During our interviews, when Lu Ping discussed the Basic Law, the expression on his face spoke to a few lingering regrets. He said that, at the time, it was thought—where public security was concerned—that China's National Security Law wasn't suitable for Hong Kong. It was therefore stipulated in Clause 23 of the Basic Law that Hong Kong would be left to establish its own. But later on, when then-Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa asked the LegCo to ratify Clause 23 of the Basic Law, he ran into heated opposition that would eventually block its passage. The result was that Hong Kong became the rarest of rarities, the only territory in the world without a complete legal guarantee of its public security.
With their bag of tricks running dry, the British reached for an even more sinister, vicious stratagem.
At the end of 1989, the British-controlled Hong Kong government announced plans for a series of large construction projects that would continue through 1997. The first was for a new airport, dubbed the "Rose Garden Project" that would mobilize one-hundred and twenty-seven billion Hong Kong dollars.
Hong Kong's old Kai Tak Airport was over capacity, and a new airport was in fact needed. However, the British did not notify China in advance, and took the decision to go forward with the new airport, with its sky-high price tag, on their own initiative. This was, of course, unacceptable to China.
The Chinese side thought that Shenzhen's airport cost only three billion yuan, and Macau's only seven billion, yet the British were drawing up plans for an airport in Hong Kong that would cost one-hundred and twenty-seven billion Hong Kong dollars! A forty kilometer rail tunnel from Kowloon to Shenzhen, the last link on a Beijing-Kowloon rail line, was projected by the British to cost eighty billion Hong Kong dollars! At the same time, the British-controlled Hong Kong government was selling the territory's land. The larger part of the funds for large construction projects such as the airport and rail lines made their way into the pockets of British, American, Japanese, and other Western financial groups.
The treachery and cunning of Britain, an old-guard colonial empire, was beyond anything China had ever imagined. They were attempting, prior to their 1997 departure, to line their pockets thick with pilfered cash, and draining the territory's coffers while they were at it! By plundering Hong Kong's financial resources, they would be leaving a hollowed-out monetary mess for the eventual SAR government. Britain would eventually end up leaving a mere five billion Hong Kong dollars in financial reserves to the new SAR government, with debts of many times that amount.
As Lu Ping told a member of the media: "Five billion, they've just left us the scraps! What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" He felt crushed by such a tremendous burden, to the point that he repeated, "What do we do?" three times, earning him the nickname "Mr. What-do-we-do?" in Hong Kong.
There were those in Hong Kong who didn't understand the problem, and who thought the central government was blowing things out of proportion. One reporter asked Lu Ping, "What the hell does Hong Kong building a new airport have to do with the central government? What the hell business is it of yours? Hong Kong has the money and wants to build an airport. It's absolutely none of your business!"
It's true that it didn't have anything to do with Lu Ping, or with the central government. But Lu Ping was deeply aware of his duty to protect Hong Kong's interests. Everything he did, he did for the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, both present and future.
As Deng Xiaoping had once pointed out, during the transition period preceding Hong Kong's handover, there were five areas that merited special attention: first, that there should be no destabilization of the Hong Kong dollar; second, that there should be no use of improper land sales to generate revenue; third, that there should be no additions to the financial burdens of the future SAR government; fourth, that the British should not be allowed to lead an exodus of cash from the territory; and fifth, the British should not impose their own set of leaders on the SAR government.
According to analysis by the Chinese side, the British had mobilized one-hundred and twenty-seven billion Hong Kong dollars for the construction of a new airport. This enormous sum would need to be paid by the Hong Kong government following the territory's return to China. Without guarantees by the Chinese government, no bank would be willing to lend the British such a massive amount. As a result, bosses from HSBC, Citibank, and other foreign banks were constantly seeking Lu Ping out, demanding proof that China would guarantee the loans, and that the future SAR government would make good on the debts.
Lu Ping sternly rebuffed them: "My apologies, but I cannot guarantee you anything! The British never consulted with me. I have no knowledge of this issue!"
The British, unable to raise a single cent of funding, finally understood that, without China's cooperation, their projects were going nowhere. In September of 1990, the UK dispatched foreign minister Douglas Hurd and several of his diplomats to Beijing for discussions with Chinese foreign minister Qian Qichen. The two sides were able to reach an agreement on the new airport that included the establishment of a dedicated working group, and the re-starting of the stagnated negotiations process, following a months-long stalemate. But, at this point, to believe that the British would follow through on their commitments required a very special kind of gullibility.
On April 7, 1991, at 9:30 am, the two chief representatives of the expert working group on the building of a new airport strode into Room 15 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, dressed to the nines with their respective staffs in tow.
