Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1453 - 242: The Fleet’s

At 9 AM, the "Shenzhen" ship slowly sailed into the Simons Town military port in Cape Town amidst a 21-gun salute.On the dock, the sound of military music was continuous, the crowd was bustling, and enthusiastic welcomes echoed endlessly.

Closer!

Gradually closer!

The enthusiastic South African Navy and my diplomatic staff stationed in South Africa, overseas Chinese residing in South Africa, at the southernmost tip of the African continent, welcomed the first-ever visit to South Africa by the Chinese Naval Fleet.

South Africa is the most economically developed country in Africa, Cape Town is a Europeanized city, with a very beautiful environment. However, the South African Navy is not large, with only over twenty missile boats and mine sweepers.

Because of this, Simons Town military port is very small and quite remote, located on the southern peninsula in the outskirts of Cape Town, with only a quiet small town nearby. But with the visit of the Chinese fleet, the tranquility of the town was disrupted, as crowds from Cape Town city area came to visit, and vehicles shuttled to and fro.

Many compatriots brought their elderly and children, flying over from Johannesburg, more than 1,200 kilometers away, in advance. The small town has only a few small hotels with limited reception capacity, so they could only stay in the city area.

Early this morning they set off from Cape Town, drove for over two hours to get here, all with a common wish: to welcome their distant relatives from the motherland and witness with their own eyes the warships of their homeland that crossed three oceans and rounded Cape Horn.

Among the welcoming crowd, a pair of elderly overseas Chinese couple with silver hair incessantly waved the Five-star Red Flag in their hands, shouting in Mandarin with an East Guang accent: "Welcome! Welcome!" Tears of excitement sparkled in their eyes.

The commanders, ship captain and deputy captain are to host the South African Navy generals and South African officials onboard. Han Yu becomes the freest person again.

As soon as the welcoming ceremony finished, he found the elderly overseas Chinese couple and went up to greet them: "Sir, where are you from?"

"We flew from Johannesburg yesterday!"

"From your accent, it seems your ancestral home might be East Guang?"

"Yes, my hometown is Mei County!"

"How long have you been in South Africa?"

"We were born in South Africa, my family has lived in Johannesburg (abbreviated as Yoburg) for several generations."

Han Yu asked curiously, "Several generations?"

"Yes." The elderly man is thrilled as a naval officer from the motherland specially came to greet them, gripping Han Yu’s hand tightly, saying, "I am the fourth generation, according to Ambassador Yang’s words, we are the fourth generation overseas Chinese!"

Among the overseas Chinese who came to welcome the fleet, they are the oldest, or at least appear the oldest.

The commanders are too busy, so Han Yu felt the need to chat with the two elders, while accommodatingly allowing the fellow compatriots in South Africa to take photos, he asked with a smile, "Have you ever returned to China, visited and explored your hometown Mei County?"

"Yes, we’ve returned, we’ve been back three times!"

"How was it?"

"Good, the hometown has developed so quickly and well over the years, when I returned last August, I almost couldn’t recognize it, the change in just a few years has been tremendous."

"The change will be even greater next time you return," Han Yu smiled, thought for a moment, and asked curiously again, "How is life in South Africa?"

Before the old gentleman could speak, the old lady responded with emotion: "Quite good, much better these past two years than before. Previously with apartheid, we overseas Chinese were treated as second-class citizens just like the indigenous people. Now that China has established diplomatic relations with South Africa and apartheid has been abolished, our status is higher than before."

Previously, one could frequently see South Africa on the television news, everyone knew Mandela.

But in fact, China only established diplomatic relations with South Africa two years ago, and South Africa’s apartheid policy was abolished only in recent years. It is imaginable how difficult life was for overseas Chinese in South Africa under the unpopular apartheid policies.

Han Yu was at a loss for what to say next when a Taiwanese-accented Chinese squeezed in excitedly saying, "Seeing relatives from the motherland, seeing the large warship built by the motherland, it feels like seeing a powerful motherland! Just now, several policemen gave us thumbs up..."

Whether the fleet visits or not makes all the difference!

With the fleet visiting, even the diplomats stationed in South Africa speak with more confidence, and overseas Chinese living in South Africa can stand tall, at least during the fleet’s visit to South Africa, no one will treat them as second-class citizens.

Han Yu could understand their feelings at this moment, tried his best to meet the requests of his overseas compatriots, continuously shaking hands with them and taking photos.

Due to the long journey, many overseas Chinese arrived at the military port after the designated visiting time had passed, yet they were unwilling to leave.

They were on the dock, walked from the bow to the stern of the ship, and then from the stern back to the bow, watching as they went, occasionally waving to the officers and soldiers on the ship...

The visit to South Africa is relatively long, according to the plan agreed upon between the command post and the embassy, tomorrow some officers and soldiers will be organized to visit Cape Horn.

Previously, although they had rounded it, they had only seen it from afar at sea, but had never really set foot on it, so for everyone, going up to Cape Horn to take a look will be a very meaningful thing.

The South African Navy’s banquet is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, in short, the upcoming time is relatively leisurely.

Han Yu, along with the officers and soldiers, watched the overseas Chinese and compatriots reluctantly leave when it was dark, and was about to attend the fleet’s reception banquet held on deck when Adviser Wu suddenly hurried over.

"Salted Fish, something happened to the Russian Navy!"

"What happened?"

Adviser Wu looked back at the situation behind him, and said in a low voice, "The Russian Navy’s ’Kursk’ submarine encountered an accident during a military exercise in the Barents Sea. This is news we just received; Russia hasn’t announced it publicly, but it should be true. Several countries’ military attachés stationed in South Africa are discussing it inside."