George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 299

George Bush’s Great America – Episode 298

< Episode 298 >

***

And so, the two leaders met once again.

This time, it was another unofficial meeting. The media had been expressing suspicion about these frequent unofficial meetings lately, but who cared? It’s not like we could tell the press with a smiling face, ‘Oh, World War III is about to begin in China, and a nuclear war might start!’ can we?

“Let’s skip the introductions and get straight to the point. If it were something trivial, we could have discussed it over the phone. What on earth is the reason for this visit?”

Before even sitting down, Li Keqiang spoke first. It was such a harsh remark that it was hard to imagine it coming from the mouth of a leader guiding a nation. Although it was unofficial, he clearly had an interpreter with him.

The expression on the interpreter behind Bush visibly stiffened. Naturally, Bush’s expression after hearing the translation was beyond description.

Seeing this, Li Keqiang felt superficially satisfied but inwardly wore a bitter smile. From the start, he had intended to sabotage the meeting by half. The purpose wasn’t about gaining the upper hand or insulting, but rather a blatant ‘I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t even think about getting anything out of this.’

In any case, seeing that distorted expression, it was a success. He might be thinking of me as some kind of gangster, but I refused to be dragged around forever.

And then came the silence. The longer the silence stretched, the more Bush’s expression twisted into a grimace.

Finally, he sighed deeply, loud enough to echo in the room, and then his expression relaxed. I said something about a gangster earlier, but with a huge man in a suit scowling, it was hard to tell who the gangster was.

“Then I’ll have to do as you wish.”

In the end, it was Bush who yielded first. For now, Bush was the one in a hurry. Of course, the person in the biggest hurry was none other than Li Keqiang, but you only know you’re in a hurry when you realize you’re in a hurry, right?

“Let me be frank. I believe a nuclear war is about to break out in your country.”

These were the words of the President of the United States. The weight was heavy. Anyone who heard these words would have their brain bleached, but Li Keqiang was different. He was the current Premier [Prime Minister]. He knew this People’s Republic of China inside and out as if it were his own body. That’s why he could maintain his composure even after hearing such words.

Regardless of the truth, the fact was that this man, who feared nothing in the world, was afraid of only one thing. And that card was now in Li Keqiang’s hands.

‘Even so, he can’t be ignorant of the People’s Liberation Army’s organization. A nuclear war in China, of all places.’

It wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, even if the code for nuclear weapons was in the hands of the Premier, the launch itself was ultimately decided by people, so if secured, it would reign as the ultimate weapon and guardian of balance. No warlord wouldn’t want to secure such an attractive weapon.

No, it’s more accurate to say that no leader would give it up. We even saw the US directly dismantle North Korea for giving up nuclear weapons. Well, can we even call that giving up? Wasn’t it forced upon them?

‘Assuming the military regions are divided, I don’t think the leaders would launch missiles. But the leadership in each military region will change in some way or another. And there’s no guarantee that some crazy bastard who replaces them won’t launch a nuclear missile at the United States.’

Perhaps this was what Bush was worried about. So, after organizing his thoughts, what were Li Keqiang’s feelings?

It was truly unpleasant.

Think about it, wasn’t this entirely self-inflicted?

Who created the current situation? Who is responsible for China being on the verge of division? Who is the reason why Li Keqiang, even with power in his hands, is too busy trying to maintain it rather than wielding it?

Of course, after overcoming this crisis, Li Keqiang would hold such immense power in China that he would be no less than a living god, but that wasn’t what Li Keqiang wanted.

It would be a lie to say he had no desire for power. Would someone without a desire for power even engage in politics? Although there’s a complicated story, I won’t say that someone holding the position of Premier has no desire for power. It’s just that being Premier was enough. Not a god descended to earth. Just being Premier was enough.

‘Unpleasant. Very unpleasant.’

The one in the ‘B’ position between ‘A’ and ‘C’ is always in an unpleasant position. It would be Li Keqiang’s ability to turn that around. But how easily can that be turned around?

‘Wait a minute, turn it around?’

No, isn’t this side the ‘A’ right now? At this moment, only one thought flashed through Li Keqiang’s mind.

‘This is an opportunity!’

Finally, the United States is afraid of China. It’s quite different from what I had imagined, and it’s ironic that they’re afraid only after we’ve weakened. But what can I do when this is reality? Li Keqiang decided to make the most of that damn reality. What great man wouldn’t grab such an obvious lifeline?

A trap? It could be a trap. But it didn’t feel like a trap at all. That’s because there’s no reason to torment China any further right now. Rather, if they were to interfere, it would be more beneficial to contact other military regions separately after the division, not now.

‘That man is really worried about a nuclear war. No, even if it doesn’t happen in China, if independent warlords in each military region sell nuclear missiles to third countries, that’s it. This will definitely be a major crack in the current US hegemony [dominance].’

The current peace. That is, America’s peace is not only achieved through the mighty power that the United States possesses. The fear of mutually assured destruction due to nuclear weapons has threatened all nations and all people, leading to a second-best option through some kind of agreement.

‘Anyway, the conclusion is that China is the ‘A’ this time.’

As Li Keqiang was contemplating, Bush, perhaps interpreting the silence that had returned differently, spoke again.

“Isn’t China’s division inevitable anyway?”

Li Keqiang’s attitude changed greatly upon hearing Bush’s words. Following the nuclear war remarks, even division. He finally got a grasp of it.

“From an official standpoint, our People’s Republic of China remains unwavering… but since the President has spoken so frankly, I will also be blunt. Yes, that’s right. We are on the verge of division. The President knows the reason better than anyone else, so I will cut it short.”

Li Keqiang realized that he had suddenly become talkative. But he had no intention of stopping.

“So, what’s the proposal?”

‘Huh, look at this?’

At this point, anyone who didn’t notice that Li Keqiang’s atmosphere had changed was a fool. But the words to be said didn’t change anyway.

“That civil war. I want to minimize the aftermath. Wouldn’t you want to minimize it too?”

The conclusion that Bush suddenly came to from a flash of inspiration, after refining the details, was this. First, help minimize the aftermath, gain justification for infiltrating influence, and then implement the planned scheme by taking advantage of the divided state.

The civil war should be lukewarm. Divided for as long as possible.

“Specifically, how?”

“First, the debt. That is, we will collectively forgive the Qing Dynasty bonds [historical Chinese government bonds]. Outwardly, it will be for humanitarian reasons. But this is strictly a transaction.”

This was truly perplexing for Li Keqiang, who had shown no reaction to the nuclear war remarks.

‘Is he serious? I heard that guy’s been cracking down on drugs lately, did he confiscate all those drugs and throw a party at the White House?’

Even Li Keqiang thought this was an absurdly unconventional condition and offer. In his opinion, if the United States suddenly lost its cash cow, China, it would immediately collapse like a house of cards. Of course, if they had taken it all, they could have turned the sand below into cement.

In any case, this was a really big move. In the worst-case scenario, if a war broke out, the world would condemn it, but using the debt relationship as an excuse, they could deploy US troops and seize control of China, even if only temporarily.

“What do you want?”

“I’ve been saying it since earlier. I want to minimize the civil war.”

“Civil war! In short, you want to intervene in the upcoming civil war?”

“Frankly, it would be good if it didn’t happen at all. Anyway, let’s consider the debt forgiveness as a down payment.”

In reality, the introduction was over. What was important here was ‘in what way’ anyway. Yes, intervention is good. All good, but how?

“We will lead the division. If it’s a division from the outside, it will be easier for you to reunite under your leadership. After all, national sentiment probably won’t change until 100 years later, so nothing will change.”

Two harsh remarks were made today. One was from Li Keqiang, and the other was from Bush. If Li Keqiang’s harsh remark was limited to an individual, Bush’s harsh remark was like a spam message sent to the entire Chinese people.

“To be honest. You know it. Even if you refuse here, we will do it. It’s just that it won’t be good for either you or me if that happens. I’m here for the best possible outcome, Premier Li Keqiang.”

The long introduction and short main point, the story that seemed like it would never end, finally came to an end. To be precise, the answer that Li Keqiang gives here will end this story.

‘Troublesome. There’s no choice.’

It wasn’t really that there was no choice. It’s just that this choice looked so attractive that other choices didn’t even catch his eye. If we forgive the debt right away, the room for maneuver increases. As he said, if it’s a division from the outside, it will be easier to unify China later. It’s a natural story.

Perhaps the division won’t last even a month, let alone a year. And the worst-case scenario would probably be the decline of military regions other than Beijing, but then the power would be concentrated in the center to a deformed extent, so it could be reorganized into an ideal political system.

However.

“Huh, you’re openly saying it’s a trap. Are you telling me to accept this or not?”

Can such a sweet story really be only sweet? Even a simple chocolate is too sweet for the tongue to accept, so it tastes bitter and painful, so how could a secret agreement exchanged in the international community be sweet?

It wasn’t that he didn’t have the confidence to control the situation if they set up the board this far. When I thought about it rationally, this was the best option. When I thought that far, there was no reason not to accept it.

“I accept that proposal.”

Thus, the secret agreement to divide China was born.

The decisive reason for accepting this was that he recalled a report analyzing the human being called George Bush.

In the meantime, he had been lukewarm about war as much as possible, and thanks to his constant talk of peace, even against the opposition of Congress, he had been stirring up the entire global village, including the Middle East and Africa. And China, North Korea, and Pakistan, he had solidified his image as a president who was infinitely weak in war, from the image of ‘War if things go wrong!’ in the past, thanks to the fact that the only war he had fought was the US-Afghanistan war, which had received a declaration of war on 9.11.

In fact, it wasn’t entirely wrong, but thanks to this, all sorts of conspiracy theories, such as being a member of a double personality or a Freemason, were being discussed not only in the private sector but also in the intelligence agencies of various countries. Of course, the mainstream was mostly a double personality.

Of course, Li Keqiang thought that the value of such conspiracy theories was ‘fuck off’. Li Keqiang defined Bush as ‘a human being who is too obsessed with peace’, and it was actually somewhat correct.

Anyway, Li Keqiang knew that there was an ulterior motive in Bush’s proposal, but he had no idea what he was aiming for.

Thus, Bush, who was back on Air Force One, thought.

‘He took the bait.’

It was truly a big catch.