Empire of the Ring

“China’s ambition is big, and I’d like to hear from the U.S. government whether it’s going to take action on it or not.”

“In order to stop the Chinese to advance into the Southeast Asian Pacific, the United States is preparing for a potential naval clash in the East China Sea. We have placed additional aircraft carriers in the U.S. 7th Fleet. The U.S. will never abandon its allies. ”

“I’m talking about the U.S. deploying too much military force in the Far East Asian region, but maintaining less than one-twentieth of the Far East’s force in Central Asia.”

“Of course that’s not at all true. F-22 stealth fighters will soon be deployed at the airbase in Kyrgyzstan.”

It was a tempting story. This was because F-22 Raptor was a huge additional strength.

“How many units are being deployed?”

“It’s going to be a battalion-size.”

According to the Air Force’s unit system, one battalion would consist of 12 to 24 fighter jets. In case of expensive stealth jets, 12 to 16 units would be deployed.

“And the F-35 jets you recently ordered will be coming in sequence starting from next month. Lockheed seems to be firmly committed to supplying you the jets even though it’s back-ordered now. I wonder how you managed to convince Lockheed, which is one of the most arrogant companies in the world.”

Youngho had offered U.S. state bonds when he discussed purchasing fighter jets with Lockheed. However, Lockheed wanted to be paid for something other than government bonds.

Government bonds were worth more than cash, but the company refused to receive it. It was because Lockheed’s main focus was the aerospace industry. It wanted to use Kazakhstan’s underground resources and space launch facilities in Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, which was the world’s largest space launch station.

“I should send a little present to Lockheed.”

“Do you plan to engage the company in resource development?”

“They’d get resources, but what they really want is to use our space launch station. Our station is cheaper than the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S.”

“Isn’t this space center under Russia’s control?”

“The former president stubbornly insisted that he made the space base into Kazakhstan’s property. It was a good thing.”

Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome was leased to Russia until 2050 at the price of six billion dollars.

“Since Lockheed is supplying the fighters to us before other clients, we’ll have to provide a launch site that only Lockheed can use.”

Although Youngho would need Russia’s cooperation, he was confident that he could get it.

Once there was a property dispute between Russia and Kazakhstan due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the Baikonur Cosmodrome was now Kazakhstan’s property. Kazakhstan had signed agreements with Russia and other countries to use it as an outpost for the construction of the International Space Station.

Kazakhstan’s space launch station used the entire Baikonur grassland, which was about ten times the size of Seoul, Korea. It was the world’s largest launch site; with 16 launchers and five launch control centers, a launch test site, assembly plant, 11 fuel production factories, launch track that was about 470 kilometer long and other facilities.

An astronaut named Yuri Gagarin flew into space on a spacecraft launched here for the first time ever, and the space station Mir was launched from there to usher in the era of the space shuttle. So far, 6,000 rockets had been launched in the facility.

It was not built by Kazakhstan since it was completed by the Soviet Union. The technology of many countries had been adopted to the state and now, Kazakhstan was making money from providing the station to other countries.

“I heard that there’s been a rapid increase in gold production in Kazakhstan recently.”

“Yes. I don’t know how the world will change in the future, so my plan is to keep as much gold as possible in Kazakhstan.”

“That’s a great decision. I know that as a U.S. official, I shouldn’t say it, but gold will be more valuable than dollars in the future.”

“That’s what I had in mind.”

“If there is an economic crisis from China, the value of gold will be enormous. China’s trying hard to make inroads in foreign countries, and that’s proof that its domestic economy is not looking great.”

Richard was indirectly warning of an economic crisis from China and a plunge in the dollar.

“So, I’m drawing a line to get out of the Chinese economy. Again, we have an excuse to expel some of the Chinese companies from Kazakhstan.”

“I any case, do not relate it to Xinjiang Uyghur. That’s what the Chinese government is most sensitive about.”

“The closure of Chinese companies is separate from Xinjiang Uyghur.”

“I’m just worried that there might be a local war.”

“I don’t mean to do that at all, but I just don’t want China to stop persecuting the Uyghurs.”

***

Illegal activities were being carried out without exception where Chinese companies entered.

The sites of the Chinese oil company scattered in Mangystau Region in the west were widely polluted. Some sites even blocked the inspection team sent by the Kazakh government from entering their oil field. They even had armed guards even though they were not allowed to do that without the government’s approval.

Stopping the inspection team from the oil field meant that the company had been doing something fishy against the government. This could be that they had been reporting the production amount falsely.

The Kazakh government notified the Chinese company and the Chinese ambassador that it would immediately shut down oil fields involving the Chinese company, citing a contract failure. It even filed a lawsuit seeking compensation.

The Chinese authorities, who had been supplied with oil and gas from the West, were flustered at the sudden notification.

“They seem to believe that sending a special envoy will solve it.”

“Your Highness, why don’t you meet him?”

“Eriksson, if the royal family meets him in this circumstance is an abuse of authority. There is definitely a Prime Minister and a related minister of government. Of course, it’s something the government has to deal with. Besides, his intention is quite suspicious to come to the palace when the royal family doesn’t have any power to decide anything related to this.”

“I think the Chinese leadership is only trying to deal with you who is the real power behind the government.”

“Even if a special envoy represents China, I can’t overlook the fact that the Chinese government keeps ignoring the Kazakh government.”

“That’s true, but we can’t ignore the special envoy either.”

“That’s why the royal family shouldn’t come forward. Even if the royal family has real power, it should be represented externally by the Prime Minister and the government. I’ll have to take this opportunity to convey our stance.”

When Youngho insisted, Eriksson did not push anymore.

“If we don`t correct China’s attitude of dealing only with the royal family, our government will not be able to exercise its power properly.”

“Are you really going to break contracts with the Chinese oil company?”

“The whole country is going to be polluted if I let the company stay in our country any longer. We have every reason to do so now. They polluted the land and cheated about the production volume.”

“Still, oil and gas supplies should remain the same in order to have a better balance of trade.”

Youngho did not mean to give up the profits from exporting oil and gas. If Kazakhstan did not sell them to China immediately, the damage would be severe. It was the same with China. If oil imports from Kazakhstan were cut off, the Chinese economy would also suffer a huge blow.

“China has some shares of the oil pipeline, so I don’t intend to close the line down. But we will threaten the Chinese company that we will lock up the pipeline if it doesn’t admit the damage it’s done to Kazakhstan.”

“I wonder how the Chinese side will react.”

“They’ll want to invade Kazakhstan right away.”

“Your Highness, would you like us to promote the addition of the U.S. Air Force and the deployment of new fighters in the Air Force? The oil is important enough to have war. We need to let them know that we’re making some preparations for deterrence.”

“Well, then we’ll have to move up the arms fair a little bit.”

“It would be more shocking to hear about the deployment of the new fighter jets than that. And then if we also install the air defense system, it will make China fear Kazakhstan even more.”

***

The Chinese envoy ended up returning home without meeting Youngho.

It was because there was clear evidence that the Chinese side had nothing to say.

As for the soil pollution in oil production facilities, there was some room for compromise if the company would improve the production environment, but there was no excuse for cheating on production. It was a flagrant breach of contract.

If trust between individuals was broken, it would be irreversible, and if it was a contract between countries, it could even escalate into a diplomatic issue.

The Chinese side should feel fortunate to know that it was concluded with a broken contract and damage settlement only.

“Why don’t you say the pipeline will be locked for China?”

Jong-il, who just came into Youngho’s office, made a sudden question.

“Oh, we will gradually pressure China, if we do it too hard all of a sudden, only our border area will be noisy. The reason why the U.S. assistant secretary of state visited us was to crack down on the possibility of a conflict at the border.”

“Isn’t that like a cat concerning about a mouse?”

“The tension in Far East Asia is also a lot to deal with, so the U.S. doesn’t want any trouble in Central Asia.”

“When was this place ever quiet? It’s a windless place.”

“But we’re strengthened by the U.S. since it is deploying stealth fighters to Kyrgyz Air Force base. We should thank the U.S.”

“It’s frustrating that we can’t protect ourselves on our own.”

“Trust me. In three years, we’ll have enough strength to survive even if the U.S. doesn’t help us.”