Chapter 393 In fact, we are also colonists (fourth update, please subscribe)
Nowadays, No. 10 Downing Street is home to Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of the Labor Party and a former professor. After its Labor Party came to power, it was determined to start implementing the decolonization plan of the British Empire.
He personally destroyed the colonial empire that the British had spent three hundred years building. All he wanted was to end the British's days of poverty.
To do this, they can disband the army, they can scrap the Royal Navy warships, they can... But in fact, in the fourth year after the war, the life of the British has not only not improved, but even compared with It also declined during the war.
Once upon a time, raw materials distributed throughout the empire were continuously shipped to Britain. The British enjoyed the most abundant supplies in the world, and their territories around the world provided a unique trade market for their industrial products.
Now, all that is gone.
“For Attlee and others, what they need is not the mighty Royal Navy and vast colonies, which will bring benefits to the British economic recovery in the future, all they need is Let the British see that they even dismantled the Royal Navy warships for the welfare of the British people."
Sitting in Attlee's office, listening to him talk about "decolonization." Li Guoren recalled His Majesty's evaluation of this guy. Attlee was like this, and so were other Labor politicians.
What they cared about was never the British Empire, but personal power. In order to gain power, they do not hesitate to sacrifice the long-term interests of the country. These are so-called politicians. They have nothing in their eyes, and their immediate personal political interests are more important.
Even if the floods surge after my death. These are the people I'm talking about.
He even thought of Churchill's disparagement of him:
"He is a typical mediocre person."
"...So, in the days to come, we will not only abandon the Strait Colony, will also cancel the charter of the North Borneo Company and the treaty with Sarawak, we think..."
Just when he was about to leave his fate to the locals, Attlee remembered that there There aren't many locals at all.
In the past few years, they have immigrated 20 million people to Borneo. As for the indigenous people, they do not even make up 10% of its total population - even within this number, those indigenous people are not included in the statistics. Including pre-war Chinese immigrants.
Well, by virtue of population, they have completely conquered Borneo. Well, this example can also be used in the speech in Parliament - if India is not independent, then Britain will be filled with Indians in the future, and even the British The prime minister will also be an Indian!
“Therefore, we believe that you should conform to the development of history and should not have too many imaginations about the Dutch East Indies.”
The reason why Attlee said this, It was because according to reliable intelligence, after Li Guoren arrived in London, he had some contacts with the Dutch, and after the United Nations passed a resolution requiring the Netherlands to withdraw its troops, the contacts between them became more frequent.
Contact A few years ago, when they "blackmailed" Borneo, they made demands on the Netherlands. As its half-sovereign country, Attlee believed that it was necessary for Britain to intervene in this matter.
"Mr. Prime Minister, although the UK enjoys a special status in North Borneo and Sarawak, I believe that the UK's accusations about Nanyang's internal affairs have no basis and no reason. As an independent Republic of Nanyang, A country that is a member of the United Nations has the right to sign any treaty with any country without interference from any other country! ”
Impeccable!
Li Guoren's answer made Attlee feel numb. He almost forgot - there are three countries in Borneo!
No, it’s two countries, one company!
There are only ordinary diplomatic relations between Britain and Nanyang! Even if you know that these three companies are actually one, so what, the other party has now turned into the foreign minister of Nanyang,
"Mr. Prime Minister, you keep saying that decolonization is an international trend, so why Want to interfere roughly in Nanyang’s internal affairs?”
Faced with Li Guoren's counterattack, before Attlee could think of a reply, Foreign Secretary Bevin said.
“As a country with special interests in Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom has the obligation to remind relevant countries not to make changes that may cause consequences.”
Then, Bevan said.
“The United Kingdom does not support any territorial expansion of Nanyang to the east, no matter in any form.”
“Nanyang and the Netherlands are independent countries. Your Excellency, I think we No matter what agreement is reached between us, interference from other countries will not prevent the treaty between us.”
...
After receiving the secret message from Li Guoren from London, Li Yian was silent for a moment and then said.
“It seems that the British are not going any further!” In fact, this has been expected for a long time. That guy Attlee is definitely a “pioneer of decolonization”. Hitler couldn’t do anything in six years. It only took him a few years to accomplish what he accomplished. If Churchill knew this was the result, would he still insist on not negotiating peace with Hitler?
Why did Britain fight World War II?
Isn't it just to preserve the British Empire and maintain its monopoly on the colonies?
The result is good, so much money was spent and so many people died, but it was all paid off by Attlee and the grandsons of the Labor Party in the name of the people.
How could such a guy who was more ruthless than Hitler in breaking up the British Empire help Borneo expand?
"So sir, what should we do now?"
Xu Wenzhi asked.
"Just stick to the established plan. Notify General Manager Li, start comprehensive negotiations with the Dutch, and tell the Dutch our offer."
Offer!
In order to buy Sulawesi to West Irian Island (New Guinea Island), Li Yi'an had already prepared a huge sum of money. Of course, the investment was definitely worth it.
"Sir, should we take the concerns raised by the British into consideration? After all, this is no longer the pre-war world. Decolonization is also a world trend. We are bucking the trend. Will it have an adverse impact on our country? "
Xu Wenzhi's tactful reminder made Li Yian raise his eyebrows slightly. His attitude represents the views of some people in the country - he does not believe that the country should expand.
But on the issue of expansion, Li Yian's attitude is extremely firm.
“Because of this, territorial expansion is almost impossible, so if you don’t seize the opportunity for expansion now, you will undoubtedly be committing a crime and committing a crime against the future of Nanyang!”
Looking at Xu Wenzhi, Li Yian walked to the map and said.
“Secretary Xu, look here, Sulawesi Island. There are now 1.12 million people on the island, of which 570,000 are Chinese. Among the natives, there are 300,000 Christians. As for many in the south, The Javanese are all laborers recruited by the plantations from Java. They will go back there in the future. We also have more than 300,000 people in Maluku. In other words, in Sulawesi and other places, our people An absolute majority! Even according to the United Nations resolution - we are the "locals" with an absolute advantage!"
After formulating the basic strategy of annexing the eastern islands, in the negotiations with the Dutch , and deliberately left a hole - mining rights and immigration rights.
Since then, Li Nian has invested in mineral resources, nickel mines, copper mines and other mines in Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and West Irian through several mining companies. In the past three years, the company has invested in those Investment in the region surged to US$70 million, and correspondingly, immigrants to the mines also increased significantly.
And those immigrants are Li Yi'an's last step of insurance - if the Dutch refuse, then they will help the Dutch colonize in some way.
"Sir, if that's the case, then why can't we decide their fate through the local people? Wouldn't this save a lot of trouble?"
"But it will also add some trouble! "
Li Yian said helplessly.
"In a sense, we are also colonizers to a certain extent, so we need to continue some kind of legitimacy. We can save a lot of trouble through decolonization, but it is also possible to get rid of ourselves!"
This is a very helpless situation. To a certain extent, Nanyang is a colonizer, but now the population has become absolutely mainstream, but this is also a factor of instability. Although the Americas, Australia and New Zealand are similar, they have become mainstream. It has been two hundred years, while Nanyang has only been here for a few years.
In this case, a safer way than to follow the general trend and engage in "decolonization" is to negotiate with the colonizers and ensure "legitimacy" by reaching a consensus.
After Xu Wenzhi exited the office, Li Yian said to himself again.
"If you want to wear a crown, you must regain its weight. Whatever you gain, you must lose something..."
(End of this chapter)