- Location
- UK
Ah okay thanks for the info. And yeah I think splitting crises into their own thing could be a good idea but that depends on how you want to approach them.
The Jade Revolution - China 2001
- Thread starter KarvokaQueen
- Start date
- Original
Turn 3. Results
KarvokaQueen
Queen of the Coffee Cups
- Location
- City of Coffee, Upside-down land
[X] Plan: I'll Make a Woman Out of You!
[X] Both sides have valid arguments, the potential benefits for China's R&D are extensive yet your enthusiasm for this part of the agreement is dampened by the fact that China would be receiving access to military technology that is already 10 years out of date. Furthermore, the commitment with regards to access to Russian oil again has great benefits but is more a short-term solution to the long-term problem of China's energy security. In addition to all this Russia seeks to at least tie us to them somewhat, especially with regards to security interests as expressed in the original article 9 of the agreement. With the Hainan incident having occurred so recently its a potential inflammatory move to agree with article 9 as it exists at the moment and on this, you largely agree with the President. You will seek to re-balance the treaty somewhat, looking specifically to enhance and extend provisions on cooperation over military know-how and energy while tying the nebulous issue of threats to both China and Russia to a consultation, coordination and cooperation achieved through the mechanism of regular meetings at all levels. This will distance the perception that this agreement is something of a defensive alliance while setting the groundwork for cooperation on military and energy issues.
The Negotiations.
Pro-Treaty (78+20) vs. Anti-Treaty (43) vs. Third Way. (96 +10 +5)
It isn't easy to get your way, but you hadn't expected it to be. Your compromise plan invariably receives push back from both sides, but after a thoroughly misguided attempt to sabotage your revision of article 9 by the Anti-treaty side, the Pro-treaty group at the negotiating table ultimately decide you are the lesser of two evils, and that, even if it means giving up their precious idea of a reinsurance treaty with the Russians, it is preferable to have a proper deal in place.
Once again, Tao Siju proves his worth by providing you with very up to date Russian government figures, to imply to the foreign minister he'd attempted to deceive you about the sheer amount of crude the Russian's are pumping.
Still, even with the revisions, by the end of the quarter you've finished negotiations, more or less on your own terms as well, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is thrown into Chaos by the September 11 attacks in the United States, and the Ministry of Defence is thrown into Chaos by the re-emergence of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
As tragic as the events that have occured are, though, it does give you significant leeway, after you'd attended ceremonies for the MOFCOM officials that lost their lives in the attacks, of course.
Article 9 is amended, the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs are too distracted by ongoing crises to care that you take control of the negotiations.
MOFCOM CENTRAL BUREAUCRACY
MOFCOM CENTRAL is your Headquarters, and from your office on the top floor, you oversee the sprawling bureaucracy that is the ministry of commerce. With a loyal, eager secretary in Jin Lei, a capable Assistant Minister in Gao Yucheng, and a freshly tamed ministry, you're feeling pretty good about this quarter! (Pick 3 Options.)
[X] Reorganise departments. Now you've tamed the bureaucracy (more or less) it's time to start reorganising departments along more modern lines, and making things run much more smoothly. You could probably start the re-organisation by merging the foreign departments under one branch, but you're sure there are other things you could do. (Chance of Success: Moderate. Results: Department streamlining options become available, including a PLAYER CHOICE streamlining option this turn.)
Roll = 92. Jin Lei's plan goes off more or less without a hitch. The department of foreign affairs is radically overhauled in line with what your extremely competent secretary has been planning.
You were thoroughly impressed with Jin Lei's work, when you got a chance to properly inspect it. It's meticulously logged and contains all the planned organisational structures for a radically overhauled foreign affairs department.
Under the new system, the old offices of FEO, Asian Affairs, Western Asian & African Affairs, American & Oceanian Affairs, International Trade and Economic Affairs, and the department overseeing Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macau are all downgraded from full departments within the broader MOFCOM, to smaller departments answering to the newly reorganized Foreign Affairs Office.
Unfortunately the President caught wind of what you were doing, and was none too pleased you'd been restructuring the Ministry without his go ahead. When you point out that, in fact, he had never stated you needed his approval for new hires or low level restructuring, he relents. Though only after you offer the olive branch of keeping the Foreign Aid Office, a baby of his, at full strength and level of importance. You'll drag them under the Foreign Affairs Office at some point, but even as it stands you've made good progress.
In just a few phone calls you've had an old friend from your People's Bank days flown over, interviewed, and while you do entertain other offers for the position, she's done well enough that even Gao, who is not blinded by old friendships like yourself, agrees she's the best choice.
Fei Hung, former head of the Foreign Relations department of the People's Bank in Frankfurt, and your (sometimes) mentor back in the day. She magnanimously accepts the job, and within the month you've got her in your office, the tall Shanghai native whipping her new, massive brief into shape with record speed.
Foreign Affairs Offices have been merged into the more broad, and efficient, Foreign Affairs Department, headed up by Fei Hung, your old boss during your PBC Frankfurt days.
[X] A woman's touch. That MOFCOM is a man's world does not surprise you. You were one of two females in your university course when you were younger, and you doubt that has much changed. Promoting more women to positions of authority in your ministry is potentially risky, but you aren't concerned, not that much, at least. You and Gao will make sure that the female candidates that succeed are the best candidate for the role. You'll just be making extra sure that women are being considered by your headhunters. (Chance of Success: Unknown Result: You will place special emphasis on hiring female department heads, from within MOFCOM and without.) CAN BE COMBINED WITH OTHER TWO
Roll = 69. Things go smoothly. Sort of. They could've gone worse, at least.
"So, tell me Wei. How does someone sabotage a white paper?" Fei is idly stirring her pho with her chopsticks as she picks at your brain, the fifty six year old looking not a day over forty as she smiles.
"Ugh, god. Don't get me started." You really don't want to get into it, but Fei is insistent, and you have a feeling she might not take you seriously if you just brush it off, so after a mouthful of rice, you decide to explain.
"Well, the massively shortened version of it, is they'd give us incorrect information, take days to weeks to update it, and delay, delay, and delay. I'd started making some progress during the first Quarter, but then…" She makes an 'ah' noise and nods sagely.
"So they kept knocking you off balance? Not a bad strategy. I'd have lost my temper and taken a cleaver to one of them if they'd tried that with me." You both laugh as your tea comes is brought over by your secretary and all around aide-de-camp, Jin Lei.
"Now, Feng I'd like you to meet the woman of the hour. Jin Lei." You take the tea and gesture for her to sit down. Jin hovers awkwardly for a second before Feng scoots over slightly, and pushes the other chair with her foot so there is room. She sits down with her hands folded in her lap, ramrod straight as she is inspected by your friend and former mentor.
Feng hmms and haas for a few moments, before nodding and taking a sip of her tea. "I like this one Wei. Was she really wasting away at the NPC?" Jin Lei looks at you a little confused as you nod.
"Mmm, it's a good thing I found her. It'd be a real waste for someone with her obvious talents." You continue to nod in agreement, drinking the tea you'd had her fetch the both of you. "Though, I must say she makes a fine cup of tea." Jin crosses her arms over her chest and huffs, bright red in the face. You can't help but laugh at the poor girl, finally addressing her properly.
"Jin Lei, meet Feng Hui, she's a good friend. As well as the head of the Foreign Affairs Department." Feng offers a hand, smiling at the put-out assistant.
Jin Lei is halfway through shaking when Feng starts to speak, and is visibly confused as you burst out laughing. "Eine Freude, Sie zu treffen. Ihre Kaiserin spricht oft Ihr" You shake your head at your friends attempt at being funny.
"Sie spricht kein Deutsch."
"Das ist der Punkt." You sigh, flicking a piece of rice at your friend as Jin becomes more and more confused. Her confusion does give you an idea though. As far as you are aware the two of you are the only fluent German speakers around. Could make for easy enough code.
"Apologies, Jin. We got a bit carried away.I just wanted to introduce to you the woman that inspired me to strive to higher office." Jin is finally grounded as you begin speaking Mandarin again, and she nods.
Jin Lei's eyes widened, realising she was in the presence of her own idol's idol. "W-well, hopefully we'll be working together! If Wen Hao looks up to you must really be something!" Feng leans back in her chair, grinning from ear to ear.
"Why yes, yes I am."
You shake your head at your friends display of ego, and after a bit more talking and tea, task Jin with showing your new department head around the building.
---
"So, you've been with the ministry for...thirty six years?" Your eyebrow arches as you note that, underlining it as you shift the woman's self-submitted application underneath her performance reports. She shifts uncomfortably as you stare at her.
"I...uh, yes, Minister. That is correct. And I've been with the Treaty and Law department for the past twelve." You nod, and began to properly regard the woman sitting across from your desk. Fairly short, mousey, with glasses and a tightly pulled back bun. The slightly hunched, put-upon way she holds herself reminds you of Gao, though as far as you can tell she lacks his terrible comb-over.
"And in those twelve years you've only been promoted twice. Care to explain?" The way she flinches, you're fairly confident you already know the answer, but she rallies in remarkable time, and sits up slightly straighter.
"Mr. Yuang Meng and I did not see eye to eye politically. He had concerns about my level of education and ability to command my fellow legal experts." You double-check her Alma Mater. Law at Xiamen University isn't great, but that's still a decently respected school. You're impressed by her very diplomatic answer, and continue to question her.
"And would you say that is a fair assessment? Given that your department has men who've graduated with honours from Beijing Law School." She doesn't flinch, or take the bait. Shaking her head, she retorts.
"In over a decade of service, I feel I've proven myself to be a capable lawyer, and have worked at all levels of Treaty and Law. If Mr. Yuang and I did not have our…disagreement then I would have certainly been on his shortlist for Deputy Head."
She's not wrong. Even with his misogyny she was on a shortlist of potential seconds that your people had recovered from his office before his unfortunate fall from grace. You decide to tend the preliminary interview here, shuffling the papers and then placing them in a folder.
"Thank you for your time, Mrs Li. I will have my secretary get back to you, if you make my shortlist." You've got a good feeling about this woman, and you watch her for any signs of potential disrespect as she rises up, giving you a short bow before seeing herself out.
You put the folder away, and buzz Jin, to get her to send your next appointment through.
--
"Five years on the executive board of the AgBank1. Very impressive." You hmm as you look over the resume in front of you, and the smartly dressed, middle aged woman that reminds you very much of yourself smiles beatifically before pushing her glasses up a bit.
"I can assure you that the Chairman of the Bank will vouch for my good work." You nod, eyes drifting to the phone and the back to her.
"Of course. The big question on my mind though, is why leave such a powerful position at the AgBank, for government service? The pay is worse, markedly so. You'd also become a part of the bureaucracy. If the AgBank is anything like the PBC, you'd be under far more scrutiny here."
She gestures to you, still smiling. "Of course. But the executive board is overwhelmingly male, and I'm not afforded the respect I deserve. My dignity is worth more than any paycheck. You Mrs Wen, are what made me jump at this offer. More specifically, your interview with the Economist last month."
Ah, it all comes together. You hadn't really expected as strong a reaction as you'd gotten to that rather frank interview, certainly not the positive attention at least. You smile genially and nod.
"I understand. Now, your resume is obviously impeccable, but I cannot just ration out these jobs as the mood strikes me. You have, however, made it onto my shortlist." You rise from your chair, and she does the same, bowing respectfully.
"Expect a phone call within the next few days, Ms Li."
And with that, she's off. Another interview done. You've never had to talk face to face with so many people in your life. It's exhausting. How does Jin manage?
[X] Finish the damn white-paper! It's taken three quarters to get this fucking thing done! By the time you have it published, you'll need a new one! Bah, you might as well complete it though, you've already gotten most of it done now. (Chance of Success: Very High. Result: White Paper finally finished.)
Roll = 61. It's done. It is finally, finally fucking done. You're so happy. You don't even care how late it is anymore.
"Hey Gao! Guess what?"
"What?"
"Alcohol!"
You fire off the cork of your wine bottle, aiming slightly above his head. Gao ducks with surprising alacrity, and you both watch as it sails over to Jin Lei, who yelps as it lands in her tea.
"Does this mean..?
"We're done! Finally!"
He actually cheers and then asks if you have an extra glass. You nod and grab them from the fridge you've had put in your office, to store lunch and celebratory wine. You pour one out for each of you, and he relaxes.
"Thank god for that…" He groaned as he sipped at the wine, practically melting into your chair, only rising up a bit when the two of you toasted to finally completing a month long project that had, in fact, taken almost eight months.
"We should celebrate." He offered, as you drank more wine, quickly enough you actually have to refill your glass twice before Gao needs a fresh one. You nod along. That could be a good team building exercise, actually! Get everyone together and drag them to a bar.
It's not like Beijing lacks for them, and it'll be good to put everyone at ease that you are not, in fact, a terrifying autocrat who destroys all who challenge her. You can be relaxed! Not often, but it does happen.
You buzz Jin Lei's desk and give her quick instructions to put out an invitation, and soon you, along with a not-insignificant portion of your entire Beijing ministry, are ambling towards a bar. The poor fools at the bar have no clue what is about to happen as you slowly filter in, the reasonably quiet that had existed before your arrival replaced with all the rancor and noise you'd expect from over 200 people drinking on the Ministry account.
For many, many hours you liquor up the department as well as you can, glad-handing and trying to make friends, it's a surreal feeling given that, months ago, most of these men treated you with nothing but contempt. As much as you are enjoying yourself, you do need to occasionally take a break to save a poor barmaid from Feng's depredations. Jin is following after you not unlike a puppy, taking nervous sips from a bottle of vodka you'd foisted on her, trying to find her nerve and say something to you, or to Feng, or maybe she just dislikes the taste of Vodka and wants you to give her something better.
Even if you regret the hangover in the morning, you can't deny that it was worth every single bit of pain. You had fun, and proved to those still terrified of how brutally you'd purged those who crossed you, that you aren't some kind of Communist Party autocrat, and that they can still enjoy themselves without fear of your ruining their reputation.
The White Paper is done and your internal reputation has gone from 'terrifying autocrat' to 'Very hard, but not unapproachable.'
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
With your foreign departments now known to be loyal to you, you can look into expanding the staff they have on hand, though that is a matter for MOFCOM central. With the staff eager to prove they aren't associated with the traitors expelled from the government, hopefully, things can get started regarding opening negotiations. (Pick one)
[X] Open dialogue with the "Tiger of Asia". While South Korea's economy was badly wounded by the Financial Crisis, they aren't in as dire straits as they were, and your relations with the Republic aren't as dire as they once were, you can act in ways the MOFA can't. The Koreans might be suspicious of a diplomat, but a businesswoman? Well, a diplomat's pockets aren't as deep as yours. (Chance of Success: Moderate. Result: Dialogue opened with ROK counterpart. Potential opening of FTA dialogue in future.)
- [X] Call Mr. Kim and ask what his thoughts on working with South Korea for PR. I mean, hey, why not start with carrying a unified Korea flag at the next game?
Roll = 35+10 (Kim Jong Il pulls through for you, thankfully.)
"So, in the script I'm standing in the middle of a river, wearing nothing but a smile, knife in hand, when this giant crab monster jumps out! ANd he starts screaming about how he'll use American nukes to blow up our glorious north korean state!" You all burst into laughter as Kim continues to regale you with tales of the scripts that he has personally been handed, but he leans in, the expensive cognac in his glass sloshing about from the sudden movement.
"And get this, I'm supposed to basically scream this speech my father wrote, cover to cover, and then stab the crab through the eye! And it gets better! Because then the last scene is a happy north korean family eating fucking crab cakes!" He bursts out into laughter, and hands both you, and your South Korean counterpart a copy of the aforementioned script. If it's half as entertaining as he's been drunk regaling you, it might make a decent B-movie. Obviously the propaganda needs to be removed but other than that…
"So like I…" He hiccups and then pours both you and the MOTIE (Ministry Of Trade, Industry and Energy) representative another round of drinks. "Like I was saying, we've got some wild talent here. Crazy, but in a 1980s, Troma Entertainment style of Crazy." As drunk as he is, the MOTIE representative seems terribly confused, but you nod along. You aren't a big fan of Troma movies, but you've seen worse.
"Back to the point at hand though, we need to-" You hiccup, the sheer amount of alcohol you've drunk in the past hour and a half is enough to knock even your tolerance on its ass. "-talk about bilateral trade."
Even as drunk as he is the functionary across from you manages to barely nod in agreement. "Yes, yes, uh….we were talking about a joint venture at Mount Kumgang? I think?" It rings a bell, from the far-gone days of this meeting when everyone wasn't drunk off their ass. You pour out another glass from the bottle of wine and decide that the secretaries can handle it.
The hangover in the morning is even worse than the one you had after the white paper celebration, but you are pleased to note that Kim has been a huge help. He kept notes of the meeting (Or more accurately, a sober secretary did) and you've actually laid the groundwork for some serious, MOFCOM led investments in tourism, in partnership with the two korean governments. Not bad at all!
Relationship with MOTIE established, investment opportunities in North Korea unlocked.
[X] Open dialogue with the "Sick man of Asia". Japan is not what it once was, the collapse of their economy heralded the end of the Asian economic boom, and while everyone has started to recover, Japan is taking her sweet time. To many, the sad state of the Japanese economy is a tragedy. To you? It is an opportunity. Nobody is more willing to make a deal with the devil, than someone with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. (Chance of Success: Moderate-High. Result: Dialogue opened with Japanese counterpart. Potential opening of FTA dialogue in future) [Jin Lei Free Action]
Roll = 88. You have several early successes with your Japanese counterpart.
You are stony faced as the young, attractive man offers you more sake. You do agree after a moment's consideration, and he grins. The Sake is poured and you both begin to drink. "You know, you're lucky. My predecessor would've been a bit more hesitant about meeting with the Chinese." You nod in agreement, empty porcelain cup placed down on the table, swiftly refilled with the hot, fresh rice liquor.
"So I've heard." Your simple response throws the minister for a loop, but the young man is swift to recover, smiling at you.
"I can see you aren't one for distractions, so I'll cut to the chase. Relations between China and Japan have been, for a very long time, quite tense." That's one way to put it, you muse to yourself, as he continues. "But we at the METI, would like to view this revolution as a chance to hit the reset button. To let the past, be the past. And to move forward into a bright, democratic future."
It's impressive spin, given Japan holds almost no cards in the situation as is. Their economy might be huge, but it has ground to a complete halt, their corporate structure is even worse than the party-tainted nightmare you have to face down back home. At least you have many Corporate titans, instead of just the Japanese 'Big Four'.
"Of course, though our past is fraught with problems, if there is to be any progress we need to move forward. To forge new paths to prosperity." He nods, thinking he's gotten you on side with two cups of Sake and some petty flattery. You'd snort, but this is a high-level meeting. The first between China and Japan in quite some time. It would pay dividends to hold your potential derision.
"Indeed! I think it is high time the past was buried and we look towards strengthening all of Asia. Last century may have been the century of the West, but by pulling together, this could be the Eastern Century." It's puff, and you know, that he knows, that you know it, from the way his expression fades slightly right at the end.
"I'm sure the coming months will provide plenty of opportunities like this." He nods in agreement, and the meeting continues. While you'd done some research on your Japanese counterpart and his anti-Chinese stance, you can tell he's desperate to try and increase his stature at home.
He's young, he's charming, and being the man to rectify Japan's flatlining economy would be just the kind of win he'd need to elevate himself, possibly even to the level of eventual Prime Minister. Of course, in your seasoned, economical mind, you can tell he won't succeed. No amount of trade deals will help Japan. Their problem is your problem. One of economic structure. You've got the will to break things, if you must, but you aren't sure this young man does.
Maybe he'll surprise you, but for now, you've made contact with Japan and found an eager, willing ally, in Shoichi Nakagawa.
High-Level Meeting with METI concluded, paving the way for improved relations and investments.
MOFCOM INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Your internal affairs department has done a wonderful job! Gao is especially pleased with them, and has some interesting ideas about what they can be used for now loyalty is more or less assured. (Pick Two.)
[X] Refine infiltration groups. While the extreme effectiveness of the infiltration groups last quarter effectively destroyed organised opposition at a higher level, there are still no doubt traitors within MOFCOM's ranks, eager to rise up the banner and cause you problems. (Chance of Success: Low-Moderate. Result: Department infiltrators will begin deep checks of their departments for disloyal elements.)
Roll = 51. Progress on establishment is slow, but clearly, it is working. Will complete next quarter.
"There are some problems with refining our work, Minister." Gao is hovering over your shoulder, reading off his clipboard, scribbling something down as he talks to you.
"And they are?"
"Size. MOFCOM is simply too large for the level of deep cleaning that we want to get done. Not without overstretching the budget and raising the attentions of our accountants."" You nod along slowly, tapping away at your latest missives to Feng about her work regarding North Korea.
"Of course, I'm in the process of rectifying this. It's just a matter of reworking the night shift, making sure they're split up into small, but still effective teams that can get every little speck of dirt out of the carpets and such." He continues, cheerfully talking about infiltrating your own ministry like he was discussing hiring actual Janitors. Given the state of the carpets around here, you might actually look into that. Just so nobody gets suspicious of how you have so many night janitors and the carpets still look like they haven't been steam cleaned since Mao died.
"Indeed. Make sure that you are careful. Take your time to ensure that the accountants don't notice we've expanded the budget to include things like steam cleaning and bought new, better vacuums." He bows deeply, and then walks past you, tucking his pen into his breast pocket.
"Of course, Minister Wen. I'll make sure of it." And with that, he goes through the door and out of your life for the next few hours. You don't mind if you have to wait for next quarter to have the HQ teams retrained and specialised, this is crucial work, to cut off any future repeat of the 'MOFCOM Nine' incident.
Infiltration teams slowly retrained, expanded, and refined. Gao has taken extra steps to ensure that you cannot be caught out by MOFCOM's accounting team.
[X] A regional janitorial task force. You've got offices outside the capital now, and it's only right you have a proper cleaning staff for those offices! For, as the saying goes, cleanliness is next to godliness. (Chance of Success: Automatic. Result: Regional offices now have 'janitorial' staff.)
Roll = 4. Crit Fail. Well, at least you know what's happening in Hubei...
See - Crisis Turn 1, The War in Afghanistan
MOFCOM REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Ah, the regional affairs office. You need to lay a little more groundwork before properly spreading your wings, but once everything is setup, you can really start to expand regional economic capacity and start to remove trade barriers and the like. Especially along the Yangtze. (Pick one.)
[X] Find out what is going on in Hubei. While you'd like to be able to use the expanded regional offices that you now have, the fact your staff keep getting harassed by criminal groups is deeply concering. You need to have people sent to find out what's going on down there! Fortunately, you just so happen to know a Minister eager to help… (Chance of Success: High. Result: Something is rotten in the Province of Hubei...)
Roll = 3. Crit Fail. Well, at least you know what's happening in Hubei…
See - Crisis Turn 1, The War in Afghanistan
PUBLIC RELATIONS
You've actually gotten some fan mail! There's a lot of it but the one that really sticks out for you is from a young schoolgirl in Hunan province, who tells you that your example has inspired her to pursue a career in governance. You're actually tempted to write her back. (Pick one).
[X] Write back to the young student in Hunan. When you were young, growing up poor in Shanghai, you were never encouraged to aspire more than to work the market stall with your mother, and try to find a good husband. You suffered for years to scrape together the money for university, and more than once thought about throwing everything away and slinking back to that market stall. Nobody ever told you that you could be any more than you were born. And now look at you. You aren't going to let a young girl who looks up to you suffer the same troubles you did. Even if nobody else encourages her, how can you not? (Free action.)
Roll = 41. The letter goes largely unnoticed, but a party functionary does report slightly higher than usual enrolment in Hunan.
You smile when you read a very small local paper from Hunan, which has a picture of the young student holding up your (very) official looking letter. It made the front page in her village's small local paper! It doesn't really have any media impact, but you don't care. This wasn't about the media, this was about helping a little girl find the courage to aspire to more than living in a small town farming and selling rice on the side of the road.
You put the front page up on a shelf behind you, in a place of prominence over the other paraphernalia that litters the shelves of your office. You hope you have plenty more of these to add in the future.
[X] Conduct interviews. There is an increasing buzz about you in the media, after you sacked the 'MOFCOM Nine' late last quarter, and became heavily tied with the populist anti-corruption crusader Li Jinhua. As well, the booming economy and your diplomatic skills have had news agencies falling over themselves to interview you. You've even been approached by 'China Today'! (Chance of Success: High. Result: Public Profile raised further.)
-[X] If we can specify what papers we interview with, I'd really like for us to reach out to the Economist.
Roll = 81. "An interview with the Dragon Lady of New China." is published and is an absolute smash hit. It's certainly a big boon for your personal popularity, especially with people in mixed marriages and women!
WEN HAO, the Minister of Commerce in the People's Republic of China, sat down with the Economist Editorial board on August 9th, 2001. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
The Economist: Could we start with a few personal questions?
Wen Hao: Of course.
The Economist: Your history with the People's Bank of China is very difficult for anyone here to find out much about. Would you care to shed some light on it?
Wen Hao: Not at all, it'd be my pleasure.
I joined the People's Bank in 1982, after graduating with my Master's in Economics from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. I fell in love with all the myriad intricacies and strangeness that comes from working at the Central Bank. It helped that I was also very good at my work. I've always believed in pursuing perfection, it's a personal motto of mine.
From 1982 to 1987 I worked at the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China, but after demonstrating my competence I was promoted to the head of the Department of Accounting, at the then very recently established Frankfurt Branch of the PBC.
It was good, hard work. Often very challenging, but also rewarding. I was not initially well liked by the established head of the Frankfurt branch of the bank, as he was an older man. In his late 60s when I arrived? He was used to things being done a certain way.
The Economist: Did he hold your gender against you?
Wen Hao: Absolutely. Whenever I achieved anything, I was always told what a good job I'd done, with the implication that I'd exceeded their expectations of what a woman could do. There were constant interruptions when I spoke, and I was usually told to get coffee. There really wasn't much I could do about it though. Any complaint would be brushed off as me being overly emotional. Ultimately, you just had to sit down and shut up. Take it like a good example of confucian filial piety and let your 'betters' treat you like you were a part of the office furniture.
In a way I'm almost thankful for them, though. If they hadn't be so relentlessly dismissive and disbelieving of what I could do, I never would've been able to climb the ladder of promotions. Women have to work twice as hard for half the recognition at work, so I just had to work extremely hard to surpass my mediocre male counterparts.
The Economist: So, would you describe your time in Frankfurt as transformative?
Wen Hao: Absolutely. I met the woman who would teach me how to deal with some of the most aggressive, unpleasant sexism and sexual harassment of my career, Feng Hui, a personal hero of mine. And of course, I met my personal emotional support gorilla, my Husband.
The Economist: Focusing on your husband for a second, have you faced any serious issues from being in a mixed race marriage?
Wen Hao: Well, yes. Mixed-race marriages are very controversial in China. A lot of nationalists and traditionalists take the same position that White Supremacists do in the United States and Europe. The idea of 'diluting' or 'polluting' the racial gene pool is thoroughly offensive to them. I actually had to hide my marriage from my Parents until I came back to China in 2000, to contest a seat on the Shanghai List. They were not happy about it at all. They were threatening to disown me, amongst other things.
The Economist: Would you say that's a common experience for men and women in a mixed marriage?
Wen Hao: Unfortunately, yes. It is very much not an accepted thing in China, even in Hong Kong or Macau you'll still have trouble, though nowhere near as much. I know other men and women who've been disowned by family, or forced out of home for marrying outside their race.
The Economist: Has it caused you problems politically?
Wen Hao: Not especially. I've gotten harassed, of course. And received plenty of mean letters from the ultranationalist fringe, but what should I care? Love is Love, and I love my husband no matter what others think of him.
The Economist: While we still have time, can we talk quickly about the Anti-Corruption campaign you've been spearheading?
Wen Hao: Of course.
The Economist: Given the anti-corruption nature of the Jade Revolution, how much emphasis have you placed on clean dealing, at the Ministry?
Wen Hao: Ensuring that my staff are dealing honestly and openly with everyone is part of why the economy has been off to such a good start this quarter. Business people like being able to trust what the Ministry of Commerce says, and even if the Communist party remnants deal in bad faith, that just makes us look better.
I've been working quite hard to turn around public perception of my ministry, and with the help of the National Audit Office, I think we're actually making strong headway. Li Jinhua, whatever you might think of him, is absolutely committed to wiping out corruption within the Chinese government.
The Economist: There are some concerns, we've been told, that he'll start targeting the government itself. Does that worry you?
Wen Hao: Hardly. My Ministry, as we've shown by throwing out the corrupt saboteurs of the 'MOFCOM Nine', has nothing to be afraid of from an anti-corruption investigation. I'm confident in my work cleaning my way through, and by the end of this year, I'll have the Ministry as clean as any government agency can be.
The Economist: Thank you for your time, Minister. Unfortunately we're informed you have another appointment, but we hope we can have another interview with you soon.
Wen Hao: Certainly, thank you for your time as well.
Jin read the article with something like awe. Wen had bought a buildings worth of copies of the latest Economist issue, and distributed it through the building. She couldn't stop reading the interview!
It almost shocked her that someone as brave and seemingly near-unstoppable as Wen Hao would even have problems with people accepting her. She'd always viewed her as this near-mythic creature. A dragon lady forged from pure willpower and dominance. It was reassuring, and also terrifying, to know that Wen Hao had to fight her way up the ladder like she'd been struggling to do at her old job. The bit about being pushed out by family because of who you loved just made her feel miserable. She regretted ever attempting to come out to her family, and if people couldn't even accept Wen's relationship, as amazing, and talented, as she was, what chance did a turbo-lesbian like her ever stand of finding real acceptance?
"Enjoying the article, Lei?"
Jin Lei squeaked as her boss appeared from nowhere, throwing the magazine away in surprise, before blushing in embarrassment. "Y-your, uh, Wen Hao-ness, I-"
"You're forgiven, Lei," Wen Hao chuckled softly, "you did seem pretty engaged with the interview. So? Thoughts?"
Jin Lei coughed, picking up the Economist again, brushing her hand against the cover where Wen Hao's face stood prominently, amidst many of the other leaders of the New China. "Well, it was very good. I think. My English isn't amazing. You're very brave, Wen Hao."
Wen Hao hummed. "It's just an interview. I'm sure you'll have a few yourself in time."
Jin Lei shook her head. "No, not that. You're just - despite everyone judging you, for being a woman, for loving someone different, despite your own family's criticism-"
She leaned forward, cradling the magazine, a few strands of hair falling to cover her glasses. -you're really cool, Wen." Jin Lei whispered.
A small pause, and a sigh. Through her bangs, Jin Lei watched her boss walk around in front of her, and kneel down, a face so often regal and commanding instead soft, a gentle smile tracing it. Wen Hao took Jin Lei's hands, uncurling them from the paper and putting it to the side.
"Lei. I keep telling you, and you keep ignoring me. You're in your twenties, right? You realize that I wasn't even half as brave as you at that age, right?"
Jin Lei's head rocketed up, staring at her boss in disbelief. "No. I'm not brave, nowhere near-"
"When I was your age, I was keeping my head down, trodding along underfoot the men who thought they ruled the world, and sometimes thinking that maybe, just maybe, that was okay. That I'd end up fine with it. That I'd find some nice Chinese boy and I'd become a housewife and never work again."
Wen Hao reached out, index finger pointing right in Jin Lei's face. "You, Jin Lei? You shove your number into an older woman's hands, quit your safe and stable job with the Party, do the work of a dozen secretaries, redesign an entire department within a Ministry, and then have the audacity to tell your boss that you're not doing a good job."
"But-"
"No buts, young lady. It took me two decades to figure out what the hell I wanted, and how I was going to get it. You, though? You know what you want. When that opportunity came, you took it."
Wen Hao stood, grabbing the Economist as she did. She put it back in Jin Lei's hands, and pointed down on the cover, where the dragon lady stared back up. "One day, it will be you on this cover, Lei. I know it. Have faith. Because I certainly have faith in you."
Jin Lei nodded mutely, thoughts roiling.
"Come on then," Wen Hao turned away, striding back to her office, "We've got work to do, and I know I can't do it without MOFCOM's best secretary at my back!"
Jin Lei looked down once more, tracing the magazine's cover, before rolling it up and setting it inside her blazer, before following right after Wen Hao, red-rimmed eyes doing nothing to prevent a smile from once again adorning her face. "Of course, Minister!"
[X] Both sides have valid arguments, the potential benefits for China's R&D are extensive yet your enthusiasm for this part of the agreement is dampened by the fact that China would be receiving access to military technology that is already 10 years out of date. Furthermore, the commitment with regards to access to Russian oil again has great benefits but is more a short-term solution to the long-term problem of China's energy security. In addition to all this Russia seeks to at least tie us to them somewhat, especially with regards to security interests as expressed in the original article 9 of the agreement. With the Hainan incident having occurred so recently its a potential inflammatory move to agree with article 9 as it exists at the moment and on this, you largely agree with the President. You will seek to re-balance the treaty somewhat, looking specifically to enhance and extend provisions on cooperation over military know-how and energy while tying the nebulous issue of threats to both China and Russia to a consultation, coordination and cooperation achieved through the mechanism of regular meetings at all levels. This will distance the perception that this agreement is something of a defensive alliance while setting the groundwork for cooperation on military and energy issues.
The Negotiations.
Pro-Treaty (78+20) vs. Anti-Treaty (43) vs. Third Way. (96 +10 +5)
It isn't easy to get your way, but you hadn't expected it to be. Your compromise plan invariably receives push back from both sides, but after a thoroughly misguided attempt to sabotage your revision of article 9 by the Anti-treaty side, the Pro-treaty group at the negotiating table ultimately decide you are the lesser of two evils, and that, even if it means giving up their precious idea of a reinsurance treaty with the Russians, it is preferable to have a proper deal in place.
Once again, Tao Siju proves his worth by providing you with very up to date Russian government figures, to imply to the foreign minister he'd attempted to deceive you about the sheer amount of crude the Russian's are pumping.
Still, even with the revisions, by the end of the quarter you've finished negotiations, more or less on your own terms as well, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is thrown into Chaos by the September 11 attacks in the United States, and the Ministry of Defence is thrown into Chaos by the re-emergence of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
As tragic as the events that have occured are, though, it does give you significant leeway, after you'd attended ceremonies for the MOFCOM officials that lost their lives in the attacks, of course.
Article 9 is amended, the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs are too distracted by ongoing crises to care that you take control of the negotiations.
MOFCOM CENTRAL BUREAUCRACY
MOFCOM CENTRAL is your Headquarters, and from your office on the top floor, you oversee the sprawling bureaucracy that is the ministry of commerce. With a loyal, eager secretary in Jin Lei, a capable Assistant Minister in Gao Yucheng, and a freshly tamed ministry, you're feeling pretty good about this quarter! (Pick 3 Options.)
[X] Reorganise departments. Now you've tamed the bureaucracy (more or less) it's time to start reorganising departments along more modern lines, and making things run much more smoothly. You could probably start the re-organisation by merging the foreign departments under one branch, but you're sure there are other things you could do. (Chance of Success: Moderate. Results: Department streamlining options become available, including a PLAYER CHOICE streamlining option this turn.)
Roll = 92. Jin Lei's plan goes off more or less without a hitch. The department of foreign affairs is radically overhauled in line with what your extremely competent secretary has been planning.
You were thoroughly impressed with Jin Lei's work, when you got a chance to properly inspect it. It's meticulously logged and contains all the planned organisational structures for a radically overhauled foreign affairs department.
Under the new system, the old offices of FEO, Asian Affairs, Western Asian & African Affairs, American & Oceanian Affairs, International Trade and Economic Affairs, and the department overseeing Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macau are all downgraded from full departments within the broader MOFCOM, to smaller departments answering to the newly reorganized Foreign Affairs Office.
Unfortunately the President caught wind of what you were doing, and was none too pleased you'd been restructuring the Ministry without his go ahead. When you point out that, in fact, he had never stated you needed his approval for new hires or low level restructuring, he relents. Though only after you offer the olive branch of keeping the Foreign Aid Office, a baby of his, at full strength and level of importance. You'll drag them under the Foreign Affairs Office at some point, but even as it stands you've made good progress.
In just a few phone calls you've had an old friend from your People's Bank days flown over, interviewed, and while you do entertain other offers for the position, she's done well enough that even Gao, who is not blinded by old friendships like yourself, agrees she's the best choice.
Fei Hung, former head of the Foreign Relations department of the People's Bank in Frankfurt, and your (sometimes) mentor back in the day. She magnanimously accepts the job, and within the month you've got her in your office, the tall Shanghai native whipping her new, massive brief into shape with record speed.
Foreign Affairs Offices have been merged into the more broad, and efficient, Foreign Affairs Department, headed up by Fei Hung, your old boss during your PBC Frankfurt days.
[X] A woman's touch. That MOFCOM is a man's world does not surprise you. You were one of two females in your university course when you were younger, and you doubt that has much changed. Promoting more women to positions of authority in your ministry is potentially risky, but you aren't concerned, not that much, at least. You and Gao will make sure that the female candidates that succeed are the best candidate for the role. You'll just be making extra sure that women are being considered by your headhunters. (Chance of Success: Unknown Result: You will place special emphasis on hiring female department heads, from within MOFCOM and without.) CAN BE COMBINED WITH OTHER TWO
Roll = 69. Things go smoothly. Sort of. They could've gone worse, at least.
"So, tell me Wei. How does someone sabotage a white paper?" Fei is idly stirring her pho with her chopsticks as she picks at your brain, the fifty six year old looking not a day over forty as she smiles.
"Ugh, god. Don't get me started." You really don't want to get into it, but Fei is insistent, and you have a feeling she might not take you seriously if you just brush it off, so after a mouthful of rice, you decide to explain.
"Well, the massively shortened version of it, is they'd give us incorrect information, take days to weeks to update it, and delay, delay, and delay. I'd started making some progress during the first Quarter, but then…" She makes an 'ah' noise and nods sagely.
"So they kept knocking you off balance? Not a bad strategy. I'd have lost my temper and taken a cleaver to one of them if they'd tried that with me." You both laugh as your tea comes is brought over by your secretary and all around aide-de-camp, Jin Lei.
"Now, Feng I'd like you to meet the woman of the hour. Jin Lei." You take the tea and gesture for her to sit down. Jin hovers awkwardly for a second before Feng scoots over slightly, and pushes the other chair with her foot so there is room. She sits down with her hands folded in her lap, ramrod straight as she is inspected by your friend and former mentor.
Feng hmms and haas for a few moments, before nodding and taking a sip of her tea. "I like this one Wei. Was she really wasting away at the NPC?" Jin Lei looks at you a little confused as you nod.
"Mmm, it's a good thing I found her. It'd be a real waste for someone with her obvious talents." You continue to nod in agreement, drinking the tea you'd had her fetch the both of you. "Though, I must say she makes a fine cup of tea." Jin crosses her arms over her chest and huffs, bright red in the face. You can't help but laugh at the poor girl, finally addressing her properly.
"Jin Lei, meet Feng Hui, she's a good friend. As well as the head of the Foreign Affairs Department." Feng offers a hand, smiling at the put-out assistant.
Jin Lei is halfway through shaking when Feng starts to speak, and is visibly confused as you burst out laughing. "Eine Freude, Sie zu treffen. Ihre Kaiserin spricht oft Ihr" You shake your head at your friends attempt at being funny.
"Sie spricht kein Deutsch."
"Das ist der Punkt." You sigh, flicking a piece of rice at your friend as Jin becomes more and more confused. Her confusion does give you an idea though. As far as you are aware the two of you are the only fluent German speakers around. Could make for easy enough code.
"Apologies, Jin. We got a bit carried away.I just wanted to introduce to you the woman that inspired me to strive to higher office." Jin is finally grounded as you begin speaking Mandarin again, and she nods.
Jin Lei's eyes widened, realising she was in the presence of her own idol's idol. "W-well, hopefully we'll be working together! If Wen Hao looks up to you must really be something!" Feng leans back in her chair, grinning from ear to ear.
"Why yes, yes I am."
You shake your head at your friends display of ego, and after a bit more talking and tea, task Jin with showing your new department head around the building.
---
"So, you've been with the ministry for...thirty six years?" Your eyebrow arches as you note that, underlining it as you shift the woman's self-submitted application underneath her performance reports. She shifts uncomfortably as you stare at her.
"I...uh, yes, Minister. That is correct. And I've been with the Treaty and Law department for the past twelve." You nod, and began to properly regard the woman sitting across from your desk. Fairly short, mousey, with glasses and a tightly pulled back bun. The slightly hunched, put-upon way she holds herself reminds you of Gao, though as far as you can tell she lacks his terrible comb-over.
"And in those twelve years you've only been promoted twice. Care to explain?" The way she flinches, you're fairly confident you already know the answer, but she rallies in remarkable time, and sits up slightly straighter.
"Mr. Yuang Meng and I did not see eye to eye politically. He had concerns about my level of education and ability to command my fellow legal experts." You double-check her Alma Mater. Law at Xiamen University isn't great, but that's still a decently respected school. You're impressed by her very diplomatic answer, and continue to question her.
"And would you say that is a fair assessment? Given that your department has men who've graduated with honours from Beijing Law School." She doesn't flinch, or take the bait. Shaking her head, she retorts.
"In over a decade of service, I feel I've proven myself to be a capable lawyer, and have worked at all levels of Treaty and Law. If Mr. Yuang and I did not have our…disagreement then I would have certainly been on his shortlist for Deputy Head."
She's not wrong. Even with his misogyny she was on a shortlist of potential seconds that your people had recovered from his office before his unfortunate fall from grace. You decide to tend the preliminary interview here, shuffling the papers and then placing them in a folder.
"Thank you for your time, Mrs Li. I will have my secretary get back to you, if you make my shortlist." You've got a good feeling about this woman, and you watch her for any signs of potential disrespect as she rises up, giving you a short bow before seeing herself out.
You put the folder away, and buzz Jin, to get her to send your next appointment through.
--
"Five years on the executive board of the AgBank1. Very impressive." You hmm as you look over the resume in front of you, and the smartly dressed, middle aged woman that reminds you very much of yourself smiles beatifically before pushing her glasses up a bit.
"I can assure you that the Chairman of the Bank will vouch for my good work." You nod, eyes drifting to the phone and the back to her.
"Of course. The big question on my mind though, is why leave such a powerful position at the AgBank, for government service? The pay is worse, markedly so. You'd also become a part of the bureaucracy. If the AgBank is anything like the PBC, you'd be under far more scrutiny here."
She gestures to you, still smiling. "Of course. But the executive board is overwhelmingly male, and I'm not afforded the respect I deserve. My dignity is worth more than any paycheck. You Mrs Wen, are what made me jump at this offer. More specifically, your interview with the Economist last month."
Ah, it all comes together. You hadn't really expected as strong a reaction as you'd gotten to that rather frank interview, certainly not the positive attention at least. You smile genially and nod.
"I understand. Now, your resume is obviously impeccable, but I cannot just ration out these jobs as the mood strikes me. You have, however, made it onto my shortlist." You rise from your chair, and she does the same, bowing respectfully.
"Expect a phone call within the next few days, Ms Li."
And with that, she's off. Another interview done. You've never had to talk face to face with so many people in your life. It's exhausting. How does Jin manage?
[X] Finish the damn white-paper! It's taken three quarters to get this fucking thing done! By the time you have it published, you'll need a new one! Bah, you might as well complete it though, you've already gotten most of it done now. (Chance of Success: Very High. Result: White Paper finally finished.)
Roll = 61. It's done. It is finally, finally fucking done. You're so happy. You don't even care how late it is anymore.
"Hey Gao! Guess what?"
"What?"
"Alcohol!"
You fire off the cork of your wine bottle, aiming slightly above his head. Gao ducks with surprising alacrity, and you both watch as it sails over to Jin Lei, who yelps as it lands in her tea.
"Does this mean..?
"We're done! Finally!"
He actually cheers and then asks if you have an extra glass. You nod and grab them from the fridge you've had put in your office, to store lunch and celebratory wine. You pour one out for each of you, and he relaxes.
"Thank god for that…" He groaned as he sipped at the wine, practically melting into your chair, only rising up a bit when the two of you toasted to finally completing a month long project that had, in fact, taken almost eight months.
"We should celebrate." He offered, as you drank more wine, quickly enough you actually have to refill your glass twice before Gao needs a fresh one. You nod along. That could be a good team building exercise, actually! Get everyone together and drag them to a bar.
It's not like Beijing lacks for them, and it'll be good to put everyone at ease that you are not, in fact, a terrifying autocrat who destroys all who challenge her. You can be relaxed! Not often, but it does happen.
You buzz Jin Lei's desk and give her quick instructions to put out an invitation, and soon you, along with a not-insignificant portion of your entire Beijing ministry, are ambling towards a bar. The poor fools at the bar have no clue what is about to happen as you slowly filter in, the reasonably quiet that had existed before your arrival replaced with all the rancor and noise you'd expect from over 200 people drinking on the Ministry account.
For many, many hours you liquor up the department as well as you can, glad-handing and trying to make friends, it's a surreal feeling given that, months ago, most of these men treated you with nothing but contempt. As much as you are enjoying yourself, you do need to occasionally take a break to save a poor barmaid from Feng's depredations. Jin is following after you not unlike a puppy, taking nervous sips from a bottle of vodka you'd foisted on her, trying to find her nerve and say something to you, or to Feng, or maybe she just dislikes the taste of Vodka and wants you to give her something better.
Even if you regret the hangover in the morning, you can't deny that it was worth every single bit of pain. You had fun, and proved to those still terrified of how brutally you'd purged those who crossed you, that you aren't some kind of Communist Party autocrat, and that they can still enjoy themselves without fear of your ruining their reputation.
The White Paper is done and your internal reputation has gone from 'terrifying autocrat' to 'Very hard, but not unapproachable.'
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
With your foreign departments now known to be loyal to you, you can look into expanding the staff they have on hand, though that is a matter for MOFCOM central. With the staff eager to prove they aren't associated with the traitors expelled from the government, hopefully, things can get started regarding opening negotiations. (Pick one)
[X] Open dialogue with the "Tiger of Asia". While South Korea's economy was badly wounded by the Financial Crisis, they aren't in as dire straits as they were, and your relations with the Republic aren't as dire as they once were, you can act in ways the MOFA can't. The Koreans might be suspicious of a diplomat, but a businesswoman? Well, a diplomat's pockets aren't as deep as yours. (Chance of Success: Moderate. Result: Dialogue opened with ROK counterpart. Potential opening of FTA dialogue in future.)
- [X] Call Mr. Kim and ask what his thoughts on working with South Korea for PR. I mean, hey, why not start with carrying a unified Korea flag at the next game?
Roll = 35+10 (Kim Jong Il pulls through for you, thankfully.)
"So, in the script I'm standing in the middle of a river, wearing nothing but a smile, knife in hand, when this giant crab monster jumps out! ANd he starts screaming about how he'll use American nukes to blow up our glorious north korean state!" You all burst into laughter as Kim continues to regale you with tales of the scripts that he has personally been handed, but he leans in, the expensive cognac in his glass sloshing about from the sudden movement.
"And get this, I'm supposed to basically scream this speech my father wrote, cover to cover, and then stab the crab through the eye! And it gets better! Because then the last scene is a happy north korean family eating fucking crab cakes!" He bursts out into laughter, and hands both you, and your South Korean counterpart a copy of the aforementioned script. If it's half as entertaining as he's been drunk regaling you, it might make a decent B-movie. Obviously the propaganda needs to be removed but other than that…
"So like I…" He hiccups and then pours both you and the MOTIE (Ministry Of Trade, Industry and Energy) representative another round of drinks. "Like I was saying, we've got some wild talent here. Crazy, but in a 1980s, Troma Entertainment style of Crazy." As drunk as he is, the MOTIE representative seems terribly confused, but you nod along. You aren't a big fan of Troma movies, but you've seen worse.
"Back to the point at hand though, we need to-" You hiccup, the sheer amount of alcohol you've drunk in the past hour and a half is enough to knock even your tolerance on its ass. "-talk about bilateral trade."
Even as drunk as he is the functionary across from you manages to barely nod in agreement. "Yes, yes, uh….we were talking about a joint venture at Mount Kumgang? I think?" It rings a bell, from the far-gone days of this meeting when everyone wasn't drunk off their ass. You pour out another glass from the bottle of wine and decide that the secretaries can handle it.
The hangover in the morning is even worse than the one you had after the white paper celebration, but you are pleased to note that Kim has been a huge help. He kept notes of the meeting (Or more accurately, a sober secretary did) and you've actually laid the groundwork for some serious, MOFCOM led investments in tourism, in partnership with the two korean governments. Not bad at all!
Relationship with MOTIE established, investment opportunities in North Korea unlocked.
[X] Open dialogue with the "Sick man of Asia". Japan is not what it once was, the collapse of their economy heralded the end of the Asian economic boom, and while everyone has started to recover, Japan is taking her sweet time. To many, the sad state of the Japanese economy is a tragedy. To you? It is an opportunity. Nobody is more willing to make a deal with the devil, than someone with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. (Chance of Success: Moderate-High. Result: Dialogue opened with Japanese counterpart. Potential opening of FTA dialogue in future) [Jin Lei Free Action]
Roll = 88. You have several early successes with your Japanese counterpart.
You are stony faced as the young, attractive man offers you more sake. You do agree after a moment's consideration, and he grins. The Sake is poured and you both begin to drink. "You know, you're lucky. My predecessor would've been a bit more hesitant about meeting with the Chinese." You nod in agreement, empty porcelain cup placed down on the table, swiftly refilled with the hot, fresh rice liquor.
"So I've heard." Your simple response throws the minister for a loop, but the young man is swift to recover, smiling at you.
"I can see you aren't one for distractions, so I'll cut to the chase. Relations between China and Japan have been, for a very long time, quite tense." That's one way to put it, you muse to yourself, as he continues. "But we at the METI, would like to view this revolution as a chance to hit the reset button. To let the past, be the past. And to move forward into a bright, democratic future."
It's impressive spin, given Japan holds almost no cards in the situation as is. Their economy might be huge, but it has ground to a complete halt, their corporate structure is even worse than the party-tainted nightmare you have to face down back home. At least you have many Corporate titans, instead of just the Japanese 'Big Four'.
"Of course, though our past is fraught with problems, if there is to be any progress we need to move forward. To forge new paths to prosperity." He nods, thinking he's gotten you on side with two cups of Sake and some petty flattery. You'd snort, but this is a high-level meeting. The first between China and Japan in quite some time. It would pay dividends to hold your potential derision.
"Indeed! I think it is high time the past was buried and we look towards strengthening all of Asia. Last century may have been the century of the West, but by pulling together, this could be the Eastern Century." It's puff, and you know, that he knows, that you know it, from the way his expression fades slightly right at the end.
"I'm sure the coming months will provide plenty of opportunities like this." He nods in agreement, and the meeting continues. While you'd done some research on your Japanese counterpart and his anti-Chinese stance, you can tell he's desperate to try and increase his stature at home.
He's young, he's charming, and being the man to rectify Japan's flatlining economy would be just the kind of win he'd need to elevate himself, possibly even to the level of eventual Prime Minister. Of course, in your seasoned, economical mind, you can tell he won't succeed. No amount of trade deals will help Japan. Their problem is your problem. One of economic structure. You've got the will to break things, if you must, but you aren't sure this young man does.
Maybe he'll surprise you, but for now, you've made contact with Japan and found an eager, willing ally, in Shoichi Nakagawa.
High-Level Meeting with METI concluded, paving the way for improved relations and investments.
MOFCOM INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Your internal affairs department has done a wonderful job! Gao is especially pleased with them, and has some interesting ideas about what they can be used for now loyalty is more or less assured. (Pick Two.)
[X] Refine infiltration groups. While the extreme effectiveness of the infiltration groups last quarter effectively destroyed organised opposition at a higher level, there are still no doubt traitors within MOFCOM's ranks, eager to rise up the banner and cause you problems. (Chance of Success: Low-Moderate. Result: Department infiltrators will begin deep checks of their departments for disloyal elements.)
Roll = 51. Progress on establishment is slow, but clearly, it is working. Will complete next quarter.
"There are some problems with refining our work, Minister." Gao is hovering over your shoulder, reading off his clipboard, scribbling something down as he talks to you.
"And they are?"
"Size. MOFCOM is simply too large for the level of deep cleaning that we want to get done. Not without overstretching the budget and raising the attentions of our accountants."" You nod along slowly, tapping away at your latest missives to Feng about her work regarding North Korea.
"Of course, I'm in the process of rectifying this. It's just a matter of reworking the night shift, making sure they're split up into small, but still effective teams that can get every little speck of dirt out of the carpets and such." He continues, cheerfully talking about infiltrating your own ministry like he was discussing hiring actual Janitors. Given the state of the carpets around here, you might actually look into that. Just so nobody gets suspicious of how you have so many night janitors and the carpets still look like they haven't been steam cleaned since Mao died.
"Indeed. Make sure that you are careful. Take your time to ensure that the accountants don't notice we've expanded the budget to include things like steam cleaning and bought new, better vacuums." He bows deeply, and then walks past you, tucking his pen into his breast pocket.
"Of course, Minister Wen. I'll make sure of it." And with that, he goes through the door and out of your life for the next few hours. You don't mind if you have to wait for next quarter to have the HQ teams retrained and specialised, this is crucial work, to cut off any future repeat of the 'MOFCOM Nine' incident.
Infiltration teams slowly retrained, expanded, and refined. Gao has taken extra steps to ensure that you cannot be caught out by MOFCOM's accounting team.
[X] A regional janitorial task force. You've got offices outside the capital now, and it's only right you have a proper cleaning staff for those offices! For, as the saying goes, cleanliness is next to godliness. (Chance of Success: Automatic. Result: Regional offices now have 'janitorial' staff.)
Roll = 4. Crit Fail. Well, at least you know what's happening in Hubei...
See - Crisis Turn 1, The War in Afghanistan
MOFCOM REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Ah, the regional affairs office. You need to lay a little more groundwork before properly spreading your wings, but once everything is setup, you can really start to expand regional economic capacity and start to remove trade barriers and the like. Especially along the Yangtze. (Pick one.)
[X] Find out what is going on in Hubei. While you'd like to be able to use the expanded regional offices that you now have, the fact your staff keep getting harassed by criminal groups is deeply concering. You need to have people sent to find out what's going on down there! Fortunately, you just so happen to know a Minister eager to help… (Chance of Success: High. Result: Something is rotten in the Province of Hubei...)
Roll = 3. Crit Fail. Well, at least you know what's happening in Hubei…
See - Crisis Turn 1, The War in Afghanistan
PUBLIC RELATIONS
You've actually gotten some fan mail! There's a lot of it but the one that really sticks out for you is from a young schoolgirl in Hunan province, who tells you that your example has inspired her to pursue a career in governance. You're actually tempted to write her back. (Pick one).
[X] Write back to the young student in Hunan. When you were young, growing up poor in Shanghai, you were never encouraged to aspire more than to work the market stall with your mother, and try to find a good husband. You suffered for years to scrape together the money for university, and more than once thought about throwing everything away and slinking back to that market stall. Nobody ever told you that you could be any more than you were born. And now look at you. You aren't going to let a young girl who looks up to you suffer the same troubles you did. Even if nobody else encourages her, how can you not? (Free action.)
Roll = 41. The letter goes largely unnoticed, but a party functionary does report slightly higher than usual enrolment in Hunan.
You smile when you read a very small local paper from Hunan, which has a picture of the young student holding up your (very) official looking letter. It made the front page in her village's small local paper! It doesn't really have any media impact, but you don't care. This wasn't about the media, this was about helping a little girl find the courage to aspire to more than living in a small town farming and selling rice on the side of the road.
You put the front page up on a shelf behind you, in a place of prominence over the other paraphernalia that litters the shelves of your office. You hope you have plenty more of these to add in the future.
[X] Conduct interviews. There is an increasing buzz about you in the media, after you sacked the 'MOFCOM Nine' late last quarter, and became heavily tied with the populist anti-corruption crusader Li Jinhua. As well, the booming economy and your diplomatic skills have had news agencies falling over themselves to interview you. You've even been approached by 'China Today'! (Chance of Success: High. Result: Public Profile raised further.)
-[X] If we can specify what papers we interview with, I'd really like for us to reach out to the Economist.
Roll = 81. "An interview with the Dragon Lady of New China." is published and is an absolute smash hit. It's certainly a big boon for your personal popularity, especially with people in mixed marriages and women!
WEN HAO, the Minister of Commerce in the People's Republic of China, sat down with the Economist Editorial board on August 9th, 2001. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
The Economist: Could we start with a few personal questions?
Wen Hao: Of course.
The Economist: Your history with the People's Bank of China is very difficult for anyone here to find out much about. Would you care to shed some light on it?
Wen Hao: Not at all, it'd be my pleasure.
I joined the People's Bank in 1982, after graduating with my Master's in Economics from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. I fell in love with all the myriad intricacies and strangeness that comes from working at the Central Bank. It helped that I was also very good at my work. I've always believed in pursuing perfection, it's a personal motto of mine.
From 1982 to 1987 I worked at the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China, but after demonstrating my competence I was promoted to the head of the Department of Accounting, at the then very recently established Frankfurt Branch of the PBC.
It was good, hard work. Often very challenging, but also rewarding. I was not initially well liked by the established head of the Frankfurt branch of the bank, as he was an older man. In his late 60s when I arrived? He was used to things being done a certain way.
The Economist: Did he hold your gender against you?
Wen Hao: Absolutely. Whenever I achieved anything, I was always told what a good job I'd done, with the implication that I'd exceeded their expectations of what a woman could do. There were constant interruptions when I spoke, and I was usually told to get coffee. There really wasn't much I could do about it though. Any complaint would be brushed off as me being overly emotional. Ultimately, you just had to sit down and shut up. Take it like a good example of confucian filial piety and let your 'betters' treat you like you were a part of the office furniture.
In a way I'm almost thankful for them, though. If they hadn't be so relentlessly dismissive and disbelieving of what I could do, I never would've been able to climb the ladder of promotions. Women have to work twice as hard for half the recognition at work, so I just had to work extremely hard to surpass my mediocre male counterparts.
The Economist: So, would you describe your time in Frankfurt as transformative?
Wen Hao: Absolutely. I met the woman who would teach me how to deal with some of the most aggressive, unpleasant sexism and sexual harassment of my career, Feng Hui, a personal hero of mine. And of course, I met my personal emotional support gorilla, my Husband.
The Economist: Focusing on your husband for a second, have you faced any serious issues from being in a mixed race marriage?
Wen Hao: Well, yes. Mixed-race marriages are very controversial in China. A lot of nationalists and traditionalists take the same position that White Supremacists do in the United States and Europe. The idea of 'diluting' or 'polluting' the racial gene pool is thoroughly offensive to them. I actually had to hide my marriage from my Parents until I came back to China in 2000, to contest a seat on the Shanghai List. They were not happy about it at all. They were threatening to disown me, amongst other things.
The Economist: Would you say that's a common experience for men and women in a mixed marriage?
Wen Hao: Unfortunately, yes. It is very much not an accepted thing in China, even in Hong Kong or Macau you'll still have trouble, though nowhere near as much. I know other men and women who've been disowned by family, or forced out of home for marrying outside their race.
The Economist: Has it caused you problems politically?
Wen Hao: Not especially. I've gotten harassed, of course. And received plenty of mean letters from the ultranationalist fringe, but what should I care? Love is Love, and I love my husband no matter what others think of him.
The Economist: While we still have time, can we talk quickly about the Anti-Corruption campaign you've been spearheading?
Wen Hao: Of course.
The Economist: Given the anti-corruption nature of the Jade Revolution, how much emphasis have you placed on clean dealing, at the Ministry?
Wen Hao: Ensuring that my staff are dealing honestly and openly with everyone is part of why the economy has been off to such a good start this quarter. Business people like being able to trust what the Ministry of Commerce says, and even if the Communist party remnants deal in bad faith, that just makes us look better.
I've been working quite hard to turn around public perception of my ministry, and with the help of the National Audit Office, I think we're actually making strong headway. Li Jinhua, whatever you might think of him, is absolutely committed to wiping out corruption within the Chinese government.
The Economist: There are some concerns, we've been told, that he'll start targeting the government itself. Does that worry you?
Wen Hao: Hardly. My Ministry, as we've shown by throwing out the corrupt saboteurs of the 'MOFCOM Nine', has nothing to be afraid of from an anti-corruption investigation. I'm confident in my work cleaning my way through, and by the end of this year, I'll have the Ministry as clean as any government agency can be.
The Economist: Thank you for your time, Minister. Unfortunately we're informed you have another appointment, but we hope we can have another interview with you soon.
Wen Hao: Certainly, thank you for your time as well.
Jin read the article with something like awe. Wen had bought a buildings worth of copies of the latest Economist issue, and distributed it through the building. She couldn't stop reading the interview!
It almost shocked her that someone as brave and seemingly near-unstoppable as Wen Hao would even have problems with people accepting her. She'd always viewed her as this near-mythic creature. A dragon lady forged from pure willpower and dominance. It was reassuring, and also terrifying, to know that Wen Hao had to fight her way up the ladder like she'd been struggling to do at her old job. The bit about being pushed out by family because of who you loved just made her feel miserable. She regretted ever attempting to come out to her family, and if people couldn't even accept Wen's relationship, as amazing, and talented, as she was, what chance did a turbo-lesbian like her ever stand of finding real acceptance?
"Enjoying the article, Lei?"
Jin Lei squeaked as her boss appeared from nowhere, throwing the magazine away in surprise, before blushing in embarrassment. "Y-your, uh, Wen Hao-ness, I-"
"You're forgiven, Lei," Wen Hao chuckled softly, "you did seem pretty engaged with the interview. So? Thoughts?"
Jin Lei coughed, picking up the Economist again, brushing her hand against the cover where Wen Hao's face stood prominently, amidst many of the other leaders of the New China. "Well, it was very good. I think. My English isn't amazing. You're very brave, Wen Hao."
Wen Hao hummed. "It's just an interview. I'm sure you'll have a few yourself in time."
Jin Lei shook her head. "No, not that. You're just - despite everyone judging you, for being a woman, for loving someone different, despite your own family's criticism-"
She leaned forward, cradling the magazine, a few strands of hair falling to cover her glasses. -you're really cool, Wen." Jin Lei whispered.
A small pause, and a sigh. Through her bangs, Jin Lei watched her boss walk around in front of her, and kneel down, a face so often regal and commanding instead soft, a gentle smile tracing it. Wen Hao took Jin Lei's hands, uncurling them from the paper and putting it to the side.
"Lei. I keep telling you, and you keep ignoring me. You're in your twenties, right? You realize that I wasn't even half as brave as you at that age, right?"
Jin Lei's head rocketed up, staring at her boss in disbelief. "No. I'm not brave, nowhere near-"
"When I was your age, I was keeping my head down, trodding along underfoot the men who thought they ruled the world, and sometimes thinking that maybe, just maybe, that was okay. That I'd end up fine with it. That I'd find some nice Chinese boy and I'd become a housewife and never work again."
Wen Hao reached out, index finger pointing right in Jin Lei's face. "You, Jin Lei? You shove your number into an older woman's hands, quit your safe and stable job with the Party, do the work of a dozen secretaries, redesign an entire department within a Ministry, and then have the audacity to tell your boss that you're not doing a good job."
"But-"
"No buts, young lady. It took me two decades to figure out what the hell I wanted, and how I was going to get it. You, though? You know what you want. When that opportunity came, you took it."
Wen Hao stood, grabbing the Economist as she did. She put it back in Jin Lei's hands, and pointed down on the cover, where the dragon lady stared back up. "One day, it will be you on this cover, Lei. I know it. Have faith. Because I certainly have faith in you."
Jin Lei nodded mutely, thoughts roiling.
"Come on then," Wen Hao turned away, striding back to her office, "We've got work to do, and I know I can't do it without MOFCOM's best secretary at my back!"
Jin Lei looked down once more, tracing the magazine's cover, before rolling it up and setting it inside her blazer, before following right after Wen Hao, red-rimmed eyes doing nothing to prevent a smile from once again adorning her face. "Of course, Minister!"
IMPORTANT FIGURES
GDP Growth: Stable at 3%
The after effects of 9/12 put a damper on what had been an extremely good economic quarter for you. Growth in trade with the Koreans and an easing off of tensions, and clarification on where everyone stands regarding Japan lead to great gains. While those gains weren't wiped out during the terrorist attacks on the 12th, they were hurt by them. At least you hit your growth goal this quarter.
Hong Kong Relations: 75/100
Macau Relations: 85/100
The 9/12 attacks, even as they hurt the economy and sent shockwaves around the world, have created a massive rally around the flag moment in China, even in Hong Kong there are people attending pro-Government rallies, and donations to the victims flood into your office. As well as wreaths, ghost money, promises of prayer, support and outright horror at what's happened.
It's a dark day for China, but it is always darkest before the dawn.
Notable Headlines of Q3
While you'd been getting some decent press this cycle, everything is immediately consumed by the 9/11 and 9/12 attacks from then on forward. There's a constant sense of anxiety and unease, with everyone waiting to see what happens next. The Americans are on the warpath, and so are most of the ministries in China.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DRAGON LADY (The Economist, August 15th, 2001)
LOCAL STUDENT HONORED BY MINISTER (Hunan Post, August 18th, 2001)
SMOOTH SAILING - PIRACY IN MALACCA 'UNDER CONTROL' (South China Morning Post, August 29th, 2001)
SECURITY MINISTER UPGRADES THREAT RATING (Shanghai Post, September 3rd, 2001)
BUS FIRE IN WUHAN KILLS 25, HUBEI FIRST MINISTER DEFLECTS BLAME (Wuhan Times, September 9th, 2001)
WE WILL NEVER FORGET (Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 12, 2001)
PURE EVIL (Herald Sun, September 12, 2001)
WAR! (O Dia, September 12, 2001)
A DAY OF INFAMY (Tulsa World, September 12, 2001)
BASTARDS STRIKE AGAIN (The Examiner, September 12, 2001)
SMASH THE THREE EVILS! ISLAMISM MUST BE ERADICATED! (Global Times, September 13, 2001)
PRESIDENT BUSH CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AGAINST AL-QAEDA AND ALLIES (Shanghai Post, September 13, 2001)
DEATH TOLL IN WUHAN COULD BE CLOSE TO 500 (Wuhan Times, September 13, 2001)
DEFENCE MINISTER: WE WILL CRUSH TERRORISTS WHEREVER THEY HIDE (Hunan Free Press, September 13, 2001)
THOUSANDS DEAD IN GLOBAL TERROR CAMPAIGN (Winnipeg Free Press, September 14, 2001)
PRESIDENT BUSH: I DECLARE A WAR ON TERROR (The Examiner, September 20, 2001)
SMASH TERRORISM: THE CASE FOR ALLYING THE IMPERIALISTS (Shanghai Post, September 21, 2001)
GDP Growth: Stable at 3%
The after effects of 9/12 put a damper on what had been an extremely good economic quarter for you. Growth in trade with the Koreans and an easing off of tensions, and clarification on where everyone stands regarding Japan lead to great gains. While those gains weren't wiped out during the terrorist attacks on the 12th, they were hurt by them. At least you hit your growth goal this quarter.
Hong Kong Relations: 75/100
Macau Relations: 85/100
The 9/12 attacks, even as they hurt the economy and sent shockwaves around the world, have created a massive rally around the flag moment in China, even in Hong Kong there are people attending pro-Government rallies, and donations to the victims flood into your office. As well as wreaths, ghost money, promises of prayer, support and outright horror at what's happened.
It's a dark day for China, but it is always darkest before the dawn.
Notable Headlines of Q3
While you'd been getting some decent press this cycle, everything is immediately consumed by the 9/11 and 9/12 attacks from then on forward. There's a constant sense of anxiety and unease, with everyone waiting to see what happens next. The Americans are on the warpath, and so are most of the ministries in China.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DRAGON LADY (The Economist, August 15th, 2001)
LOCAL STUDENT HONORED BY MINISTER (Hunan Post, August 18th, 2001)
SMOOTH SAILING - PIRACY IN MALACCA 'UNDER CONTROL' (South China Morning Post, August 29th, 2001)
SECURITY MINISTER UPGRADES THREAT RATING (Shanghai Post, September 3rd, 2001)
BUS FIRE IN WUHAN KILLS 25, HUBEI FIRST MINISTER DEFLECTS BLAME (Wuhan Times, September 9th, 2001)
WE WILL NEVER FORGET (Seattle Post Intelligencer, September 12, 2001)
PURE EVIL (Herald Sun, September 12, 2001)
WAR! (O Dia, September 12, 2001)
A DAY OF INFAMY (Tulsa World, September 12, 2001)
BASTARDS STRIKE AGAIN (The Examiner, September 12, 2001)
SMASH THE THREE EVILS! ISLAMISM MUST BE ERADICATED! (Global Times, September 13, 2001)
PRESIDENT BUSH CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION AGAINST AL-QAEDA AND ALLIES (Shanghai Post, September 13, 2001)
DEATH TOLL IN WUHAN COULD BE CLOSE TO 500 (Wuhan Times, September 13, 2001)
DEFENCE MINISTER: WE WILL CRUSH TERRORISTS WHEREVER THEY HIDE (Hunan Free Press, September 13, 2001)
THOUSANDS DEAD IN GLOBAL TERROR CAMPAIGN (Winnipeg Free Press, September 14, 2001)
PRESIDENT BUSH: I DECLARE A WAR ON TERROR (The Examiner, September 20, 2001)
SMASH TERRORISM: THE CASE FOR ALLYING THE IMPERIALISTS (Shanghai Post, September 21, 2001)
- The Agricultural Bank of China, one of the country's largest and most respected Financial Institutions.
- The People's Bank of China, the Central Bank, Wen Hao and Feng Hui's former employer.
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Artemis
What's a pirate's least favourite letter?
- Location
- The Seven Seas
Oh hell yes. The one, the only, the woman, the womyth, the wolegend, it's Karvoka.
Reading. Again.
I've already got an idea for an omake. Wen Hao getting drunk? Who's going to get her home but her trusty secretary?
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KarvokaQueen
Queen of the Coffee Cups
- Location
- City of Coffee, Upside-down land
So what did people think about the turn results?
- Location
- Raleigh, NC
I'm still loling at the communists talking about making common cause with imperialists to fight islamic terrorism
TimEd
Meteor maker
And so was the double crit fails just a failure to coontinue the work due to 9/11 disruptions? If so, that is a lot milder that feared since it doesnt affect us or our Department personally. Heck, the terrorist plot could even be used as a pretext to crack down on the crazies I'm sure are still left behind from past regime.
Artemis
What's a pirate's least favourite letter?
- Location
- The Seven Seas
Well, the double critical failure will be in the crisis post, which hasn't been released yet.
TimEd
Meteor maker
So we're gonna have to wait for the crisis post.
I am expecting the chickenhawks to push for open warfare against SOMEONE even though our military is basically paper tigers.
Maybe we can send saboteurs against Sadam? I dont expect us to be able to achieve much if anything by confining the actions to china though.
Maybe we can offer logistical support, along with the chickenhawks for some of that sweet American military tech. Heck this could be treated as a joint military operations if we point our terrorism problems to Sadam himself.
I am expecting the chickenhawks to push for open warfare against SOMEONE even though our military is basically paper tigers.
Maybe we can send saboteurs against Sadam? I dont expect us to be able to achieve much if anything by confining the actions to china though.
Maybe we can offer logistical support, along with the chickenhawks for some of that sweet American military tech. Heck this could be treated as a joint military operations if we point our terrorism problems to Sadam himself.
KarvokaQueen
Queen of the Coffee Cups
- Location
- City of Coffee, Upside-down land
Nobody is talking about invading Iraq in October of 2001, but are instead talking about the invasion of Afghanistan, thus the name of the Crisis Turn.
TimEd
Meteor maker
ahh. My bad.
Still, we dont have the tech to make any military operations overwhelmingly advantageous to us.
KarvokaQueen
Queen of the Coffee Cups
- Location
- City of Coffee, Upside-down land
So, I'm guessing I won't get much more commentary. I'll post the crisis turn in about an hour or so.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Not much to really commentate on here. We're just cleaning up messes and building up our spy networks.
If Janitorial Espionage ever becomes a thing, someone will probably make a movie out of it and make those guilty of something oaranoid wrecks. Or more competent hack, but we dont talk about that...
If Janitorial Espionage ever becomes a thing, someone will probably make a movie out of it and make those guilty of something oaranoid wrecks. Or more competent hack, but we dont talk about that...
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Welp. Atleast it won't affect our Department as much?
Crisis - The War in Afghanistan
KarvokaQueen
Queen of the Coffee Cups
- Location
- City of Coffee, Upside-down land
It's late in the evening, and you wouldn't even be at the office if not for the constant headaches of trying to nail the South Korean government down, and planning a speech to the National People's Congress explaining your initiatives, and getting the White Paper out and it's all enough to make you wish for your old job in Frankfurt.
Jin Lei keeps you well supplied with coffee, at least, and makes for an excellent sounding board. Gao would be helping, but he'd been working since 8 am yesterday on the White Paper, and was finally getting some well-deserved sleep in a chair in his office.
The TV is on, providing some extra light, and ambient white noise, to stop you from slipping off to sleep while you relentlessly plug away at your speech for tomorrow.
Then there's a loud 'Emergency Broadcast' noise from the TV, loud enough you hear Gao shoot up in his chair. It snaps you out of your work and you look up to the screen, where an exhausted-looking CCTV reporter has appeared.
"We uh...we have an emergency broadcast from the United States. There has been some kind of incident, it appears that a plane has impacted the World Trade Center in New York, we're trying to get….do we have any footage? Put it on!" The newscaster suddenly yells, and in an instant, the image of the Twin Towers, a symbol of New York, fill your screen.
They're on fire. Or one of them is. How the fuck does this kind of shit happen? In America no less. How does a plane just smash into a building? The American broadcaster on CNN is talking about the massive disaster. You can't take your eyes of the building though, the voice fades into the background.
You're getting horrible flashbacks of the Xinjiang attacks, and you suddenly feel ill. It was just an accident though, you reassure yourself. Maybe an air control malfunction? Still, the Americans will be on top of this.
As much as you dislike the arch-imperialists of the United States…
And then another plane smashes into it. Just going straight at it. And it explodes.
This isn't an accident. This is an attack.
You feel ill.
---
The 9/11 attack was already a horrifying low point to a week, but as you get to work the next day you just have this feeling. Try as you might, you can't shake it. It slows you down all day, and both Gao and Jin ask you if you're feeling unwell. You are, but you brush it off, saying you just have some left-over jitters from from last night, and that it's nothing.
You're scribbling some notes you want Jin to take to Feng, regarding what she should do regarding sending something to the Americans. Foreign affairs aren't your area, but having seen the towers last night,
You have to do something.
And then, through all the noise and chatter that comes with an office as big as MOFCOM, a single noise cuts through everything and immediately makes you feel nauseous. The CCTV emergency broadcast signal is playing again.
You don't want to look up, but something compels you to, and two stunned news anchors have their fingers in their ears, listening to whatever their broadcast admin is saying with growing looks of horror.
You already know what they're going to say, and you mouth the words along with them.
"We're getting...unconfirmed, no, I'm sorry confirmed reports. There have been...multiple explosions in Wuhan. It appears that there…" Your attention, and growing horror at what is happening, is suddenly cut off.
There's an explosion off in the distance, it's not incredibly loud, but you already know the target. Your stomach falls through you and you collapse in your chair. Torn between panic and horror as the newscasters announce that the National People's Congress has been hit by a bomb.
The entire thing is just overwhelming, and it isn't until you realise Jin is staring at you from the doorway you finally snap back to reality.
"M-madame Minister? What's going on? The TV is saying…" you nod ruefully, and rise from your chair, walking over to her and giving the visibly terrified young secretary a hug, where she basically collapses into you as you drag her into your office. You don't want anyone to see her have a breakdown in the office, and you just need someone you trust close right now.
Within minutes, the police are swarming MOFCOM HQ, locking it down and you are confronted by five heavily armed officers, stating they're evacuating all staff, and you are to grab essential documentation, and key members of your team and come with them to a secure location.
"How many dead?" you manage to ask as you're descending the stairs out of the building under heavy police guard, a terrified Jin Lei following behind you, next to a completely stunned Gao Yucheng.
"We don't know, Ma'am. The bomb went off on the steps of the NPC." You shake your head, interrupting him as he's about to explain the situation there.
"No. In Wuhan. Do you know if-" It's his turn to cut you off, as they open the back door of the armored police truck and usher you inside.
"We don't know. It's impossible to say, but once we get you to a safe location, I assure you we'll tell you everything."
It's a near silent ride, with eight special police, armed with submachine guns and rifles, on edge as the bomb-resistant truck powers through the chaos of Beijing's streets, horn breaking the silence as it forces motorists out of its way.
You'd often heard about the Underground city of Beijing, it wasn't exactly a secret, but being rushed through it by heavily armed security officers, to the government's bunker, just feels...eerie. Even though it's built to resist nuclear weapons, you still feel uneasy.
--
Sitting in one section of the underground city's government complex, it's still hours until you can fully establish what is going on in Wuhan. The Defence Minister is apoplectic. They bombed the 27th Army base in the middle of a training exercise. He's pinned the casualty list to a wall and just looking in the direction of it makes you feel sick.
But after five hours of waiting, you finally get the report on what happened to the MOFCOM office. You knew it had been hit, of course. The fact you couldn't get a line to them is enough, and the media reports, even with the exclusion zone set up around each bomb target, fill your head with terrible news of smoke coming from the building and...bodies. Bodies everywhere.
When you get the first pictures sent from PLA soldiers and Police on the ground you have to take a deep breath and steel yourself. Ordinarily you'd be worried about looking emotional and angry and horrified in front of your male colleagues, but with Chi screaming his head off about terrorists to anyone that will listen, you feel quite justified in cutting loose with emotion for once.
It's awful. The building is just...half gone. The entire front section is blown away, smouldering. Even with the best efforts of the firefighters, there is still smoke rising from the building. This is easily the single darkest day in the history of the Ministry of Commerce, and staring at the destroyed the ruins of the building, you can't even begin to estimate the numbers of dead. Easily more than a hundred, given they attacked early in the work day…
--
It's a dour affair. A shitty, rainy day for the single greatest tragedy in modern Chinese history. Those bastards in the ETIM have announced their new campaign of 'jihad' against the government in...you baulk at the thoughts of what them and their friends have done. Not just to China, but to the world.
You leave the limousine under heavy guard, escorted every step of the way into the Great Hall of the People, passing the blasted chunk of steps where a car bomb went off early. You cut a path through the building, openly fuming when you are finally entered into what the Defence minister has dubbed 'the War room'.
Tao is taking an absolute tongue lashing from Chi, and you can't blame him. The President is desperately trying to keep order, and your arrival actually shuts everyone up for once. While Chi has suffered, indeed, all of China has suffered, your status as a woman means that, at least, many ministers are sympathetic to your loss.
However, now was not the time for platitudes, however sincere. Rage boiled beneath your skin, rolling off you in waves, enough that those minor officials backed away as you took your seat at the table, where the ETIM's fate, and China's too, would be decided. The next hour is effectively the President attempting to argue for an internal response, cracking down on ETIM within Chinese borders, back up by vanishingly few of the ministers, and Chi's full-bore, apocalyptic demand to join the Americans, and charge off into Afghanistan to destroy the enemy in their home.
He doesn't like them, or even really trust them, but he argues that ETIM regained its strength after the first crackdown in Afghanistan, fighting alongside their Al-Qaeda allies. A response focused on their assets in China will not stop another attack.
The President counters by stating that a war in Afghanistan could completely destroy your relationship with Pakistan, a key ally and counterweight against the Indians, with their territorial revanchism a constant threat to your borders, and their support of Tibetan independence activists not something slowly forgotten.
Chi's rebuttal against this is simple. They can go hang for all he cares. He has it on good authority, he tells the cabinet, that the Pakistani government has been, via the ISI, training and equipping the Islamists in Afghanistan, giving them all they'd need for the 9/12 attack. He calls on Tao Siju to back him up, and the old minister and your sometimes ally rises from his seat, pulling out a folder and laying it on the table, it contains fly over images, of what appear to be dozens of bases in the tribal zones of North Pakistan. And that isn't all, the photographs aren't great but it appears that an MSS agent managed to get their hands on some ISI documents, clearly stating that the Taliban is being armed by the Pakistanis. China, of course, cannot go to war with Pakistan over something that is only known to intelligence communities, without a smoking gun, but it would be the height of foolishness not to attack and destroy the enemy in his own home.
You don't contribute until late into the meeting, just letting the information absorb and digest, until you finally speak. You argue..
[] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
[] for the President. It's painful, but can China even afford a way? The government has a responsibility not to overreact, and going to war in Afghanistan, right on the border of your (sometimes) ally and trade partner may well lead to a united front between the two. India isn't the only one with outstanding territorial claims against the government, after all.
[] for neither side, simply holding your tongue. You're too angry to pick one side or the other, letting the rest of the cabinet sort out something that is absolutely not your area, and you're so angry part of you wants to just suggest that the PLAAF carpet bombs that blighted Opium Den back to the stone age.
The meeting absolutely consumes your day. You have no energy for anything in the immediate aftermath, you head straight home, and collapse into your husband. You always knew this job would be stressful, but having the ministry lose over a hundred and fifty people in a day, almost having the heart of the government destroyed by terrorists, and America.
You spend the night eating sausage and potato and firmly pressed against him, getting drunk and watching his favourite bond movies. You have work to do, but right after the worst four days of your life, you are willing to let go, just this once.
This is the first crisis turn. The United States is gearing up for war with the Afghanistani government if Al-Qaeda is not turned over soon, and many ministers (Including several from your own faction) are pushing for the PLA to join with the US Army in smashing The Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The President is pushing back, arguing for a more controlled response.
This is the first proper crisis turn, I hope you guys find it interesting!
Jin Lei keeps you well supplied with coffee, at least, and makes for an excellent sounding board. Gao would be helping, but he'd been working since 8 am yesterday on the White Paper, and was finally getting some well-deserved sleep in a chair in his office.
The TV is on, providing some extra light, and ambient white noise, to stop you from slipping off to sleep while you relentlessly plug away at your speech for tomorrow.
Then there's a loud 'Emergency Broadcast' noise from the TV, loud enough you hear Gao shoot up in his chair. It snaps you out of your work and you look up to the screen, where an exhausted-looking CCTV reporter has appeared.
"We uh...we have an emergency broadcast from the United States. There has been some kind of incident, it appears that a plane has impacted the World Trade Center in New York, we're trying to get….do we have any footage? Put it on!" The newscaster suddenly yells, and in an instant, the image of the Twin Towers, a symbol of New York, fill your screen.
They're on fire. Or one of them is. How the fuck does this kind of shit happen? In America no less. How does a plane just smash into a building? The American broadcaster on CNN is talking about the massive disaster. You can't take your eyes of the building though, the voice fades into the background.
You're getting horrible flashbacks of the Xinjiang attacks, and you suddenly feel ill. It was just an accident though, you reassure yourself. Maybe an air control malfunction? Still, the Americans will be on top of this.
As much as you dislike the arch-imperialists of the United States…
And then another plane smashes into it. Just going straight at it. And it explodes.
This isn't an accident. This is an attack.
You feel ill.
---
The 9/11 attack was already a horrifying low point to a week, but as you get to work the next day you just have this feeling. Try as you might, you can't shake it. It slows you down all day, and both Gao and Jin ask you if you're feeling unwell. You are, but you brush it off, saying you just have some left-over jitters from from last night, and that it's nothing.
You're scribbling some notes you want Jin to take to Feng, regarding what she should do regarding sending something to the Americans. Foreign affairs aren't your area, but having seen the towers last night,
You have to do something.
And then, through all the noise and chatter that comes with an office as big as MOFCOM, a single noise cuts through everything and immediately makes you feel nauseous. The CCTV emergency broadcast signal is playing again.
You don't want to look up, but something compels you to, and two stunned news anchors have their fingers in their ears, listening to whatever their broadcast admin is saying with growing looks of horror.
You already know what they're going to say, and you mouth the words along with them.
"We're getting...unconfirmed, no, I'm sorry confirmed reports. There have been...multiple explosions in Wuhan. It appears that there…" Your attention, and growing horror at what is happening, is suddenly cut off.
There's an explosion off in the distance, it's not incredibly loud, but you already know the target. Your stomach falls through you and you collapse in your chair. Torn between panic and horror as the newscasters announce that the National People's Congress has been hit by a bomb.
The entire thing is just overwhelming, and it isn't until you realise Jin is staring at you from the doorway you finally snap back to reality.
"M-madame Minister? What's going on? The TV is saying…" you nod ruefully, and rise from your chair, walking over to her and giving the visibly terrified young secretary a hug, where she basically collapses into you as you drag her into your office. You don't want anyone to see her have a breakdown in the office, and you just need someone you trust close right now.
Within minutes, the police are swarming MOFCOM HQ, locking it down and you are confronted by five heavily armed officers, stating they're evacuating all staff, and you are to grab essential documentation, and key members of your team and come with them to a secure location.
"How many dead?" you manage to ask as you're descending the stairs out of the building under heavy police guard, a terrified Jin Lei following behind you, next to a completely stunned Gao Yucheng.
"We don't know, Ma'am. The bomb went off on the steps of the NPC." You shake your head, interrupting him as he's about to explain the situation there.
"No. In Wuhan. Do you know if-" It's his turn to cut you off, as they open the back door of the armored police truck and usher you inside.
"We don't know. It's impossible to say, but once we get you to a safe location, I assure you we'll tell you everything."
It's a near silent ride, with eight special police, armed with submachine guns and rifles, on edge as the bomb-resistant truck powers through the chaos of Beijing's streets, horn breaking the silence as it forces motorists out of its way.
You'd often heard about the Underground city of Beijing, it wasn't exactly a secret, but being rushed through it by heavily armed security officers, to the government's bunker, just feels...eerie. Even though it's built to resist nuclear weapons, you still feel uneasy.
--
Sitting in one section of the underground city's government complex, it's still hours until you can fully establish what is going on in Wuhan. The Defence Minister is apoplectic. They bombed the 27th Army base in the middle of a training exercise. He's pinned the casualty list to a wall and just looking in the direction of it makes you feel sick.
But after five hours of waiting, you finally get the report on what happened to the MOFCOM office. You knew it had been hit, of course. The fact you couldn't get a line to them is enough, and the media reports, even with the exclusion zone set up around each bomb target, fill your head with terrible news of smoke coming from the building and...bodies. Bodies everywhere.
When you get the first pictures sent from PLA soldiers and Police on the ground you have to take a deep breath and steel yourself. Ordinarily you'd be worried about looking emotional and angry and horrified in front of your male colleagues, but with Chi screaming his head off about terrorists to anyone that will listen, you feel quite justified in cutting loose with emotion for once.
It's awful. The building is just...half gone. The entire front section is blown away, smouldering. Even with the best efforts of the firefighters, there is still smoke rising from the building. This is easily the single darkest day in the history of the Ministry of Commerce, and staring at the destroyed the ruins of the building, you can't even begin to estimate the numbers of dead. Easily more than a hundred, given they attacked early in the work day…
--
It's a dour affair. A shitty, rainy day for the single greatest tragedy in modern Chinese history. Those bastards in the ETIM have announced their new campaign of 'jihad' against the government in...you baulk at the thoughts of what them and their friends have done. Not just to China, but to the world.
You leave the limousine under heavy guard, escorted every step of the way into the Great Hall of the People, passing the blasted chunk of steps where a car bomb went off early. You cut a path through the building, openly fuming when you are finally entered into what the Defence minister has dubbed 'the War room'.
Tao is taking an absolute tongue lashing from Chi, and you can't blame him. The President is desperately trying to keep order, and your arrival actually shuts everyone up for once. While Chi has suffered, indeed, all of China has suffered, your status as a woman means that, at least, many ministers are sympathetic to your loss.
However, now was not the time for platitudes, however sincere. Rage boiled beneath your skin, rolling off you in waves, enough that those minor officials backed away as you took your seat at the table, where the ETIM's fate, and China's too, would be decided. The next hour is effectively the President attempting to argue for an internal response, cracking down on ETIM within Chinese borders, back up by vanishingly few of the ministers, and Chi's full-bore, apocalyptic demand to join the Americans, and charge off into Afghanistan to destroy the enemy in their home.
He doesn't like them, or even really trust them, but he argues that ETIM regained its strength after the first crackdown in Afghanistan, fighting alongside their Al-Qaeda allies. A response focused on their assets in China will not stop another attack.
The President counters by stating that a war in Afghanistan could completely destroy your relationship with Pakistan, a key ally and counterweight against the Indians, with their territorial revanchism a constant threat to your borders, and their support of Tibetan independence activists not something slowly forgotten.
Chi's rebuttal against this is simple. They can go hang for all he cares. He has it on good authority, he tells the cabinet, that the Pakistani government has been, via the ISI, training and equipping the Islamists in Afghanistan, giving them all they'd need for the 9/12 attack. He calls on Tao Siju to back him up, and the old minister and your sometimes ally rises from his seat, pulling out a folder and laying it on the table, it contains fly over images, of what appear to be dozens of bases in the tribal zones of North Pakistan. And that isn't all, the photographs aren't great but it appears that an MSS agent managed to get their hands on some ISI documents, clearly stating that the Taliban is being armed by the Pakistanis. China, of course, cannot go to war with Pakistan over something that is only known to intelligence communities, without a smoking gun, but it would be the height of foolishness not to attack and destroy the enemy in his own home.
You don't contribute until late into the meeting, just letting the information absorb and digest, until you finally speak. You argue..
[] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
[] for the President. It's painful, but can China even afford a way? The government has a responsibility not to overreact, and going to war in Afghanistan, right on the border of your (sometimes) ally and trade partner may well lead to a united front between the two. India isn't the only one with outstanding territorial claims against the government, after all.
[] for neither side, simply holding your tongue. You're too angry to pick one side or the other, letting the rest of the cabinet sort out something that is absolutely not your area, and you're so angry part of you wants to just suggest that the PLAAF carpet bombs that blighted Opium Den back to the stone age.
The meeting absolutely consumes your day. You have no energy for anything in the immediate aftermath, you head straight home, and collapse into your husband. You always knew this job would be stressful, but having the ministry lose over a hundred and fifty people in a day, almost having the heart of the government destroyed by terrorists, and America.
You spend the night eating sausage and potato and firmly pressed against him, getting drunk and watching his favourite bond movies. You have work to do, but right after the worst four days of your life, you are willing to let go, just this once.
This is the first crisis turn. The United States is gearing up for war with the Afghanistani government if Al-Qaeda is not turned over soon, and many ministers (Including several from your own faction) are pushing for the PLA to join with the US Army in smashing The Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The President is pushing back, arguing for a more controlled response.
This is the first proper crisis turn, I hope you guys find it interesting!
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TimEd
Meteor maker
Huh. So we suffered worse in the medium term due to the positions of those killed.
I say we go to war. Whether we like it or not, a war with an outside force is just the thing to trully unify China and give us concrete measurements of the state of the nations military. Especially if we do so while working with the Americans.
Ill comback to this tommorow and see the will of the peeps.
I say we go to war. Whether we like it or not, a war with an outside force is just the thing to trully unify China and give us concrete measurements of the state of the nations military. Especially if we do so while working with the Americans.
Ill comback to this tommorow and see the will of the peeps.
[X] for neither side, simply holding your tongue. You're too angry to pick one side or the other, letting the rest of the cabinet sort out something that is absolutely not your area, and you're so angry part of you wants to just suggest that the PLAAF carpet bombs that blighted Opium Den back to the stone age.
Voting against literally the whole council and probabpy public sentiment is noble but futile.
Voting against literally the whole council and probabpy public sentiment is noble but futile.
Artemis
What's a pirate's least favourite letter?
- Location
- The Seven Seas
Oh boy, and here it is. There was the one newspaper that hinted at it with 500 dead in Wuhan, but with the attack on our own department, it's a bit more serious.
I don't want to commit to a war just yet. And that's the problem; we don't have quite enough information to be making an informed choice. But we do know some things, which tip the scales ever so slightly;
1. Any interventionist action we make will be supported by the United States. This is the redeeming factor for the war option. If we go to war, we aren't throwing our own underdeveloped military into the meat-grinder; we're getting backup from the US (and probably the UK too), which gives us more room to serve in other capacities where we hold the advantage. After all, we are the closest to Afghan, which means that we'd be able to offer immediate ground support from Xinjiang.
2. Xinjiang is still the focus of the ETIM. They were explicitly founded to establish an independent state within rightful Chinese borders. We can't even think about going to war in Afghan until we've confirmed that Xinjiang is secure. If we want to use that as a staging ground for a war, we're going to have to clear it first. This doesn't necessarily mean that we can't pick the war option, but it means that any war in Afghan will be delayed, which means that the declaration would just be optics.
3. We're the Minister of Commerce. Wen motherfucking Hao is cool and all, but this isn't her department. No matter what choice we make, Chi will find some way to handle it himself. We get to focus on the economics of war, so that means if we go to war some of our actions are going to be consumed with regards to sanctioning Pakistan. AKA, we're going to be picking up some of the pieces that this war will shake loose in the region, right when we want it to be stable. But I suppose we don't always get what we want.
I think we should still vote for a declaration of war, but it's not going to be immediate. If we were Chi, we would be looking to secure Xinjiang before any attempt to get boots into Afghanistan proper, and considering he'll have to move troops there to enter Afghanistan, he'll do it even if we join the Americans.
My problem with simply letting the vote slide by is that our vote, by this point, has some weight to it. Sitting back would be smart for a minor official who'd be able to seize the advantage no matter which way it went, but at this point we've entered every debate and come out of it with our own take, which have made serious impacts into the direction of the country. If we don't vote, things are going to kick around, and inaction is still action. People will see we couldn't respond when we needed to (regardless of the importance of the Minister of Commerce's opinion on matters of war). We make this vote now, and we can come back to make conditions in the next turn, to help us control the outcome in a way that's best for China.
I don't want to commit to a war just yet. And that's the problem; we don't have quite enough information to be making an informed choice. But we do know some things, which tip the scales ever so slightly;
1. Any interventionist action we make will be supported by the United States. This is the redeeming factor for the war option. If we go to war, we aren't throwing our own underdeveloped military into the meat-grinder; we're getting backup from the US (and probably the UK too), which gives us more room to serve in other capacities where we hold the advantage. After all, we are the closest to Afghan, which means that we'd be able to offer immediate ground support from Xinjiang.
2. Xinjiang is still the focus of the ETIM. They were explicitly founded to establish an independent state within rightful Chinese borders. We can't even think about going to war in Afghan until we've confirmed that Xinjiang is secure. If we want to use that as a staging ground for a war, we're going to have to clear it first. This doesn't necessarily mean that we can't pick the war option, but it means that any war in Afghan will be delayed, which means that the declaration would just be optics.
3. We're the Minister of Commerce. Wen motherfucking Hao is cool and all, but this isn't her department. No matter what choice we make, Chi will find some way to handle it himself. We get to focus on the economics of war, so that means if we go to war some of our actions are going to be consumed with regards to sanctioning Pakistan. AKA, we're going to be picking up some of the pieces that this war will shake loose in the region, right when we want it to be stable. But I suppose we don't always get what we want.
I think we should still vote for a declaration of war, but it's not going to be immediate. If we were Chi, we would be looking to secure Xinjiang before any attempt to get boots into Afghanistan proper, and considering he'll have to move troops there to enter Afghanistan, he'll do it even if we join the Americans.
My problem with simply letting the vote slide by is that our vote, by this point, has some weight to it. Sitting back would be smart for a minor official who'd be able to seize the advantage no matter which way it went, but at this point we've entered every debate and come out of it with our own take, which have made serious impacts into the direction of the country. If we don't vote, things are going to kick around, and inaction is still action. People will see we couldn't respond when we needed to (regardless of the importance of the Minister of Commerce's opinion on matters of war). We make this vote now, and we can come back to make conditions in the next turn, to help us control the outcome in a way that's best for China.
[x] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
Well, this will probably mark the first post I made in your quests, Kavorka. I came to this from Against the Tide when it appeared a week ago in the Quests page and I can't get enough of these CampaignQuest with your well researched settings. I will definitely go and follow each one of your quests onwards. That said, I will vote on:
[X] for the President. It's painful, but can China even afford a way? The government has a responsibility not to overreact, and going to war in Afghanistan, right on the border of your (sometimes) ally and trade partner may well lead to a united front between the two. India isn't the only one with outstanding territorial claims against the government, after all.
Well, the problem with this sort of war is that well....we kinda know how it 'ended' IRL. Granted, China was never really involved in the WoT to any large capacity. But considering that we'd (read: The President) make some form of response, we'd still be involved regardless what option we choose. From a more personal perspective, there's certainly something very offputting regarding the fact that we're declare war on, as the Global Times put it, "Islamism".
[X] for the President. It's painful, but can China even afford a way? The government has a responsibility not to overreact, and going to war in Afghanistan, right on the border of your (sometimes) ally and trade partner may well lead to a united front between the two. India isn't the only one with outstanding territorial claims against the government, after all.
Well, the problem with this sort of war is that well....we kinda know how it 'ended' IRL. Granted, China was never really involved in the WoT to any large capacity. But considering that we'd (read: The President) make some form of response, we'd still be involved regardless what option we choose. From a more personal perspective, there's certainly something very offputting regarding the fact that we're declare war on, as the Global Times put it, "Islamism".
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
Right so what have we (as a world) learned from the somewhat pissant response the actual US used in Afghaniland?
You either come full bore, or don't come at all.
I was a Marine, I get to say that without feeling bad. The US has fucked up so colossally bad in Afghanistan, that we're still not fucking out of the place 17 years later.
[x] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
Fuck the taliban, fuck Al-Qaeda, fuck the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
Radical Islam has painted a religion of peaceful people as all terrorists and that is fuckin awful.
You either come full bore, or don't come at all.
I was a Marine, I get to say that without feeling bad. The US has fucked up so colossally bad in Afghanistan, that we're still not fucking out of the place 17 years later.
[x] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
Fuck the taliban, fuck Al-Qaeda, fuck the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
Radical Islam has painted a religion of peaceful people as all terrorists and that is fuckin awful.
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[X] for Chi Haotian. He's slightly shocked you agree with his plan to join the Americans in Afghanistan but that barely slows him down, and with almost the entire cabinet unified against him, surely the President will relent?
Though I don't agree with the rhetoric, I do believe that the President's idea won't bring anything good as it'll just be seen as a repeat of a failed action. Sitting on the sidelines isn't an option either, as we want to raise our standing within the cabinet. There have been those here who have argued with improving relations with the United States, this is a pretty big way.
The trouble we face in Afghanistan is not so much about defeating the country, but getting into it. America's problem was though they bombed the hell out of it from the skies, they didn't commit enough troops quickly in the opening stages to capture the Al-Qaeda leadership. With Chinese support they should be able fill that gap.
Though I don't agree with the rhetoric, I do believe that the President's idea won't bring anything good as it'll just be seen as a repeat of a failed action. Sitting on the sidelines isn't an option either, as we want to raise our standing within the cabinet. There have been those here who have argued with improving relations with the United States, this is a pretty big way.
The trouble we face in Afghanistan is not so much about defeating the country, but getting into it. America's problem was though they bombed the hell out of it from the skies, they didn't commit enough troops quickly in the opening stages to capture the Al-Qaeda leadership. With Chinese support they should be able fill that gap.
- Location
- Sweden
So this is just my take on it not really knowing that much about the Chinese situation.
Afghanistan was a huge failure and also a huge drain of money.
There are loads of reasons for this but one of them is that US failed to build up Afghanistan after the invasion.
One example of this is that US poured loads of money into building a ring road that would link up all major cities in Afghanistan.
This would have made it easier to control the country (both for the US and the afghan government), faster to transport troops and it would have been good for the economy.
It was never completed and the few sections that where are now in complete disrepair from all the fighting that has happened around it.
Afghanistan was a huge failure and also a huge drain of money.
There are loads of reasons for this but one of them is that US failed to build up Afghanistan after the invasion.
One example of this is that US poured loads of money into building a ring road that would link up all major cities in Afghanistan.
This would have made it easier to control the country (both for the US and the afghan government), faster to transport troops and it would have been good for the economy.
It was never completed and the few sections that where are now in complete disrepair from all the fighting that has happened around it.