George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 357

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After the war’s aftermath was roughly settled, Li Keqiang, the chairman of the People’s Republic of China, declared:

“We! China! The people! Will rise to greatness again!”

Of course, this was to instill hope in a populace mired in despair, but it wasn’t merely empty propaganda.

First, financial stability was secured. China’s wealth, which had been steadily draining away since it began repaying the Qing Dynasty bonds, would no longer hemorrhage. Instead, there would be no more unilateral bleeding unless wealth circulated like blood with the heart’s rhythm or was transfused as aid.

Although that wealth technically belonged to the United States, it wasn’t a major concern. Refusing to tip your partner after borrowing money in a gambling game would be a serious breach of etiquette.

Thus, the Communist Party, under Li Keqiang’s leadership, envisioned the following future for China:

First, heal the wounds inflicted by the civil war and entice the human capital that had fled overseas to return. With China ravaged and submerged in many areas, completely erasing the scars of war was impossible. However, to save a patient, the immediate priorities are to stop the bleeding and stitch the wounds, right?

A country is ultimately built and sustained by its people; without timely and appropriate measures, it will collapse. Li Keqiang had conducted extensive research before the war, and now was the time to implement his findings.

Above all, Li Keqiang had already achieved his primary goal: the dismantling of the warlord factions and military regions, and the consolidation of central power under his one-man rule. The Communist Party’s authority had waned due to the war’s unique circumstances and the repeated purges.

The warlords and military regions were physically destroyed during the war. This was largely thanks to ambitious young officers who ruthlessly seized power through coups, harboring resentment and carrying out relentless purges. However, these officers, while skilled in warfare, lacked political acumen.

Initially, they enjoyed enthusiastic public support, but their repeated wars, heavy taxation, and corrupt administration soon turned that support into deep-seated hatred.

Second, maintain public order through the Public Security Bureau [China’s primary law enforcement and intelligence agency]. This wouldn’t differ significantly from their previous activities. The key difference was the expanded power and scope of the Public Security Bureau. Previously, the Public Security Bureau had inviolable powers, such as the power of summary judgment, but now even party members had reason to fear them.

This was because the Public Security Bureau had become the chairman’s personal enforcers. While the public already viewed the Public Security Bureau as grim reapers, those with political awareness realized that the grim reapers they once controlled had now become grim reapers ready to seize them.

How could anyone not be afraid? This wasn’t just a purge; it was a clear message that anyone could become a “guest of no return” [euphemism for being arrested or disappeared] if they displeased the chairman in the slightest. So, if you were to ask what Li Keqiang aimed to achieve with the military, strengthened by the war, and the even more powerful Public Security Bureau, the answer was already apparent.

It’s public order.

Strong power ensures safety. If China were at peace, Li Keqiang would never have considered this approach. However, it was characteristic of Li Keqiang to hesitate and not completely sacrifice freedom for the sake of security.

Third, against this backdrop, the newly reformed Communist Party would be reborn like a phoenix. Historically, the damage wasn’t as severe as it could have been. While lives were lost in the war, at least everyone was rescued from the collapse of the Three Gorges Dam, right?

In the process, there were conflicts and tragedies that were difficult to witness, but these were problems that no one could solve perfectly. Ideally, they would have had at least a week after the merger to prepare, but it all happened in a matter of days.

In any case, the so-called great China that Li Keqiang envisioned was a safe China governed by a strong hand. The fact that decentralized power contributed to the civil war tipped his decision in this direction.

Of course, he couldn’t maintain this forever, but Li Keqiang believed it was the right course for the present. However, there were obstacles. For example… America.

So, would the United States simply stand by and watch? Wouldn’t they interfere in some way? While challenging the United States’ hegemony as before was out of the question, China was still China. It was one of the cradles of human civilization and the most populous country in the world, past and present.

Its position might fluctuate with India, but it undoubtedly possessed the potential to challenge global hegemony once again. After all, if you believe China’s historical narrative, it was the dominant power in human civilization for most of its history.

Regardless of China’s past glories, the United States was one of the victorious nations in the Chinese civil war. Therefore, they had the right to demand a stake. There were extensive debates in Congress about receiving virtually free manpower cooperation or suppressing China to prevent its resurgence, but President Bush stated:

“It is not right to trample on a country that is trying to stand up again. But it is also true that our soldiers were sacrificed, so shouldn’t we hold at least one leash?”

The result was the privatization of China’s capital. They acknowledged that they couldn’t directly control the capital at the moment. Of course, no leader is unaware of the potential downsides of privatization.

However, there were favors to be granted, and the current chairman was Li Keqiang. If it weren’t Li Keqiang, but someone more willing to treat the lives of the people as expendable resources for a grand strategy, he would never have allowed privatization.

From Li Keqiang’s perspective, it was a truly unfortunate situation, but he couldn’t refuse. He could only lament that the current era was no longer China’s.

In any case, whether Li Keqiang could wield power as he intended was questionable. It might seem absurd to say this about someone who had seized power in a country as vast as China, but this was ironically due to Li Keqiang himself. Li Keqiang’s personality abhorred the corrupting influence of absolute power.

Economic revitalization cooperation with the United States began. In reality, it was more like unilateral aid disguised as economic revitalization. In return, China chose to be compliant. Seeing this, Bush remarked:

‘Is it the American version of the Belt and Road Initiative [China’s global infrastructure development strategy]?’

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Half of Qingdao Port was immediately under the control of the US military. In an emergency, the US military could station as many troops as it wanted, whenever it wanted. However, the presence of the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago was the reason they ultimately withdrew from Qingdao Port.

As the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little, and the already exorbitant defense budget couldn’t handle it. The Navy certainly wanted to maintain a presence there, but it was impossible because neither the president nor Congress would approve it.

In any case, the important thing was that China had come under the influence of the United States. Now, the only countries that could compete were the European Union and Russia, but these countries were also struggling. In the case of the European Union, the wealth that had flowed to the Middle East had become sunk costs, and they were grappling with bloated military spending that threatened their very survival. Russia faced a similar situation, but they were actually reducing their military spending. They realized that their economic power couldn’t sustain their current course.

To be honest, it wasn’t so much a realization as a forced necessity. After suffering repeated economic setbacks, the country was barely functioning. So, they looked for areas to cut back, and the military was the obvious target.

Even though the country was on the verge of collapse, the Russian army, which seemed impervious to cuts, had no choice but to reduce its size when the country was truly about to fall apart. Instead, they decided to focus on improving the people’s livelihood, but that requires money, doesn’t it? In reality, there were no untapped sources of revenue. Russia wasn’t solely reliant on oil.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they weren’t dependent on oil, but other exports were only sufficient to maintain a basic standard of living in Russia. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a dark age, both militarily and economically.

So where would the money come from?

From the Western world that they so despised. They were heavily reliant on support from the European Union. They were in conflict with each other over the division of Iraq, but Russia was fed up with East Iraq, a collection of unruly factions trying to break away without any control. Therefore, they agreed to receive support in exchange for relinquishing East Iraq, which became Russia’s lifeline.

The problem was that not only was the economy sluggish, but the defense industry and heavy industry were also in decline due to military cuts. The defense industry had previously thrived due to the United States conducting business there.

The reason why the defense industry hadn’t completely collapsed was because it was a state-owned enterprise that Russia would never abandon, and because anti-American countries in the Middle East were buying weapons from Russia indiscriminately. To be precise, it was anti-Western rather than anti-American sentiment driving these purchases, but ultimately, it amounted to the same thing.

That’s not to say that the Putin administration did nothing to save the country. First, they privatized dozens of large state-owned enterprises, such as RZD [Russian Railways] and VTB [Vneshtorgbank], including railroads, agriculture, construction, hydropower, electricity, and banks. The reason was simple: Russia was broke. Digging deeper, there was also the issue of raising capital, but the immediate problem was a lack of funds.

In an already unfavorable market environment, foreign investors were fleeing, and privatization was the only way to improve the situation.

Looking at the companies being privatized, it felt like uprooting the country’s foundations, but it was understandable because Russia was on the brink of collapse unless they took drastic measures: cutting out the diseased parts and providing nourishment to the remaining structure. Russia’s economy had long passed the point where a simple change of government could fix it.

From the beginning, Vladimir Putin had risen to power with the expectation of restoring a strong Russia. There was no one else who could replace him. Only Putin could stand up to the West.

So what is Putin doing now?

“Bush! You son of a bitch!”

He was furious.