In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

"Such a quick reaction?" Even Lin Haoran himself was a little surprised.

He only made a public speech last night, and the results of the government land auction were only made public yesterday.

Unexpectedly, just overnight, Hong Kong's real estate industry seemed to show signs of recovery?

He was surprised at his own influence.

Unexpectedly, the citizens of Hong Kong actually trust him so much.

With his own strength, he can shake the economic pulse of Hong Kong.

Is this my influence?
Lin Haoran felt mixed emotions and had a myriad of thoughts in his mind.

"Boss, the Hong Kong property market has shown signs of cooling down recently. Yesterday was the New Year's Day holiday on January 1st. In order to attract customers, many real estate projects have launched very strong discount activities, hoping to attract more buyers.

However, although all major real estate projects were offering promotions yesterday, citizens still lacked confidence in the property market, so sales results were not as ideal as expected.

However, today, the situation has taken a turn for the better. Many real estate projects did not cancel yesterday's preferential policies, but continued to increase their promotion efforts. Obviously, they were affected by your upcoming speech and they hope to take this opportunity to activate the market.

Your speech and the news that the Swire Properties Group successfully bid for government land have undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm to the market and stimulated citizens' enthusiasm for buying houses.

Now, many citizens who are interested in investing in the property market or buying houses for their own use have seen this opportunity to enter the market at a low price, fearing that if they miss it, the housing prices will skyrocket like before. "Ma Shimin's words were full of admiration and praise for Lin Haoran's influence.

Lin Haoran's influence far exceeded his expectations.

"I understand. Is there anything else you need my attention?" Lin Haoran didn't dwell too much on Ma Shimin's compliments and asked directly.

"No, I mainly want to report to you about the situation of the real estate market. By the way, there is another thing I want to report to you. Motorola's technical team and negotiation team will arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow." Ma Shimin answered after a moment of thought.

"How is the preparation for the connection with the Hong Kong Telephone Company going?" Lin Haoran asked.

"Everything is ready. Moreover, Mr. David, the general manager of Hong Kong Telephone Company, is an expert in the field of communications. You can rest assured about the cooperation with Motorola. I will personally supervise it from the initial contact to the signing of the contract." Ma Shimin reported confidently.

"Very good, thank you for your hard work." Lin Haoran expressed his satisfaction.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Haoran sat back in his chair again.

It was still early, so he planned to go out after lunch.

An emergency meeting was held early in the morning at the Governor's House, located between Upper Albert Road and Lower Albert Road in Mid-Levels Central.

Before nine o'clock in the morning, Governor MacLehose urgently summoned a group of senior officials including the Financial Secretary, the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police, requiring them to arrive at the Governor's House at nine o'clock in the morning to discuss important matters.

The core topic of the meeting was how to deal with Jardine Matheson and several newspapers including Sing Tao Daily, Chinese Daily and Industrial and Commercial Daily.

Although Jardine Matheson was a British-owned company, its actions had caused serious losses to the Governor-General's Office and even the British government.

As the administrative body of the Hong Kong region, the Governor's Office had never suffered such heavy losses.

Therefore, both Jardine Matheson and those newspapers must bear the corresponding consequences for their actions.

Only in this way could Governor MacLehose make a reasonable explanation to the British government.

Mailihao slammed the cigar into the gilded ashtray. The smoke curled up, reflecting the tense and firm lines of his jaw.

At the oval conference table, the Financial Secretary was reporting the situation to everyone with a serious expression. The financial estimate report in front of him, which showed the losses caused by the real estate crisis to the Governor-General's auction of official land, rustled in the draft.

"Our losses are estimated to be at least HK$30 billion!" MacLehose interrupted the Financial Secretary and said, "I know that some of you here may have some connection with Jardine Matheson.

But at this moment, you must understand that the huge losses suffered by the Governor's Office and even the British government have made it impossible for Jardine Matheson to escape responsibility, and they must bear the responsibility for this!"

The Attorney General coughed lightly, indicating that he was ready to speak: "Mr. Governor, from a legal perspective, the actions of Jardine Matheson and those newspapers have already constituted damage to the public interest. We have every reason to sue them and demand compensation, and we also want to impose heavy penalties on them. The intensity cannot be small!"

"I agree with the Secretary for Justice's view," the police commissioner added. "At the same time, we should also strengthen monitoring of these organizations to prevent them from further undermining Hong Kong's social stability and economic order."

In the conference room, senior officials nodded in agreement.

This incident is not just a simple business war, it is also a challenge to the authority of the Governor's Office and a test of Hong Kong's social order.

If the punishment is not strong enough, more companies will challenge the bottom line of the Governor's Office in the future. "So, what should we do next?" Governor MacLehose looked around at the important officials present in Hong Kong and asked again.

The Financial Secretary took a deep breath, stood up and said: "Mr. Governor and my colleagues present, I suggest that we first issue an official statement to severely condemn the bad behavior of Jardine Matheson and those newspapers and clearly express our position and attitude.

Subsequently, the Department of Justice will take the lead in quickly preparing relevant legal documents and filing lawsuits against them to ensure that the legal process proceeds smoothly. At the same time, the Police Force must strengthen its supervision and investigation of them and spare no effort to collect more conclusive evidence.

In addition, we cannot tolerate the huge losses caused to us by Jardine Matheson & Co., but must impose severe penalties on them as a warning to them. In order to prevent them from transferring their assets, I suggest that all their property transactions, including commercial buildings, in Hong Kong, be frozen immediately.

As for those three media outlets, their actions have seriously damaged the interests and reputation of the Governor's Office.

Although such media organizations were once known for being pro-Governor's Office and provided considerable help in our propaganda, they lost their meaning of existence when they harmed our interests.

So I propose to directly revoke their media qualifications, and quickly arrest the relevant persons in charge and bring them to justice, and severely punish them according to law. They must pay the price they deserve.

In short, the authority of our Governor's Office cannot be challenged, and any behavior that damages our interests and reputation will be dealt with most severely. "

The Financial Secretary is also a ruthless person and directly proposed the most severe punishment!
As soon as the Financial Secretary finished speaking, the chin of a senior executive at the scene trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, and his lips moved slightly.

However, when his eyes met the stern gaze of Governor MacLehose, and thinking of the current serious situation, he finally chose to remain silent rationally and shut his mouth obediently.

This senior official knew very well that although there were intricate conflicts of interest between himself and Jardine Matheson, the development of Jardine Matheson over the years was inseparable from his secret care.

But at a time when the authority of the Governor-General's Office was damaged and public anger was lingering, any words to exonerate Jardine Matheson seemed pale and powerless, and might even drag themselves into the storm.

Therefore, he wisely chose to remain silent and wait and see.

"Of course, punishment is allowed, but it must be within the law. This is a matter of principle, and Jardine Matheson is no exception." Governor MacLehose responded after thinking for a moment, "As for the three media outlets, I will support the decision of the Financial Secretary, but we need to be cautious in dealing with the issue of Jardine Matheson."

After all, Chinese-owned enterprises and British-owned enterprises are treated differently, especially a large company like Jardine Matheson. Although Jardine Matheson was the mastermind of this incident, even MacLehose did not dare to offend Jardine Matheson too much.

He changed the subject and continued, "After all, Jardine Matheson is a British company with a century-old history. It has complex connections with many British financial groups and has recently attracted investment from the Rothschild family. This background forces us to be more cautious in handling this matter to avoid causing unnecessary political turmoil or economic losses."

"Although we hope to recover all losses, considering the complex network of relationships behind Jardine Matheson, we should not take overly radical measures. We must find a way to handle this matter in a way that can both maintain the dignity of the law and balance the interests of all parties, and try our best to recover our losses."

His words made the officials present nod in agreement.

The Financial Secretary nodded slightly, indicating that he understood the Governor's concerns.

He naturally understood that he needed to be more cautious in dealing with the Jardine Matheson issue so as not to cause greater political and economic turmoil.

As a decision-maker at a higher level, the Governor's thinking must be more comprehensive and the result of careful consideration and weighing.

After the meeting, various departments of the Governor's Office quickly took action.

The first newspapers to suffer were Sing Tao Daily, Chinese Daily and Commercial Daily.

When the employees of these newspapers went to work as usual, their offices were suddenly surrounded by law enforcement agencies.

Not long afterwards, the owners, editors-in-chief, general managers and other senior executives of these newspapers were arrested one after another.

What awaits them will be severe interrogation and consequences.

At twelve noon, the Governor's Office issued an announcement to the public.

Announcement from the Hong Kong Governor's Office!
Upon investigation, it was found that Sing Tao Daily, Chinese Daily and Industrial and Commercial Daily were suspected of spreading false information, manipulating the market and damaging the public interest, causing the Hong Kong real estate industry to suffer a serious market crisis, and seriously violating the Publication Administration Regulations and the Media Operation Regulations.

The following decisions are made:
1. Effective immediately, the business licenses of the above three media organizations will be revoked and all their publications will be removed from shelves immediately;

Second, the general manager, editor-in-chief and 21 other senior executives of the institutions involved in the case will be placed under judicial detention, and those suspected of economic crimes will be handed over to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for thorough investigation;
3. A clean-up operation for the media industry will be launched this month. Citizens are welcome to report any violations through the Governor’s Office hotline.

The Governor's Office reiterated that it will never tolerate any force undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong. The evidence of illegal fund transactions seized in this operation has been submitted to the Privy Council in London for filing.

Hong Kong Governor's Office

1981 1 Month 2 Day.

This announcement marked the end of the history of these three mainstream news media in Hong Kong. (End of this chapter)