George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 138

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The news of the United States President’s impending trip to China for negotiations was tightly controlled within the country. Despite the sudden announcement just a day prior, the Chinese government extended a warm welcome, particularly given their precarious position regarding a potential default.

Initially, there were concerns that the President’s visit might be a pressure tactic, but official diplomatic communications explicitly stated otherwise. While skepticism remained, Air Force One, carrying the U.S. President, was indeed en route to China at Mach speed.

Even in a society accustomed to stringent control, information surrounding the President’s visit was being excessively restricted to ensure his safety. The irony was palpable: they had to protect the leader of a rival nation for their own security. Any harm befalling the U.S. President on Chinese soil would trigger a cascade of severe repercussions for China.

Consider the scenario of an assassination. The immediate consequence would be war with the United States. Dismissing this possibility simply because of the President’s death would be a grave miscalculation.

The Republican Party held a majority in the Federal Congress, and they were known for their hawkish, warmongering tendencies. Furthermore, the Vice President was, in some respects, even more unpredictable than the President. While ‘warmongering maniac’ might be a more fitting description than ‘unpredictable,’ the Vice President had never openly displayed any aggression.

The chances of winning a war were virtually nonexistent. Regardless of any unforeseen circumstances, defeat was the inevitable outcome. Such an unwarranted conflict would lead to a series of unequal treaties, potentially plunging China into another dark age reminiscent of the 19th century.

“Though it feels like we’re already in one.”

Epidemics, information censorship, rationing, martial law, a one-party system… Li Keqiang adjusted his red tie, lamenting China’s current state, which seemed to embody the worst aspects of a 21st-century nation. He personally disliked red, finding it too ostentatious, but his coordinator insisted that a red tie was appropriate given the current political climate, so he acquiesced.

Once, a Western diplomat had asked him, ‘You’re Chinese, so why don’t you like red?’ Li Keqiang had simply replied, ‘I just don’t.’ It was a blatantly racist remark, and he had to resist the urge to deliver a ‘spicy knuckle’ [a forceful punch] to broaden the diplomat’s perspective, for the sake of maintaining future diplomatic relations.

Given their strained relationship with the United States, the world’s leading power, it was crucial to foster positive relations with other nations. History demonstrated that no country could thrive in isolation, especially in an era of increasing global economic interdependence.

‘At least public order hasn’t deteriorated to the level of Somalia, right?’

He was grateful that China wasn’t a country where, when a mother went to gather oysters in the shallows, her child had to stay home alone, armed and standing guard. While the situation varied from city to city, public order wasn’t that dire.

Of course, there had been some shooting incidents, but things were generally under control. Deploying troops to the affected areas usually restored calm. In other countries, such a move might escalate tensions, but China was different. The central government’s authority remained strong, preventing the military and police from acting arbitrarily under direct or indirect political pressure. The level of manpower directly correlated with the maintenance of public order.

It was somewhat self-deprecating to find solace in not having descended to Somalia’s level, but what choice did he have? He had to acknowledge the severity of China’s situation and find a way to recover as quickly as possible.

‘It would be good to extend the period a bit, but if possible, I’d like to ask for that damn aircraft carrier fleet.’

The memory of receiving the report about the aircraft carrier fleet’s blatant violation of Chinese waters remained vivid. He deeply agreed with the sentiment that the most frustrating experience is feeling powerless.

‘Anyway, what’s important now is control. Strong governance to prevent social chaos. And thorough isolation to prevent germs from spreading to other cities.’

Military and police control was essential, but isolation measures were being gradually eased as stability was confirmed in stages. The rigorous inspection of logistics and people before allowing entry was causing significant economic damage. Continuing down this path would be akin to burning down the house to get rid of a flea. Ironically, Li Keqiang despised the Communist Party’s control over the people, but the current situation left him with little choice. Of course, Li Keqiang’s power stemmed from the Party, making it impossible to disregard the Party’s will. However, assuming China could return to normalcy, he was confident that he could negotiate and guide China toward becoming a freer country within three years.

That was impossible now that the whole of China was in chaos, but if he could get through this situation, Li Keqiang was confident that he could put the devastated China back on track.

“So, when is the U.S. President expected to arrive?”

“Air Force One is expected to arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport in about 4 more hours.”

Come to think of it, there was still something he was wondering about. As a reverse strategy to eliminate the risk of assassination, Li Keqiang had suggested that he would rather go to the United States. Then, the U.S. President said, ‘Since you put it that way, I must go to China myself!’ That was the reply he received.

‘This part bothers me no matter how much I think about it.’

If he knew the reason, he could at least understand, but he was uneasy because he didn’t know the reason. He was so uneasy that it made Li Keqiang think, ‘Could it be that he’s trying to sacrifice himself to create an excuse to start a war?’

That’s because there was no reason for the President, who was already busy, to visit China in person. If he had to squeeze out a reason within a somewhat rational and reasonable range, he might have come to sightsee in Beijing. But was that man a rational and reasonable human being?

“This is really bothering me, bothering me.”

The reason why he was bothering to come directly in the current situation was the key to this diplomatic meeting, he guessed. It wasn’t exactly based on evidence, but rather on his political sense cultivated over many years. However, since the person he was about to meet was far from common sense, he didn’t particularly care that there was no evidence.

However, if he had to provide evidence, he could say that coming here was evidence in itself. But since he relied on intuition without evidence, he couldn’t come to a conclusion, and in the end, Li Keqiang had to worry about this until he arrived at the diplomatic conference hall.

‘To upload reports even during this crazy vacation! What a monster!’

It was a report on the situation in Hawaii, with the Chief of Staff’s extremely subjective opinion, and there was a footnote stating that there was some discrepancy when compared to the reports that had been uploaded so far.

There were already piles of reports thanks to the manual, and he was eager to pile on even one more! What a terrible and terrifying idea! The Chief of Staff’s obsession with reports could be scientifically proven.

“Damn it. How much time is left until landing?”

“1 hour left, Mr. President.”

One hour was a really ambiguous time to try something. Well, how much could you do on an airplane? And the reason why he didn’t call Li Keqiang to the United States and tried to go to China himself? There was really nothing special. Couldn’t he get away from these tedious reports for a while? From Bush’s point of view, this alone was a really valid and justifiable reason to fly to China.

“I see. Can you get me some coffee?”

“Yes, sir.”

Of course, he was planning to do diplomacy properly, so he hurriedly formed a diplomatic delegation and came along. However, the slight problem was that Bush was acting arbitrarily, separate from diplomacy. No one knew why he was going to China himself without calling Li Keqiang to the United States.

Among those who were accompanying him on this visit to China, there were some who were tense, having somewhat similar thoughts to Li Keqiang. They were trying to approach it somewhat logically by combining the evidence and common sense they had. The result was always a bizarre conclusion that transcended imagination, such as ‘Could it be that he’s trying to sacrifice this one body for the sake of war?’ similar to Li Keqiang, or a conclusion that was too common and simple, such as ‘Is he just being polite? Our President sometimes seems naive.’

Anyway, no matter what intentions Bush had in flying to China, the person who was acting as the Chief of Staff’s deputy was very nervous. That’s because the Chief of Staff had given him all sorts of fears. In fact, rather than giving him fears, he had just listed a lot of facts, which ended up scaring him, but what could he do? It wasn’t a position where he could just wrap things up with lies.

For example, he said things like this. ‘If you take your eyes off Air Force One, you might practice skydiving over China with an emergency parachute.’ Or, ‘You’ll go quietly on Air Force One, but you might come back on a fighter jet.’ The problem was that this wasn’t just useless scaremongering, Bush might really do that.

“Here’s the Americano you ordered, Mr. President.”

Was it said that your sense of taste becomes dull at high altitudes? Maybe that’s why it tasted so bland. Or maybe it was because it wasn’t the coffee that the Chief of Staff made. The coffee that the Chief of Staff made tasted a bit off, but it was a taste that woke you up.

Of course, he could ask the chef on Air Force One to make him a more delicious coffee, but Bush’s coffee taste was instant, so he didn’t really want to.

‘Anyway, what am I going to do with this.’

Since the first goal was to avoid the wave of reports, it was good to see that the goal was ruined. The Chief of Staff had kindly attached his deputy next to Bush to attach the report to Bush’s side.

“What, are you two close buddies or something?”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing. I’m going to catch some sleep until we arrive.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be fully prepared.”

Of course, unlike the Chief of Staff, who would push him, saying, ‘Mr. President! You can do one more!’, he didn’t have the strength. Thanks to this, he was able to get through it a bit more loosely than when the Chief of Staff was there. For example, if the Chief of Staff was in this situation, the Chief of Staff would have said, ‘Mr. President! You can see it in your dreams while you sleep!’

Because of this, he sometimes worried that Bush himself might have created an absurd administrative monster. Of course, that’s just how he felt. Just how he felt.

‘I’m looking forward to meeting Li Keqiang.’

The Li Keqiang that Bush remembered was a person with a conscience, even within that ‘Communist Party’. Such people were not very common within the Communist Party, which was armed with next-generation surveillance technology to control citizens in every way. It was even more difficult to survive within the Communist Party with that kind of mindset.

In fact, the position of president was a position that you couldn’t do without having these expectations. Did someone say that the American president looks like a god? As Bush said, God just doesn’t go to work. This position was simply the job with the most workload in the world.

However, the Li Keqiang that Bush was looking forward to meeting was just thinking this.

‘What is it? Could it be that they’re trying to threaten us to extract everything when China has the capacity to pay it back over a long period of time? Or is it to make war with this as an excuse?’

He was wasting his energy by devising all sorts of scenarios to respond to such absurd things.