, foreign banks played an increasingly important role in the imperialist aggression against China, and they actively set up head offices and branches in China to expand their sites and businesses. The process of penetration and expansion of foreign financial forces, and the formation and expansion of foreign capitalist financial networks is the process of semi-colonialization and colonization of China's financial market. From the Sino-Japanese War to the 1911 Revolution of 1911, in addition to supporting imperialist commodity dumping and plundering of raw materials, foreign-funded banks also vigorously promoted capital export and gave the Qing government a large amount of loans, thereby controlling China's customs and finance. From 1937 to 1947, the forces of the United States and Japan to invade China's economy expanded rapidly, forming a situation in which Britain, Japan, and the United States competed for and controlled China's finance.

From 1949 to before the "Cultural Revolution", there were 15 foreign banks in China. They have a total of 36 branches in 11 cities in China. A number of foreign-funded banks have been approved as designated foreign exchange banks, acting as agents of foreign exchange business designated by Bank of China. For these foreign-funded banks, Bank of China has adopted a policy of management and utilization. All the privileges they had in the past must be revoked. As a purely commercial organization, they must strictly abide by the laws and regulations of the Chinese government and operate legally. But almost all foreign banks are reluctant to lose their old privileges. Most foreign banks are preparing to wind down operations. One after another proposed to end the business and withdraw from China. With the exception of the British-funded Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, and Beneficiary Bank in Shanghai, the Chinese government immediately approved the applications for the closure of the banks. Because the British-funded HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have a history of nearly a hundred years and more than a hundred years in China respectively, they are familiar with China, have considerable influence, and are representative to a certain extent. Continuing to operate in China will help New China develop international financial business and international trade capabilities. It can play a certain role, so the Chinese government hopes to keep it for this reason.

In addition, the United Kingdom was the first major western country to officially recognize the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. Although the two countries had serious differences on the issue of Taiwan and China's representation in the United Nations, China and the United Kingdom did not immediately establish diplomatic relations However, this still plays a certain beneficial role in the development of the economy and trade between the two countries. HSBC and Standard Chartered have retained their institutions in Shanghai and continued to operate. The Bank of China implements a policy of combining restriction and utilization, and the management of foreign-funded banks focuses on restricting them from escaping foreign exchange and transferring their assets in China. The content of the management includes: first, the management of foreign-funded enterprises that have illegal acts in foreign exchange, and second, the management of foreign non-resident RMB funds.

  After the "Cultural Revolution" began, the business of foreign-funded banks was affected, especially during the period of Sino-British diplomatic disputes, British-funded banks in China were greatly impacted, and the annual profits of these two British-funded banks were very small for several years.

In July 1968, HSBC Shanghai Branch applied to the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Bureau to suspend business, and asked Bank of China to assist in solving the problem, but did not give any reasons and reasons for suspending business at that time. In March 1971, the head office of the bank once again raised the issue of closing down its Shanghai branch, and brought it to the attention of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London and Beijing respectively through diplomatic channels. At this time, the British side clearly put forward the reasons for their request for closing down. There are two main points: one is The business volume is too small; the second is that the foreign staff of the bank in Shanghai are not as good as the staff of the French and Pakistani airlines in Shanghai in terms of living conditions. For example, the staff of HSBC and Standard Chartered cannot be like the staff of Air France and Embraer Go shopping at the Friendship Store and more. As a result, the closure of HSBC Bank developed into an event of diplomatic negotiations between the two countries.

Nan Tongda said to Nan Yangsheng: Perhaps because of these reasons, his bank colleagues in Shanghai began to leave China and returned to Hong Kong. But unexpectedly, one of his colleagues was arrested by the local government on the grounds that he was spying on the secrets of the Bank of China and acting as a running dog of imperialism. Not to mention, some Chinese salesmen who often communicated with Nantongda were also arrested one after another. According to internal sources, Nantongda has also become a wanted target of the CCP. Out of helplessness, a few friends and I chose to escape from Shanghai. We have obtained a boat ticket to Hong Kong through our connections, but my friend was caught while going through customs. At that time, I happened to go to the toilet to relieve myself, but I escaped a catastrophe. I lost the chance to return to Hong Kong, so I concealed my identity in the Mainland and started a wandering and working life. I have carried bags, moved bricks, and done a lot of hard work. It was during this time that I learned that China was vigorously carrying out the "One Attack, Three Antis" campaign, and the whole country was full of blood.

  Remember, after China returned to the United Nations and US President Nixon's visit to China, China's diplomacy opened up a new situation. In the context of the improvement of Sino-US relations, the Chinese and British governments held talks on the normalization of bilateral relations in the early 1970s, and finally reached an agreement communiqué on the normalization of Sino-U.K. relations. The communiqué announced that the two countries decided to upgrade each other's diplomatic representatives stationed in each other's capital from charge d'affaires to ambassadors from March 13, 1972. The British government noted the Chinese government's position that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China, decided to withdraw its "official representative" in Taiwan, and recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China.

     After the relationship between China and the UK has been improved, and the diplomacy has been upgraded from an agency to an embassy, according to the principle of appropriate relaxation, it has been decided that the Shanghai branches of HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank were not allowed to remit a total of RMB 890,000 in surplus over the years before 1971. Yuan is allowed to be remitted in full. On March 2, 1973, the General Management Office of the Bank of China sent a letter to the Shanghai Branch in accordance with the authorization of the People's Bank of China, instructing the bank to remit the surplus that Shanghai HSBC and Standard Chartered were not allowed to remit in two years in 1973 and 1974. Remit 50% each year. After the relaxation of the business of Shanghai HSBC and Standard Chartered, the two banks are actively vying for large-scale business with China's trade abroad, and the business volume and profits of the two banks have also increased significantly.

At the end of the 1970s, the Shanghai branches of foreign banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered gradually resumed their business. In order to carry out business activities, they needed to recruit a group of business personnel, because it was difficult to find qualified talents among the unemployed in society. In the form of Bank of China Shanghai Branch selecting and sending employees to work in foreign-funded banks, it solved the employment needs of these banks. I also returned to Hong Kong at that time and resumed my old career.

Interestingly, Hong Kong returned to China, but I returned to Hong Kong.