George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 139

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“You and I have something in common. That is, we don’t have time.”

This was what Bush said as soon as he met Li Keqiang. It was simple enough English that it didn’t even need translation. It was a rude act that threw away all diplomatic pretense, but Li Keqiang didn’t want to look at that arrogant Yankee face for too long either, so he silently agreed.

Besides that, there was also the fact that there was a serious lack of budget to welcome the American president and the fact that the American president’s visit to China had to be concealed. The American president himself wouldn’t want to stay in a country where he might be assassinated. However, this left the question of ‘Why did the US President himself come all the way here?’ as a permanent mystery.

‘He’s not as interesting a person as I thought. Is this the power of 21st-century media? Or did the position of Chairman make him this way?’

Bush didn’t particularly want to belittle Li Keqiang. Rather, he was overestimating him to an excessive degree. He was very different from the Li Keqiang that Kim Kap-hwan remembered. The image he remembered was from 2019. Whether it was a matter of experience or time, or whether it was because he was pouring all his energy into maintaining the current China, Bush remembered Li Keqiang as a person with a kind and likable face who pursued politics that valued righteousness.

However, the man standing in front of Bush now was like an iron man. His stiff face was like an iron mask that wouldn’t bleed a drop even if you stabbed it, and he was quite emaciated to the point that it was noticeable even without close observation.

However, his eyes alone contained an aura that seemed to devour Bush. If the cliché of sharp eyes took shape and appeared in this world, it would be exactly like this. His aura was like a well-honed Han sword [a type of Chinese sword], and it felt like you would be cut if you approached him carelessly.

‘I wanted to have a thorough discussion for at least a day.’

Bush was quite looking forward to meeting Li Keqiang because it was one of the biggest reasons why he flew directly to China in the midst of his busy schedule. However, unfortunately, Li Keqiang was a person who greatly deviated from Bush’s expectations in every sense.

‘There’s nothing more to see. Let’s just nail it down completely.’

Bush completely gave up on his expectations for Li Keqiang. If there was a time to talk to him, he sensed that it would be at a time when they were not wearing the badges of national leaders.

“I will simply extend the 8 years to 20 years.”

Li Keqiang’s eyes twitched involuntarily at Bush’s declaration of extending the period. To be exact, it was now 7 years since 1 year had passed, but 7 years or 8 years was about the same. Above all, the condition of increasing it more than twofold was a very unconventional condition even for Li Keqiang.

However, a slight problem remained. It could be said to be a problem of China, or it could be said to be a problem of Li Keqiang personally. He felt like he knew why they were extending the period. He could easily realize that it stemmed from the idea of extending the lifeline to exploit more efficiently since the debtor was about to go bankrupt as it was. In fact, anyone could have noticed it if they had even a little geopolitical insight, not just Li Keqiang.

Anyway, the problem is this.

‘Why did you come all the way here if you were just going to end it with this one word?’

This was also a curiosity on a personal level for Li Keqiang, and at the same time, he was convinced that there was a hidden meaning in those 20 years. Frankly, to put it bluntly, any diplomat could have been sent to say that they would extend it to 20 years, and if it was a bit much, it would have been enough to announce it in the United States and send it as a diplomatic document.

But he had no idea why he came all the way to China, risking the assassination threats of Chinese patriotic martyrs and consuming valuable resources such as time that could not be bought with money.

“The conditions themselves are quite generous to us.”

Li Keqiang deliberately used the expression ‘generous.’ The words were gentlemanly, but the attitude was clearly sarcastic.

“Our China has no reason to reject this proposal. We will accept it.”

What was exchanged between the two leaders was a simple verbal promise, but soon agreements and official documents would go back and forth in the form of a show. No matter how much the two leaders approved, it could only take effect when it was made into a document with the seals of each country’s head of state.

“Then thank you for your trouble.”

The tea that had just come out hadn’t even cooled down yet. The fact that it hadn’t cooled down meant that it hadn’t cooled down enough for a person to drink. As evidence of this, white steam was rising from the transparent jade-colored teacup.

“Are you leaving already?”

He didn’t know if it was to provoke him on purpose, or if something had happened in the American mainland or its sphere of influence, but his expression seemed quite urgent. The person named George W. Bush, as seen by Li Keqiang, was a considerable hero, though he didn’t want to admit it.

As befitting a Westerner’s physique, his shoulders were broad, and his sturdy, log-like muscles, which could be seen even outside his suit, whether for show or for actual combat, were not at all fitting for his age. It was as if the word ‘hale and hearty’ existed for this man.

Of course, it was still young to be called hale and hearty in this era of advanced life expectancy, but it was also an ambiguous age that couldn’t be said to be particularly young. Usually, this would be called an uncle, but where would there be an uncle who could shake the world if he put his mind to it?

However, he couldn’t avoid the stress of work, and his eyes were bloodshot. He seemed to be trying to hide the dark circles under his eyes with natural makeup, but he couldn’t make up his bloodshot eyes, so it was easy to tell.

“Are there any more matters to discuss between the United States and China?”

Of course, there couldn’t be. Perhaps interpreting Li Keqiang’s silence as a sign of agreement, the US President got up from his seat. Only when he heard the news that the US President’s helicopter was returning to the airport where Air Force One was did his head start to turn a little.

‘So. The debt repayment period has been extended from 7 years to 20 years? Until 2022?’

Li Keqiang was somewhat taken aback when he learned that China’s fate had been extended a little in just over 2 minutes. He expected that this meeting would not be very long, but 2 minutes? 2 minutes! Is this even possible?

When a person is faced with an unknown event with no evidence, everyone solves the event entirely in the realm of inference with only suspicion and circumstantial evidence. They imagine all sorts of things within the limits of what they can imagine, such as, ‘I would have done this,’ or, ‘Could there have been more conditions like this?’

And the ultimate destination of this reasoning is ‘conspiracy theory.’ It was an undeniable fact that Li Keqiang was an excellent human being, but even if Li Keqiang was excellent. No, rather, because he was excellent, the scope of his imagination was bound to be wider.

As the saying goes, you see as much as you know. This was the same with reasoning. However, in this case, there were seriously no clues, so he couldn’t even imagine that the reason why the US President flew all the way here was because of Li Keqiang himself.

So, what kind of conspiracy theory did Li Keqiang reach in this short amount of time?

‘Someone must be controlling that human from behind.’

The reasons why Li Keqiang thought this were as follows. The first was the President’s attitude. It didn’t seem like he came here because he liked it. Second, he heard that the US President almost always had his Chief of Staff by his side. No matter how trusted he was, it was safe to say that he never discussed all state affairs. Even if it was a small country, wouldn’t there be aides for each field for no reason?

‘Even if my hypothesis is wrong, it doesn’t matter. At least it’s certain that this trip to China was not the US President’s will.’

Of course, this trip to China was Bush’s will from start to finish. However, Li Keqiang, who had no way of knowing that, rashly concluded that this trip to China was not Bush’s will. Once he got to this point, he had no hesitation in building up his logic as he thought.

‘Then let’s think about it this way. Who is the human controlling the US President?’

Who would dare to control the modern emperor, who could be called the only one in the world? This was not absolutely impossible. Even China, which boasts a 4000-year history, did not always have emperors with strong imperial power. Therefore, there was no law that the position of president in the United States was always powerful.

‘I can narrow it down to at least two.’

First, the Federal Assembly [the legislative branch of the US government]. Among them, some figures from the Republican Party. Most of the informants have withdrawn or defected due to financial problems, so no more information is coming in, but if you read the data that came in before, there were hard-liners centered on the Vice President in the Republican Party.

Or, to put it simply, it could be the Chief of Staff who is with him every day. No, rather, considering that it is so obvious that it is easy to know, he may be a supervisor.

When he thought this far, Li Keqiang realized that he was trembling like an aspen tree. This was because he suddenly felt a chill down to his bones when he realized that the American political world was as complicated as the Chinese Communist Party, which he thought was a devil’s den due to the tangled power structure and ??shi [powerful families] and the human connections that were intertwined several times over.

Why did he feel a chill?

“Then whose will is it that we survived?”

That was because he didn’t even know whose will it was that China was alive now.

“Refueling is complete. I hope they didn’t put fake aviation oil in Air Force One. But didn’t you say it would take a day?”

It was the words of an aide attached by the Chief of Staff. He was also one of the people who brought all the reports that Bush didn’t want to see even for a moment.

“The schedule has changed. The schedule has been changed to England, so contact them now to say we’re going.”

“Understood.”

They didn’t have more questions than necessary. It was a very good attitude as an aide. Of course, it may be different for each person, but the Chief of Staff regarded this attitude as a virtue, and Bush also agreed.

“That’s right, Tony Blair.”

Tony Blair was the British Prime Minister who had the dishonorable nickname of ‘Bush’s Poodle.’ There were geopolitically complex reasons for this nickname, from the relationship between the US and the UK at the time to the status of the United States, but if we were to forcibly summarize it, Tony Blair was a man who conformed to the trend.

The river is harsh to those who go against it, and gives speed to those who ride the current. Of course, even if you ride the current, if you don’t know the waterway, you will hit a rock and sink into the water, but isn’t that the ability of a politician?

“He’s not interesting, but he’s a reasonable person to achieve my goal of ‘increasing Brent oil production.'”

Something was seriously wrong at the point where the standard of diplomacy was fun, but Andrew Card, the one and only person who could point this out, was enjoying the sea breeze in Hawaii.