The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 222

222. Tiananmen Operation

A small city in China.

Armed public security officers pointed their guns at the entrance of a government building.

Hundreds of people, with hollow eyes, surrounded the food distribution office, shouting:

“Distribute rice immediately!”

“Are only the Party members full?”

“Hand over the hidden grains!”

“Stop the exploitation!”

“Bring back my dead son!”

Due to the second oil shock [a significant increase in oil prices that occurred in the late 1970s], prices had soared more than twofold since the beginning of the year, leading to rationing of food and essential goods.

However, crop failures and locust swarms had drastically reduced harvests, resulting in rations falling short of even half of previous years. Additionally, the extension of military service by two years led to a labor shortage. Parents were enraged by the deaths or injuries of soldiers at the front.

The promised treatment for the fallen and wounded soldiers was not being honored.

Therefore, wounded soldiers were among the protesters.

A guidance officer shouted at the protesters:

“Don’t you know that this behavior is treason against the state? Disobeying the Party’s directives is treason! Disperse immediately! Now!”

In a communist country, protesting against the Party was tantamount to treason.

A wounded soldier with crutches and an eye patch walked towards the armed public security officers.

“Don’t talk nonsense when you’re well-fed! It’s the same whether I die from a bullet or starvation!”

The guidance officer shouted:

“If you approach, we will fire!”

“I gave my legs and eyes to the country! What have you done for the country! Give us the promised compensation!”

“Step back!”

“I’m already a dead man! Shoot if you want, you corrupt officials!”

The wounded soldier reached right in front of the public security officer’s gun.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

The wounded soldier collapsed to the ground along with his crutches.

Red blood soaked the yellow soil.

The crowd hesitated at the sight of the blood.

At that moment, someone shouted with rage:

“Today is the day we die anyway! Let’s die together!”

As a few people ran out, everyone rushed forward.

The public security officers, expecting them to scatter in fear, were surprised and stumbled back as they charged with venom.

“What are you doing? Fire!”

Bang! Bang!

Several people in the front fell, but as hundreds of people charged at once from close range, the fewer than ten public security officers were overwhelmed and began to flee in panic.

The protesters caught the fleeing guidance officer and mercilessly trampled him.

The guidance officer died instantly from ruptured organs.

The protesters who picked up the guns abandoned by the public security officers entered the guidance office and shot the officials indiscriminately.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Violent protesters frequently occupied and burned down government offices and party headquarters throughout the city.

The violent protesters argued the opposite of the former ultra-left Red Guards [a student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in the 1960s and 1970s].

“Abolish the bureaucratic state!”

“Abolish the rationing system and recognize private property!”

“Dissolve the Communist Party!”

*

Chinese Standing Committee [the top decision-making body of the Communist Party of China].

The atmosphere was as limp as wet tissue paper.

The military chairman said:

“Currently, independence protests are taking place in 16 minority autonomous prefectures. The number of places using force has increased to seven. This is because the People’s Liberation Army is not responding properly.”

The chairman said:

“What is the local public security doing? Isn’t internal security their responsibility?”

“The local public security has also become assimilated into the region, and the central government’s orders are not being followed. We must withdraw from Afghanistan now and strengthen internal affairs, Comrade Chairman!”

China had poured enormous war expenses into Afghanistan for five years, but the transplantation of the socialist system completely failed, with tens of thousands of soldiers dying every year in the quagmire where enemies and civilians were mixed.

Moreover, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur [an autonomous region of China] was almost taken over by the rebels.

Xinjiang Uyghur’s independence was only a matter of time.

The vice-chairman said:

“The independence of autonomous regions is not the only problem, Chairman.”

“…….”

“Large-scale peasant revolts occur frequently in rural areas, and the urban poor have tripled this year. This is because people from rural areas, where it is difficult to make a living, are flocking to the cities. The rise of insurgents and the expansion of peasant revolts are not only due to Afghanistan. Fundamentally, it is because there are cobwebs in the people’s grain storage!” [a metaphor for corruption and hoarding of resources].

Deng Xiaoping, the chairman, tried to deflect the arrows of criticism aimed at him.

“The current economic difficulties are due to the second oil shock. It’s not just us who are having difficulties, but all non-oil-producing countries are in the same situation. Moreover, the cheap oil support from Korea has been cut off, so the impact is even greater than the first oil shock. We must strengthen the people’s ideological education and tighten our belts.”

“Comrade Chairman, our GNP [Gross National Product] has actually regressed compared to five years ago. Southeast Asian neighboring countries have grown twice as much, but only we are going backwards. People who cannot endure poverty are escaping abroad by the tens of thousands every day. You must face reality, Comrade Chairman!”

The chairman raised his voice.

“Do you know how much money we have poured into Afghanistan for five years? If we withdraw like this, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will only suffer a humiliating defeat! Xinjiang Uyghur will be separated! We must maintain the status quo until we find a justification for the withdrawal.”

Deng Xiaoping prioritized maintaining his own seat over the people.

“We must stop pouring water into a bottomless pit, Comrade Chairman! What justification is more urgent than being in a national crisis?”

“…….”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs suggested.

“How about not officially announcing the withdrawal from Afghanistan externally, but gradually returning troops to the country? In reality, we are withdrawing in stages.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea! Let’s start withdrawing without making it obvious!”

However, that was not a clever move but another bad one.

*

Afghanistan.

Bang! Bang!

Ttrrr- Ttrrr-

“Ugh!”

“It’s an ambush!”

The Taliban, realizing that the Chinese army was withdrawing, did not let the retreating Chinese army go easily.

The Taliban ambushed the north and south of the hundred-kilometer-long corridor, cut off bridges, poured mortar fire, and fired automatic rifles.

They repeatedly appeared and disappeared, striking the isolated Chinese army.

There are usually more casualties when retreating than during battle, and this time was no exception.

Moreover, the order to withdraw inconspicuously resulted in troops being dispersed and moving, which significantly reduced combat power and made it impossible to counterattack properly.

Swoosh-

Tatatata-

Chinese fighter planes in the sky escorted the retreating Chinese army.

However, the Taliban mainly ambushed at night and sporadically waged guerrilla warfare even during the day, so it was not very effective. Rather, there were frequent friendly fire accidents.

They came in as they pleased, but they couldn’t leave as they pleased.

In addition, the remaining troops waiting to withdraw in Afghanistan had weakened combat power and became prey for the Taliban.

The Chinese army’s withdrawal operation lasted for eight months, and they barely crossed the Chinese border, losing half of their forces as miserable remnants.

*

The protests in China became increasingly organized.

China’s industrial complex zone.

Thousands of union members tied up the factory manager and executives with ropes and placed them on the platform.

The factory manager and executives were wearing cloths with red letters that read ‘Culprit of Corruption and Abuse of Power’.

The union leader shouted at them.

“Confess all the atrocities you have committed without missing a single one!”

Union members who directly punished the managers belonged to the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation [an independent labor organization].

In the past, it was dominated by pro-government unions controlled by the Party, but the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation was China’s first independent union that protested against the corruption and abuse of power by Party officials and claimed the right to supervise the actual rights of workers and the power of the Communist Party.

During Chairman Wang’s era, they were advocating national innovation reminiscent of Poland’s Solidarity [a Polish trade union that became a major force in opposition to communist rule].

Some called for the dissolution of the current Communist Party and leadership and for free elections.

“The people’s leader in the hands of the people!”

The people, suffering from totalitarian oppression, began to talk about the ‘Freedom Revolution’, and some led the protests by writing the word ‘Freedom’ on flags.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in each city, shouting ‘Dissolve the Communist Party! Free Elections!’ and the protesters grew like a snowball.

The leadership of the protesters in each region was formed, and they planned a large-scale joint rally.

*

China Emergency Expanded Standing Committee.

The head of public security reported.

“We have received information that a massive demonstration will be held soon in Tiananmen Square [a large public square in the center of Beijing].”

Deng Xiaoping, whose dark circles had reached his mouth, asked.

“Who is the ringleader?”

“It is led by the Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Federation and the University Students’ Freedom Federation.”

“Hmm… How many people do you think will gather?”

“We estimate at least 800,000 or more.”

“Are you saying that 800,000 rebels are gathering?”

“Yes. Fortunately, the protest leaders say they will only hold a peaceful march.”

“Peaceful? The law states that protests are treason.”

“Then, should we block Tiananmen Square from the beginning, Comrade Chairman?”

“What are you talking about? Why miss this golden opportunity?”

“…….”

“You don’t put rotten apples in one basket. Let’s weed out all those who are contaminated with rotten capitalist ideas!”

“Then….”

“Deploy armored units and special forces around the square. Let’s drive the fish into the net and annihilate them. What could be a more efficient suppression than this?”

“Understood. We will carry out the net annihilation operation!”

Deng Xiaoping intended to maintain his precarious seat of power, threatened by the economic crisis, by making the pro-democracy forces a scapegoat.

*

Presidential Office.

President Jung said to the President.

“The tragic Tiananmen Square incident that occurred in 1989 before the regression is about to happen. It seems that Deng Xiaoping took power early, so history has been brought forward.”

“What is the Tiananmen Square incident?”

“In short, it can be said to be China’s democratization movement.”

“You said it was a tragedy, so it failed?”

“Yes. More than 120,000 people were brutally massacred in Tiananmen Square alone due to armed suppression. The number of people who were found and executed from participating organizations afterward is impossible to estimate.”

“Oh dear! A bloody crackdown is right around the corner!”

“That’s right. The protest typhoon has already started, so it will not be possible to stop it, and we must take measures to change history at this opportunity.”

“What measures should we take? Can we reverse the tragic outcome?”

“Changing the fate of a country is not easy, but there are differences from before the regression in the current Chinese situation. We must take advantage of that.”

“Differences? What is it?”

*

US CIA Headquarters.

The Director of the Korean National Intelligence Service met with the Director of the CIA and said.

“A terrible bloodbath will be carried out in Tiananmen Square.”

The director tilted his head.

“The Chinese authorities have publicly stated that they will guarantee peaceful protests, haven’t they? More than 1 million people may gather, and some of the protests may become violent, but to say that more than 100,000 people will die is too much of an exaggeration, isn’t it?”

“…….”

The Director of the National Intelligence Service had only received instructions from the President, so he lacked the grounds to persuade and his rebuttal was poor.

“Moreover, a senior Soviet leader is currently holding talks in China, and foreign reporters have entered Beijing in large numbers, so they will not be able to carry out a bloody crackdown in front of the foreign press, will they?”

“The future is something you have to experience to know, so no matter how much I say, you don’t believe me. Then let’s prepare Plan B. Just in case.”

“We must always prepare for the worst. Plan B can be reviewed.”

“Let’s infiltrate armed separatist rebels in China into the Tiananmen Square protest site.”

“Rebels?”

“We must respond to force with force. You must not miss this golden opportunity to change China!”