Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Finding Land

In the Mediterranean Sea, six rented cruise ships sailed to the war-torn Libyan port on the evening of the 22nd and 23rd respectively, local time. It was almost the first time for the diplomats accompanying the ship to travel by sea.Carrying out this task is extremely dangerous. Chen Xiaxing of the Embassy in Greece and Liu Meinian of the Embassy in Malta are nearly 60 years old and will soon retire, but they volunteered to face the difficulties, which is touching.Although they were of the same age, their destinies were quite different on the way to Libya. In an interview, Chen Xiaxing said with a smile: "After departing from the port of Patras in Greece, I was lucky. When I first left the port, the Mediterranean Sea was calm, but then there was a strong wind. We arrived in Libya after walking for 14 hours. The deepest experience is that, Xiao Zhang and I are both taking a luxury cruise for the first time. The "Spirit of Greece" we take can usually take more than 2,000 tourists. Can you imagine how big it is! This time there are only two Chinese people on board besides the crew. The boss of the ship Let us live in the most luxurious room. But at that time, we were not in the mood to enjoy all this. What we thought about was the tens of thousands of compatriots who were in danger during the war... I must emphasize one point: who has heard of which country's government Like our Chinese government, renting such a luxurious international cruise ship to pick up its ordinary citizens and migrant workers at any cost? Absolutely not! Rich countries in the West will not do this, and poor countries in the world can't afford to do so. Only we in China do this!"

Another old diplomat, Liu Mei, was far worse off than Chen when she boarded the ship. "The Mediterranean like a monster", people usually call it a "monster" to praise its scenery that changes like a monster in four seasons, but now Lao Liu feels that the "monster" of the Mediterranean is its monster.I don't know whether it was the sky's intention to make it difficult for China to evacuate overseas Chinese, or it was its nature. After the cruise ship departed from Italy, it encountered a rare hurricane in the Mediterranean.The wind was surprisingly strong, and all the unfixed things in the guest room where Lao Liu and the others lived were all thrown on the deck, as if people were turning somersaults in the cradle.Lao Liu had been on a cruise ship before, but he had never been subjected to such a serious torment. His internal organs seemed to have been displaced, and he was miserable.It was the first time for Xiao Li to take a boat by sea. Less than an hour after boarding the boat, the young man was about to vomit bitter bile, and the boss of the boat felt distressed when he saw it.Xiao Li didn't have the slightest grievance or complaint, and always asked: "Has Benghazi arrived yet?" What he cared about in his heart was the safety of his compatriots under fire.

It was bumpy all the way, and it took about 38 hours in the Mediterranean Sea to reach the waters of Libya... Since the central government issued the evacuation order on the 22nd, from the evening of the 22nd to the 23rd and 24th, there have been more than ten ships of various sizes participating in China's evacuation operations in the Mediterranean Sea.Starting from different places, they are heading towards Libya at full speed. These ships are: three large Greek luxury cruise ships commanded by our embassy in Greece, three cruise ships of different models and nationalities commanded by our embassy in Malta, and the "Tianyangfeng" ship dispatched and commanded by SASAC , "New Qinhuangdao" and "New Fuzhou", etc., plus several cargo ships of COSCO Group.

In addition, the Chinese naval guided missile frigate, the "Xuzhou" ship, which has attracted the world's attention, also began to sail at full speed from the Gulf of Aden, 4,000 nautical miles away, towards the Mediterranean Sea... "The Chinese government has launched an unprecedented evacuation campaign, especially dispatching warships to join this operation for the first time, making this socialist country in the east, which has risen rapidly in the past 30 years, once again show its ruling philosophy of loving the people and serving the people in front of its own people. .At the same time, it can be seen that China obviously wants to take this opportunity to show their military capabilities in front of the world.” Media from European and American countries commented on this one after another.

"Military Commission! Military Commission!" "General staff! General staff!" "Navy! Navy!" The generals and officers of the People's Liberation Army are currently under the personal command of the Military Commission and the head of the General Staff. On the one hand, they are in close contact with the various services and arms and higher-level agencies at all times. On the other hand, they are urgently coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant departments to study It is the basis of international law and international practice for China to use military force to carry out overseas evacuation operations.

China's Constitution and the international norms that China has always followed are that our military and other armed forces will never violate an inch of land, airspace and territorial waters of other countries, except for international peacekeeping and combating piracy and joint cooperation between countries in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. In addition to specific affairs such as military exercises, this has also made China's just stance and international prestige widely praised.However, it is different now. If there is no military intervention in the evacuation of overseas Chinese from Libya, how can the safety of tens of thousands of our compatriots be guaranteed?Libya is thousands of miles away from China, and a straight-line flight by plane has to pass through more than a dozen countries and their airspace. Who will open the door and open the roof for our military power?

Huang Ping, Guo Shaochun and their Consular Department and Consular Protection Center on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have included military intervention measures in the evacuation plan drafted for the National Emergency Command.Zhang Dejiang and Dai Bingguo had such a plan in mind.Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Justice, and even the China Foreign Affairs University, China University of Political Science and Law and other departments, institutions, and colleges are also gathering relevant information and legal interpretations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in high-speed operation...

"For humanitarian intervention, there are many precedents for foreign armed forces to participate in the evacuation of overseas Chinese. It is reasonable for our army to participate in the evacuation of overseas Chinese in Libya!" , Department of Asia and Africa, Department of Information, General Office, Department of Policy... The experts from the Department of Treaty and Law also have no time to breathe.There are hundreds of international legal issues involved in the entire evacuation, and each and every seemingly simple action, such as renting a boat from a foreign company, a list signed by a diplomat, and a phone call from an embassy Commitments must be based on international law, not to mention that now we have to use military force to evacuate overseas Chinese.This is an action outside our homeland. It is an international action in dozens of different regions, different ethnic groups, different political backgrounds and national systems. That is really harder than climbing to the sky, thousands of times harder!We can use our own airspace to go to the sky, but if we go abroad to rescue overseas Chinese without the consent of the country we are passing through, we will not be able to pass the checkpoint, fly in the sky, and naturally we will not be able to cross the sea!That's called being unable to move an inch.

Airspace rights and territorial sea rights are the same as territorial rights. They are related to the sovereignty and dignity of a country, and they must be handled with great care.If you can act according to the law, you can get understanding and sympathy, and you can benefit from friendship.The relationship between countries is very delicate, and it is the most complicated and sensitive in international relations.In diplomatic work, we can see those earth-shattering conflicts and wars, but more subtle and complex international exchanges are unknown to everyone. The superb diplomatic art and extraordinary ability are the key to diplomats solving complex and changeable problems. key.

"The evacuation operation is actually an international legal battle!" People from the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs got it right. They, together with many experts involved in this international legal battle, are an unsung hero team in China's entire Libyan evacuation campaign, and they also contributed a lot. There are many unsung heroes in this evacuation campaign.Here we must mention a young man named Wang Yi, who is the deputy director of the Libya Department of the Department of Asia and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.From the early morning of February 19th, he was in charge of maintaining hotline communication with the embassy in Libya, the Consular Division, the Policy Division, and the European Division, and kept abreast of and reported the latest developments of the situation 24 hours a day.Wang Yi devoted himself wholeheartedly to the ultra-high-intensity work. The phone on the desk rang one after another, the camp bed beside the desk was in a mess, and the unfinished instant noodles exuded the unique smell of preservatives...

In the early morning of the 23rd, Wang Yi, who hadn't dozed off for four consecutive days and nights, felt stuffy in his chest. At this moment, his three-year-old daughter cried and asked in a childish voice on the phone: "Dad, I have a fever for several days. Holy shit, why haven't you come back?" "Dad is helping a lot of uncles and aunts to evacuate, they are in danger now, and their little daughter is also at home looking forward to mom and dad coming home just like you. Be good, wait for dad to finish his work." For this part, I will go home with you..." The moment Wang Yi put down the phone, his body softened. "Hurry up, call an ambulance!" Director Chen Xiaodong, who was also working overtime, yelled when he saw that something was wrong. Wang Yi was hospitalized at just one o'clock and returned to combat duty.In fact, after the mass evacuation of overseas Chinese began, Wang Yi was not the only one who devoted himself to his work regardless of his own safety.The battle ahead is magnificent and fierce, we can only turn our eyes and focus there—— There is no need to hide it. For ordinary people, the large-scale evacuation triggered by the Libyan war is just two words: "escape for life". Life, life.Life is above all else for man.When life is threatened, fleeing for one's life is an instinctive reaction and the most realistic.Which place is safe, which road is the shortest, and what method can be used to escape the threat of war are people's first considerations. Leaders such as Zhang Dejiang and Dai Bingguo clearly stated at the national evacuation emergency meeting on the 22nd that priority should be given to choosing the nearest and fastest evacuation route. "In addition to the sea route, there are six countries bordering Libya: Egypt to the east, Niger and Chad to the south and Sudan to the southeast, Algeria to the west and Tunisia to the northwest." "I can't go to the neighboring countries to the west and due south. They are all deserted deserts. The roads are far away and the conditions are harsh, so they will not be considered." "The first choice is Egypt and Sudan. These two countries have a strong relationship with us. Besides, Benghazi is the closest to the Egyptian border, and the straight-line distance is about 300 kilometers." "Okay, if the 300 kilometers are transported by car, it can be solved in one day. This route should become the main land route for our evacuation of overseas Chinese. Contact the embassy in Egypt immediately and let them make every effort to open up this route! Tang Li, hurry up and talk to the embassy in Egypt Contact the embassy, ​​I want to talk to Ambassador Song." Huang Ping ordered Tang Li. "The embassy in Egypt? I'm looking for Ambassador Song..." Tang Li picked up the special line of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and within a few seconds he was in touch with the Chinese embassy in Egypt in Cairo.Tang Li is the deputy director of the Consular Insurance Center in charge of routine work. At this moment, he can no longer take care of his wife who is about to give birth. "Ambassador Song? I'm Huang Ping from the Consular Department. Egypt is the closest to Benghazi in Libya. Opening the Eli border route is of great significance to the entire evacuation operation. How is the progress on your side?" "Okay, let me report, the situation is like this..." When Ambassador Song was born, his parents hoped that he would become a patriot, so the name was Patriotic.This Jiangsu native worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as soon as he graduated from university in 1979. In the following 30 years of work, he spent half of his time in the Department of Asian and African Affairs and the other half in foreign embassies. In October 2010, he was transferred from his position as director of the Department of Asian and African Affairs to the Chinese Embassy in Egypt as an ambassador.Not long after he took office, Egypt began to experience political turmoil. In just 18 days, Mubarak, the strongman in the Middle East, stepped down.Egypt plays a leading role in the Middle East and Arab countries, and the turbulence here will affect the development and stability of Africa and the Arab world.Song Aiguo is an expert on Middle East issues. He is keenly aware that the turmoil in Egypt will have a domino effect on the surrounding areas and even the entire Arab world, and it is necessary to deal with it as soon as possible. On February 11, 2011, after President Mubarak announced his resignation, Song Aiguo immediately began to study the new situation in Egypt and the development trend of neighboring countries. Song Aiguo, Ambassador to Egypt (overseas interview): I remember that when there were signs of riots in Libya, I studied the situation in Libya with Li Lianhe, the second-in-command of the embassy.He had worked as a counselor at the embassy in Libya and was familiar with the situation there.The main issue we discussed at that time was what our embassy in Egypt should do if there was turmoil in Libya like that in Egypt.According to the various situations caused by the turmoil in Egypt, we believe that the first consideration is how to ensure the safety of our overseas Chinese, and whether to evacuate them is particularly critical.When Egypt was in turmoil, the country sent 8 planes to evacuate more than 1,800 compatriots.There were also thrilling events in that evacuation operation.We gathered people in the car and walked to Cairo Airport. Although it was only over an hour away, the places we passed were in chaos.Our evacuation convoy was led by the heavily armed Egyptian military with machine guns. Who of the working groups and embassy colleagues from China have seen such a formation! Although I couldn't see Ambassador Song's expression on the overseas phone call, through his narration, I still sympathized with the difficulties of evacuating overseas Chinese, and I can vividly remember the tense scene with guns and live ammunition.The problems faced by the evacuation of overseas Chinese in Libya will be many times more complicated than those in Egypt, because the sudden change in the situation in Egypt was carried out in the form of peaceful protests, while the Libyan government and anti-government forces were caught in a military armed conflict from the very beginning. He and the opposition threatened to put each other to death mercilessly.The gunfire and bullets of war are short-sighted. Whether it is the enemy or us, or foreigners who have nothing to do with it, it will be unlucky for anyone who encounters it.No one is responsible for whoever dies at this time.This is a life-and-death brutal struggle, full of blood and violence from beginning to end.Governments of many countries, including the Chinese government, have seen this clearly and are worried about their own citizens. When life is hanging by a thread, life and death, time will determine everything. Every minute that is ahead, the lives of compatriots will be more guaranteed.Song Aiguo and others analyzed that if something happened to Libya, Egypt would definitely become the first choice for the Chinese government to evacuate overseas Chinese. They made a decisive decision and sent a counselor and the director of the consular department to Libya on February 19 and 20 to understand the local situation. . Song Aiguo said: They took the land route, in addition to understanding the situation in Libya, it was also an on-the-spot investigation.When they arrived at Salum, a small border town in Eli without stopping, tens of thousands of people had gathered there, and the scene was very chaotic.Saloum is only a few miles from the Libyan border and has a clear view of what's going on there.When they reported the situation on the border to me, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs just called and ordered me to send someone to Libya to find out the situation.When the comrades in the Ministry heard that our embassy personnel had arrived at the border between Egypt and Libya, they were very excited and ordered us to buy time, create conditions, and make every effort to open the evacuation channel at the Eli border. According to Ambassador Song's knowledge, China was the first to consider evacuating 10,000 to 20,000 compatriots from the Egyptian border, but the situation in Libya has changed so quickly that people were caught off guard.At that time, the Gaddafi authorities regarded the eastern region centered on Benghazi as its "mortal enemy" and repeatedly carried out military encirclement and suppression, which brought great risks to the entire evacuation operation. My embassy in Egypt judged the situation, and in their own words, they "fired the first shot" in evacuating overseas Chinese. As early as the gunshots in Benghazi, expatriates from all over the world were looking for ways to escape.Naturally, some of the Chinese contracted project personnel in various parts of eastern Libya also joined the fugitive team.Tobruq, a port city in eastern Libya, is 150 kilometers away from the Egyptian border. A group of 83 employees from China State Construction Technology Co., Ltd. quickly evacuated to Salum on the Egyptian border with the mighty Egyptian laborers. "Ambassador, the situation here is quite serious. There are more and more compatriots escaping from Libya, and we alone cannot guarantee that they can pass through the border smoothly." After Ambassador Song received the call for help, he felt that the situation was serious. "I'll go." Li Lianhe, the second in command of the embassy, ​​was familiar with the situation in Libya and asked for a fight. "Okay, take a few more people and set off immediately!" After Ambassador Song sent the second batch of staff to Saloum, he followed the domestic instructions and immediately contacted the travel agencies in Cairo and Alexandria. "How many cars can you have? Of course, the bigger the better!" "Are there 100? Great! If other companies still have them, please help us rent dozens more!" In the end, Ambassador Song rented a total of 150 buses from Egyptian travel agencies. 150 buses go together, mighty and mighty, how long does the convoy have to line up.Not only the Egyptians were amazed, but even the people in the Egyptian embassy were secretly surprised. Is 150 too many?There are only 70 people in each car and it is only a little over 10,000.I'm afraid it won't be enough by then!Song Aiguo has a really big appetite.Affected by the turmoil, the owners and drivers of Egyptian travel agencies have been out of business for dozens of days, waiting for food. They were so excited that they wanted to hug and kiss their Chinese friends. Under the command of Ambassador Song and others, the buses of various travel agencies in Egypt assembled from different directions to the border of Salum. The 83 people from China State Construction Technology Corporation, the first to leave Libya, began to enter the Egyptian customs. "Passports! Documents!" The early spring in the Mediterranean was still terribly cold, but the customs hall was scorching hot and smelly.When the sweaty Egyptian customs officers saw a group of Chinese, they were very friendly and let them go through the entry formalities first among the crowded fleeing crowd. "Passport!" "Get your passports out!" The customs officers kept shouting, our compatriots who were covered in dust from the construction site and still in shock were staring blankly at the Egyptian customs officers, at a loss. "No! We have nothing. We escaped from Libya. We lost the construction site. We even lost our toothpaste, toothbrush and wallet. How can we have passports?" "No! Without a passport, you cannot enter the country." The Egyptian customs officer shrugged and reluctantly drove the 83 Chinese people aside. "Ah, isn't that our diplomat? Comrade..." Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted. "Yes, I know them, they are diplomats from the Egyptian embassy!" Some people were so excited that they were about to jump up. Yes, it was the diplomats of my embassy in Egypt. As soon as they arrived at the Salum customs site, they learned that my compatriots did not have passports, and immediately negotiated with the relevant Egyptian side through the embassy, ​​requesting that they be handled as special circumstances. "The Egyptian side has agreed to issue travel documents to 83 of our compatriots for transit." Cairo Ambassador Song Aiguo told the front personnel in Salum. "Compatriots, we will issue travel documents for you now, so that you can return home safely!" As soon as the comrades in the embassy said the words, the compatriots who were still in shock suddenly cheered. Next, the photos were taken, and the photos were posted. The diplomats and dozens of Chinese laborers were busy... When 83 people had completed their documents and completed the entry procedures, Ambassador Song Aiguo, who was waiting for news in Cairo, looked at his watch. , Good guy, it took more than five hours! This is how to do? It takes half a day for 83 people, how many days does it take for 10,000 people to cross the border?After Song Aiguo calculated, his head "buzzed" several times bigger! At the same time, the Consular Protection Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is also struggling with the same problem. "I can immediately design an emergency travel document for Chinese citizens, so that our compatriots can use it immediately and make it easy to make in the future. What do you think?" "As long as our compatriots can evacuate to their destinations, we will use whatever method works!" Guo Shaochun, Tang Li, Zhang Yang, Zhu Jiayao and others from the Consular Protection Center said around Huang Ping. Huang Ping said to Guo Shaochun: "You should immediately design a sample, preferably a piece of A4 paper with a photo frame, and the content must be considered carefully. The embassy in front is already in a state of high tension. Let them copy it as soon as they receive it. Then it will be distributed and filled out to undocumented personnel waiting to be evacuated on the spot." "Understood!" Guo Shaochun and others quickly finished the matter.This invention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs played a particularly important role in the subsequent evacuation of overseas Chinese. Our embassy in Egypt is ahead of its actions and experiences, and they have also created another "advanced experience": group entry and exit. What is meant by "group in and group out"? Ambassador Song explained: "The evacuees are like the usual tour groups. They don't disperse. They all enter and leave as a whole group, and they don't stay overnight or stay in the middle. Take our compatriots to the bus station wagon, and then send them to the airport..." My embassy in Egypt did a great job indeed. On the evening of the 21st, as soon as the evacuation hotline of the Consular Protection Center was announced on "News Network", Guo Shaochun and the others received a report: the first batch of 83 compatriots evacuated from Libya had safely entered Egypt. "Good job!" After Huang Ping reported the news to Song Tao and other leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly reported this to Zhang Dejiang, Dai Bingguo and other central leaders. The word is exclamation. If there is the first batch, there will be the second batch. Fortunately, the 83 people evacuated safely. What made the leaders and Huang Ping and Guo Shaochun of the frontline headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs extremely excited was that the first evacuation route was finally opened, and it was the nearest and most ideal land route! "Immediately call the units of the Chinese-funded companies in Benghazi, as well as other Chinese expatriates, and ask them to immediately organize a team and prepare to assemble for the Egyptian border in Saloum..." The front liaison team of the Consular Protection Center was led by Zhu Jiayao and Zhu Di. Under the leadership of the leader, the team members Sun Xianyu, Li Xia, Wang Teng, Mai Xinquan, Zhao Jianyang, Guo Lin, Xu Jingjing, Cai Zhifeng, Sun Liang, and Liu Jianzong picked up the phone alternately and called our embassy in Libya and the Chinese capital in the eastern part of Lijing Units and Chinese personnel issued an emergency notice. "You act immediately and evacuate to the Egyptian border as soon as possible!" "Hey, why bother so much! Transfer to Salum quickly!" Chinese-funded companies and Chinese personnel in Benghazi have received specific orders for evacuation operations. They sent messages to each other, urged each other, rolled up their bedding, packed their bottles and cans, and prepared to leave the construction site... However, the situation on the ground changed faster than the actions of my compatriots, especially the Gaddafi authorities, who vowed to wipe out the opposition forces in Benghazi like mice, sent troops and fighter planes, and the artillery fire of the war was faster than my compatriots evacuated. much faster. Beginning on the afternoon of the 22nd local time, Benghazi and eastern Libya fell into a state of scuffle, and the land evacuation route to Egypt basically came to an end. "I can't make it through at all! Several Egyptians have been killed on the way to escape..." Song Aiguo, who was organizing a 150-vehicle convoy to receive the news, suddenly lost his arrogance just now. What should I do if the smoke disappears?This is not bad! "Pay attention to the situation and wait for the opportunity!" The staff of the Chinese embassy in Egypt, who had already put on a posture and prepared to undergo a vigorous evacuation test, had to slow down and wait for Libya at the Egyptian border and the capital Cairo and Alexandria according to domestic instructions The situation report over there. This is extremely painful and anxious, but the real pain and anxiety are the Chinese compatriots caught in the dangerous war in Libya. "Since the 22nd, the phone here has been disconnected, and the mobile phone has lost signal. The camp and construction site have been ransacked by local thugs again and again, and the orders from the superiors have not been received. It seems that we are really going to be buried in a foreign country..." "Who will save us? God! Why are you so ruthless? We are all migrant workers and construction workers with families!" In Libya, the only thing that could send a little information at that time was the intermittent Internet.Cries for help and laments like this abound. "Today I listened to "The Promised Land" by FIR many times, this is a song I loved many years ago: Eventful jerusalem sky broken dream The Promised Land is disappearing How much helplessness is in your sacred appearance It's pure hate what are you trying to prove I shouldn't have any fantasies about you up to you tell endlessly what a cruel joke I run away I can't calm down let the hatred follow the wind take away the pain take away the pain let the tears stop flowing find an exit for life when blood stains the sky but bear with love May the angels fly from the ruins and drown drop love I shouldn't have any fantasies about you up to you Talk endlessly... "Every time I hear this song I want to cry. A lot of people think it's a song about love, but it's a song about the state of mind about war. Isn't that where we are now? I want to ask now: War , when will you end up with Muslim brothers? When will you let us innocent people leave you?  …” This is a blog post by the beautiful young wife of a laborer.Her heart was shrouded in the sudden shadow of war, and the pain tore the pure hearts of many people who had come to the southern coast of the Mediterranean with good wishes to make a living. Reading it is frightening and heartbreaking. what to do?After the eastern land route, which was the closest and most likely to be the main evacuation route, was cut off, now only the land route from the northwest to the Tunisian border is left.Huang Ping and Guo Shaochun quickly reported the news to Song Tao and other ministry leaders, and everyone naturally turned their attention to the Li-Turkey border west of Tripoli, and placed their hopes on this place. Judging from the distribution of my personnel in Liberia at that time, the number of people in the west is obviously more than that in the east of Benghazi. There are several large national companies such as China Hydropower Corporation, China Railway Corporation, and China Metallurgical First Bureau, as well as Beijing Construction Engineering, Beijing Hong There are more than 10,000 people in several large units such as Fujian Jianshe. "Be sure to open up the land evacuation channel on the Lithuanian border! At the same time, prepare for the official evacuation of the sea channel." At 22:00 Beijing time on the 22nd, Song Tao presided over the coordination meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that day. He announced the above two urgent tasks on behalf of the ministry leaders. At this meeting, Huang Ping reported an imminent matter on behalf of the Consular Protection Center: "The number of my people in Libya is still very confusing. At the end of the day today, we collected information from various aspects and found that more than It turned out that the number of people in control was several thousand more!" "This is a serious problem!" Song Tao's expression suddenly became serious. "If the personnel are not clear, the entire evacuation work will be chaotic. Be sure to ask the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the Ministry of Commerce to report the accurate number of people, their location and the latest situation as soon as possible. .” "Vice Minister Song, Zhongnanhai is calling..." the secretary whispered. After answering the phone call, Song Tao came back to convey to the comrades at the coordination meeting that Comrade Dai Bingguo, State Councilor, expressed condolences to everyone's intense work, and proposed that the Department of Asian and African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take the lead in studying and judging the situation ahead, and report to the Central Committee after daily summarization. . "Comrades, the real start of the evacuation campaign will be tomorrow—that is, on the 23rd in a few minutes. Everyone must pay close attention to the changes in the situation ahead, and do a good job in the three fronts of sea, land, and air. Cooperate closely and strive for a good first shot!" After the meeting ended, Song Tao left Chen Xiaodong behind and gave him the task alone. Chen Xiaodong immediately had an urgent meeting with the Libyan ambassador to China, Jassimmi, and said: "The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of the lives and property of Chinese personnel in Libya. The operation will provide assistance and convenience as much as possible." A few hours later, Jassimmi replied: "The Libyan side promises to make every effort to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and provide assistance and convenience for their evacuation." Chang Hua, the deputy director of the Department of Asia and Africa, called Song Aiguo, the ambassador to Egypt, and asked him to contact the Libyan opposition representative in Egypt immediately, asking the opposition to promise not to interfere or obstruct the Chinese government's evacuation of its citizens.Soon Ambassador Song also got a reply. The Libyan opposition stated that they would not block China's evacuation of overseas Chinese, and would provide some convenience. At 23:50 in the middle of the night, Huang Ping returned to the consular protection center with several urgent tasks, and then held a general meeting of the staff on duty to assign relevant tasks to various groups.I picked up the phone and spoke directly to Ambassador Hu Zhengde of my embassy in Tunisia: "Hello, Ambassador Hu! I want to ask how the situation is going on over there." This is straight to the point, and the other is straightforward: "Everything is ready here. At the same time, 50 pick-up vehicles have been organized and headed to the border with Tuli. The transit point for the compatriots after they come is basically confirmed, and the next airport and flight to return home will also be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Finalize..." "You guys have worked so hard!" Huang Ping felt a stone in his heart drop. "It's not hard, it's because we prepared early. The turmoil in West Asia and North Africa started in Tunisia, so we have some experience..." Ambassador Huo Zhengde said. "I met you!" Huang Ping put down the phone, feeling a little emotional in his heart.He and Huo Zhengde can be regarded as acquaintances. After the 58-year-old Huo Zhengde was transferred from the post of ambassador to Guinea to the Tunisian embassy on October 15, 2010, he encountered a sudden change in the situation in Tunisia.For several months, Huo Zhengde has not been freed from the mess in the country where he is stationed, and now he has taken on the important task of evacuating Libya. "This is the life of a diplomat. It seems to be very beautiful at ordinary times. Once something happens, we have to fight for our wealth and life. In fact, we usually fight in that seemingly beautiful environment, but in fact there are hidden risks all the time." This is me A deep impression left in the interview process of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also the true voice of many diplomats confided to me.There are more than 3,000 Chinese diplomats working in more than 200 countries and regions around the world. Only a few comrades can be assigned to work in embassies and consulates with good conditions. Most of them have to endure war, disease, high altitude, high temperature, drinking Water difficulties, depleted uranium bomb radiation and other survival challenges, the vast majority of diplomats who have worked in Africa have lived with malaria parasites all their lives.There was a diplomat who encountered a war when he was stationed abroad. A bullet was shot into his body. He didn't know it for more than 20 years!What a respectable and lovely Chinese diplomat! Now we are talking about Tunisia, the country where Ambassador Huo Zhengde resides. This "a small lump" sandwiched between the "shoulders" of the two giants of Libya and Algeria, especially since it has just experienced an earth-shaking and regime-changing turmoil, coincides with the change of the old and new regimes, and many departments and sensitive areas are still closed. To return to normal, it is absolutely difficult to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Libya and arrange accommodation and flight transfers. After receiving domestic instructions, our embassy in Tunisia quickly mobilized elite troops. Except for the necessary stay-at-home and on-duty personnel, almost all of them went to the Tunisian border to make relevant preparations.Compared with the embassy in Egypt, the hardware facilities and staffing of the embassy in Tunisia are quite different, but Ambassador Huo Zhengde and the others undertake more important tasks of evacuating overseas Chinese than other places.It is conceivable that they are under great pressure and heavy work. After setting up the frontline headquarters in the Tunisian border town of Kyrgyzstan, Huo Zhengde ordered Wang Yichuan, secretary of the military attache of the embassy, ​​to rush to the border gate far away from the Ras Jedir port on the Libyan border, and make preparations to meet his compatriots. "The fog is so thick that you can't see what's going on there except for the gunfire!" As soon as Wang Yichuan reached the gate, he looked in the direction of Libya. He couldn't see anything but heard gunshots.The occasional ones running towards the gate were also scattered Tunisians.Wang Yichuan asked the fleeing Tunisians, did they see any Chinese at the Ras Jedir port?The answer is to shake your head. "You Chinese can't make it through! Gaddafi won't let go!" Finally someone said this to Wang Yichuan. "why?" "There are too many people, it's a mess, Gaddafi's people sealed the customs!" what happened?At that time, several Xinhua News Agency reporters who were traveling with Wang Yichuan published a live report on the Tuli border on the same day, writing like this—— At 6 a.m. on the 23rd, the capital of Tunisia was overcast and rainy. The second working group of the Chinese embassy in Tunisia and Xinhua News Agency reporters drove to the Ras Jedir port more than 600 kilometers away in the rain, preparing to meet the And help the first batch of Chinese citizens evacuated from western Libya to Tunisia.The wind and the rain are urgent, and our concern for the safety of our compatriots is even more urgent, because we already know that there was a fierce gun battle and shelling in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, and everyone is worried about whether our compatriots can evacuate safely. When we traveled to Gabes, an important town in southern Tunisia, 470 kilometers away, the first working group that had made relevant negotiations at the port sent some gratifying information: the first batch of China Central South Survey and Design Institute (Central South Institute) The 800 employees from Libya have set off and are expected to arrive at the border with Tunisia at around 1:30 pm.At this time, the wind stopped and the rain stopped, and the washed blue sky tore through the dark clouds, and sprinkled strands of golden sunlight on the earth.Afterwards, we divided into two groups: the reporter and Wang Yichuan, secretary of the military attache of the embassy, ​​rushed to the front line of the port, and Counselor Zhuo Ruisheng led two other staff members to Djerba Island, Tunisia to settle the accommodation of the Chinese evacuees. At noon, when the reporter arrived at the Ras Jedir Port, Military Attache Yang Xu and Counselor Zhou Zhaoming, who had arrived earlier, had completed all entry matters.At this time, groups of refugees continued to pour into Tunisia.Some of them held babies in their arms, and some carried bags on their shoulders. Their tired faces still carried the lingering fear of life and death.As soon as their feet crossed the border, some Tunisian expatriates threw away their luggage recklessly and knelt on their knees and kissed the land of their motherland.When a young man named Mustafa was interviewed by reporters, he angrily denounced the atrocities committed by extremist militants in Libya.He and two friends who were also working in Libya returned to Tunisia on foot, but were brutally attacked by extremist militants on the way. The two friends were killed on the spot, and all his belongings were also robbed.Mustafa said with tears of grief and indignation, if a country falls into turmoil and even loses human life and dignity, how can there be happiness and peace? 得知了穆斯塔法的经历，我们更为迟迟不见踪影的中国同胞担忧。果然很快传来消息：由于利比亚局势极度恶化，边界地区甚至失控，加之其边防人员又采取了极不合作态度，一再以各种借口拒绝中国撤离人员离开利比亚。此时的我们，更加为滞留在拉斯杰迪尔口岸上的同胞担忧…… 这可是要命的事！王一川立即把边境上的情况汇报给了火正德大使。火正德又马上汇报给国内。 “我的天哪！”黄屏的耳边仿佛炸响了一声惊雷。