Chapter 689

"This telecom sovereignty, actually, the country has always attached great importance to it!"

In the conference room,

The Director was in a very good mood, happily pouring Pu'er tea for Director Guan Zu.

"Hong Kong Telecom controls all of Hong Kong's fixed-line telephones and international communication lines. Cable and Wireless firmly holds it through equity. This is not just business; it is the 'throat' of Hong Kong's information."

The Director said seriously and solemnly.

"These submarine cables connect the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Every day, massive amounts of commercial and livelihood information are transmitted through here."

"If sovereignty is not recovered, Hong Kong's information security and economic development after the handover will easily have problems."

"But the higher-ups have never discussed a countermeasure..."

"Because Hong Kong is too complicated, involving many forces, and it's relatively sensitive..."

Director Guan Zu nodded.

He knew a little bit about this.

1990 was a probe, but the result of the probe was not perfect. The Hong Kong British were relatively strong. CITIC eventually paid 10 billion, got 20% of the shares, but failed to get to the management table.

At that time, the country itself was poor, and 10 billion was still a lot, so after this incident, they didn't dare to be so aggressive.

Then...

It wasn't until 1996 that the higher-ups took the lead in promoting the organization of a joint consortium composed of Chinese-funded companies in Hong Kong to acquire Hong Kong Telecom shares.

And at that time, they were relatively cautious, requiring the acquisition work to be operated according to market rules (that is: acquired by local Hong Kong companies and funds).

This can be considered the first time the country publicly proposed—letting Hong Kong Telecom's sovereignty "return to Hong Kong"!

However, for this acquisition intention, Cable and Wireless cunningly played a game of driving wolves to swallow tigers, inviting Singapore Telecom to come and negotiate. At that time, because Singapore was too small and domestic telecommunications were already saturated, Singapore Telecom wanted to go overseas, so they rushed to negotiate with Cable and Wireless.

Then,

Cable and Wireless dangled Singapore Telecom and the country (Tianbo + Dongda Telecom), and the negotiation progress was very slow.

Moreover, Cable and Wireless's ambition was even greater. Cable and Wireless not only wanted to sell for a good price but also proposed unreasonable transfer conditions—letting Dongda promise to allow Cable and Wireless to prioritize entering Dongda's telecommunications market in the future.

That is, Cable and Wireless had its eye on Dongda's huge market of 1 billion people.

How is this possible?

Dongda would absolutely never allow this.

This acquisition lasted until 1997, and it was truly obtained in 1998.

The entire acquisition lasted nearly 2 years.

The negotiations were full of twists and turns, and only then was it settled.

And now,

With Director Guan Zu's appearance, the initiative is no longer in the hands of the British.

Everything is very different!

Director Guan Zu said: "This time, for the Political Department case, this Hong Kong Telecom company played an inglorious part. I will use this as an opportunity to first stir up public opinion, and then carry out anti-monopoly legislation against Hong Kong Telecom in the Legislative Council to split it up."

You can split off the fixed-line business and let other companies compete with it.

There are also international communication businesses, mobile communication businesses... all can be split.

Here, a problem will arise: "What about the underground communication cables? You can't split them up together, right?"

The cable system cannot be split; it is a systematic thing. If you split it, systematic risks will appear.

Then what to do? You can't have every new company lay new communication cables, right?

This is easy to solve.

Internationally, there is a precedent for this.

That is—leasing agreements.

Forcibly require Hong Kong Telecom to lease out these infrastructures, and the rent will also be agreed upon, and it cannot be higher than a certain amount.

Director Guan Zu: "As long as the split is completed, the possibility of our acquisition will become much greater."

After the Director heard this, he nodded repeatedly.

"This is good, this is good!"

"Sure enough, young people have more ideas."

According to this plan, the progress of "recovering telecom sovereignty" will be greatly accelerated.

Moreover, the greater benefit is—the entire process is Hong Kong capital acquiring it.

My Dongda, I'm innocent!

My Dongda, I didn't do anything!

Simply perfect!

……

10:00 PM,

Director Guan Zu finished talking, finished work, and came out of the Xinhua News Agency.

20 minutes later, he returned to his home in Causeway Bay.

As soon as he entered the door,

"Oh~~ my dear son, Daddy is back~~~"

Director Guan Zu lifted his son high.

Director Guan Crown Prince, who didn't understand anything, laughed happily.

The pillar of the family was back.

Three minutes later,

"Go play at Grandma Ling's house~~~"

Director Guan Zu threw his son into the crib and sent him to the Fang family next door.

"Sister Ling, help me look after the baby~~~"

Director Guan Crown Prince: "............"

Got it wrong, not the pillar of the family, but the pillar of the mother!

Director Guan Zu ignored Director Guan Crown Prince's crying, returned home, hugged the fragrant Ruan Mei and Fang Ting, and went to play games.

That night,

"Ring, ring, ring~~~~~"

Director Guan Zu was woken up by the phone again.

He thought something had happened again, so he hurriedly got up to answer the phone.

Director Guan Zu: "Hello."

Li Situ Jie: "Brother Zu."

Director Guan Zu was speechless: "Are you kidding me? What time is it? It's 12:00 AM, and you're still calling."

Li Situ Jie: "Ah? Sorry, forgot about the time difference."

Director Guan Zu: "............, anyway, I'm already awake, tell me, what's the matter?"

Li Situ Jie: "I have a friend who is planning to take a plane to Hong Kong this afternoon and then transfer to the mainland. Please arrange for someone to pick her up."

Director Guan Zu immediately became serious.

He had seen the photo, and then...

Director Guan Zu: "What time tomorrow?"

Li Situ Jie: "San Francisco here, 12:00 PM on the plane... the plane is about 18 hours..."

Director Guan Zu calculated: "That is 9:00 PM tomorrow... Okay, understood, I will definitely pick her up for you tomorrow!"

Li Situ Jie: "Thanks, Brother Zu."

Director Guan Zu: "No problem, it's what I should do."

……

San Francisco here,

Li Situ Jie was having tea and snacks with Zhang Chunru at Fisherman's Wharf.

"Is he your boss? So easy to talk to?"

"Once you meet him, you'll know he's a good person."

She could still feel the pure brotherhood between Li Situ Jie and that boss, which she hadn't seen much of in her life, because the culture here in the US is relatively lacking in this area.

Li Situ Jie: "Anyway, after you get there, he will arrange everything for you, and you can also play in Hong Kong for a few more days."

Zhang Chunru: "Thank you."

……

……

A new day,

Hong Kong, which had just calmed down, began to stir up public opinion again.

October 13, Conference Hall

The Lin Group held a press conference.

"Dear reporter friends, today I want to strongly condemn the illegal behavior of Hong Kong Telecom."

"Hong Kong Telecom, as the only monopoly enterprise for communication services in Hong Kong, has for decades long assisted the Political Department in illegally wiretapping citizens' calls, seriously infringing on the privacy rights of millions of Hong Kong people!"

"Among them, it includes the illegal wiretapping behavior against me and the company I am in."

"They not only wiretap specific targets but also conduct keyword screening on the call content of ordinary citizens!"

The reporters in the audience smelled the scent of a big show opening again.

It's here!

Next, there will be more excitement to watch.

Boss Lin's tone became heavier, filled with righteous indignation:

"As a monopoly enterprise, Hong Kong Telecom should have assumed higher social responsibility. But the fact is, they use their market monopoly position to treat citizens' communication security as child's play!"

A reporter from the "Five Star Daily" raised their hand to ask:

"Boss Lin, what do you think is the root cause of this kind of incident?"

Boss Lin was firm and decisive:

"The root cause lies in monopoly! When an enterprise monopolizes the market, the lack of competition inevitably leads to regulatory failure. Hong Kong Telecom acts as both the athlete and the referee, and even the basic safety balance mechanism has been deliberately ignored!"

"Moreover, the long-term monopoly has made them arrogant, treating citizens' basic information security and personal privacy rights as nothing!"

"Here, I call for..."

"First, the Legislative Council must establish an independent investigation committee, first conduct a hearing on the Chairman of Hong Kong Telecom, and then send the police and the ICAC to thoroughly investigate all monitoring behaviors of Hong Kong Telecom."

"Second, monopoly and high profits have made Hong Kong Telecom blindly arrogant, even disregarding the law. I hope the Hong Kong government can break the monopoly of the communication market and introduce a competition mechanism;"

"Third, establish a long-term third-party regulatory agency to ensure that Hong Kong Telecom cannot arbitrarily mobilize citizens' call data!"

Finally,

Boss Lin summarized: "Communication security is the basic right of every citizen. I hope Hong Kong Telecom can accept investigation, rectification, supervision... I hope..."

……

Noon,

ATV and TVB conducted comprehensive coverage of this press conference.

They even invited experts to conduct a detailed analysis of Boss Lin's words and Hong Kong Telecom.

Soon,

This incident triggered a strong reaction from all Hong Kong citizens.

……

That afternoon, the stock market opened.

Hong Kong Telecom's stock price fell in response.

……

Hong Kong Telecom, building.

In the conference room, the projection screen was looping clips of Boss Lin's press conference.

The Marketing Director's expression was solemn: "At noon, TVB and ATV media were reporting on this press conference. At the same time, our stock price on the Stock Exchange has already fallen by 8%."

The Head of the Legal Department: "What's more troublesome is that, given the encounter with the Political Department last time, it is very likely that Director Guan Zu of the Five Star Group is playing tricks behind the scenes..."

"Based on Director Guan Zu's habits, this press conference by Boss Lin is just a prelude; it's possible that more bosses will stand up."

The PR Director: "Boss, should we issue a statement to deny..."

President White's expression was terrifyingly gloomy: "Of course, go and convene it immediately."

Because Hong Kong Telecom has a criminal record (Political Department wiretapping), most citizens will only believe Boss Lin and not Hong Kong Telecom.

However, this statement must be convened by Hong Kong Telecom.

……

One hour later,

Hong Kong Telecom, press conference convened.

"All wiretapping behaviors were authorized and supervised by the Political Department..."

"Hong Kong Telecom has always used the law as its yardstick; there is absolutely no illegal behavior..."

"Strongly protest against Boss Lin's groundless accusations..."

"Hong Kong Telecom has always made significant contributions to Hong Kong's communication industry..."

Then in the evening,

When TVB and ATV reported it, they only briefly mentioned Hong Kong Telecom's words, and it carried a bit of taking things out of context and spring-and-autumn brushwork.

Finally, they invited experts to analyze:

"Clearly illegal, yet they insist wiretapping is legal?"

"Every sentence is about contribution, yet they forget the huge profits brought by monopoly, as a livelihood facility..."

……

Hong Kong Telecom building,

President's office, White watched the TV and was so angry his hair stood on end.

"Shameless!"

"Fuck!"

At this moment, he felt the dilemma of Governor Ashdown.

Public opinion is controlled; what they say, no citizens listen to.

He hurriedly called the Cable and Wireless headquarters in the UK and found President Brown.

"Mr. Brown, there is big trouble now..."

White told the story one by one on the phone.

On the other end of the phone,

Brown was in a club with a bunch of friends, smoking a cigar, drinking red wine, and crossing his legs.

After hearing White's report, he chuckled:

"Relax, White. The Union Jack is still flying in Hong Kong; the government won't sit idly by and watch communication sovereignty be lost..."

White: "But..."

Brown waved his hand: "Okay, I have things to do now... you can have more contact with the Governor and high-ranking government officials..."

After speaking, he hung up the phone.

Hong Kong here,

White: "............"

Listening to the beeping sound on the phone,

No, President, you don't know the situation in Hong Kong at all, hey!

The Five Star Group is very strong!

"Ring, ring, ring~~~"

The secretary called,

"It's bad, President, look at the TV quickly, TVB and ATV have both released exclusive interview programs, scolding our company..."

White hurriedly turned on the TV,

TVB channel, Tycoon Shao's exclusive interview, criticizing Hong Kong Telecom's behavior of wiretapping him.

Switching,

ATV channel, Tycoon Huo's exclusive interview, angrily condemning Hong Kong Telecom.

White: "............"

No doubt, it's definitely Director Guan Zu in action!

White's vigilance was now fully maxed out.

"No, I must go to see the Governor immediately..."

……

……

Government House.

"It must be Director Guan Zu, it must be him!"

"Damn it!"

"Bang~~~~"

Ashdown looked at the exclusive interviews on TVB and ATV on the TV and angrily slapped the table.

His heart was blooming with joy.

Hahaha~~

New business has arrived!

However, in front of the Lady and his secretary Alica, he had to maintain his persona.

So it caused his angry distortion + happy corners of his mouth curling up, two strange expressions conflicting on his face, making his expression become very weird.

"Ring, ring, ring~~~"

At this time,

Secretary Faiman, who also had a very weird expression on the side, received a call.

"Mr. White?"

"Right now?"

"Okay! Okay!"

After hanging up the phone, Faiman endured the urge to burst out laughing and reported to Ashdown:

"Boss, Hong Kong Telecom just called; President White wants to come and visit you..."

Ashdown's eyes lit up.

He hurriedly suppressed his curling mouth.

With a serious face: "It's rest time now; what is he coming to visit for?"

"Tell him, if there's nothing important, don't come to find me!"

Faiman understood in a second; this is sitting on the ground and raising the price.

"Yes, Boss~~"

Faiman quickly called Hong Kong Telecom.

……

Half an hour later,

White finally saw Ashdown.

Feeling urgent inside!

……

On the other side,

A plane came from the United States.

Director Guan Zu specially came to the airport to wait.

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