It was the U.S. Minister to China who came to worship Zhao Bei and imitated Zhao Bei. Hanging Ran is really a political "friend" of President Zhao, but this time, Stade did not come for any personal friendship, but purely for official business, to be precise, for the interests of the United States and the Far East.

As a rising industrial power, the United States is actually the first in the world in terms of industrial strength. However, since the old European powers only regard the United States as an economic overbelly and a political "insignificant" role, the US government has been looking for every opportunity in recent years to achieve a strategic breakthrough and achieve an "international status commensurate with the industrial strength of the United States"

The war between the United States and Spain initially laid the momentum for the strategic rise of the United States, but after that, due to the constraints of the international situation, the United States was unable to further gain strategic superiority, and after the Entente and the Allied bloc fought each other, the United States became an ally that the opposing sides tried to win over, but at this time. Isolationist sentiment is running high in the United States. The U.S. government could not really take advantage of this opportunity and could only focus on economic expansion until Theodore Roosevelt came to power. The U.S. government has only formally established the policy of "gold dollars and big sticks" side by side, but it has always been biased towards gold dollars, and the big sticks are just held in their hands to scare people.

However, the national strength of the United States is too strong, and this "big stick" can indeed scare a group of people, and in terms of naval strength, the US Navy has already completed the construction of 30 battleships before the old years. The reason why the US Government is so concerned about the construction of the Panama Canal is precisely to facilitate the mobilization of the naval fleet; as long as the canal is completed, the main force of the US Navy fleet will be able to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans very conveniently, and the balance of maritime forces in the east and west directions can be easily changed.

Since the strategic center of gravity of the US Government has always been on the side of Europe and Zhejiang, the main anchorage of the main fleet of the US Navy is in the Atlantic Ocean, while in the Pacific Ocean. Due to the lack of sufficient military ports and the high price of coal along the Pacific coast, the U.S. Navy has deployed only a small number of capital warships in the Pacific. The symbolism is much greater than the practical use.

In this context, the situation in the Far East of the Pacific is now undergoing worrying changes. Due to the turmoil of the situation in the Southeast Asian region. And the armed conflict in the British Straits Settlements has a tendency to become more and more intense, which seriously threatens the interests of the United States in the Far East, and it is precisely for this reason that the US government once again ordered the Minister in China to "take all measures to stabilize the situation in the Far East" It is also under this order that Stade will come to the Xishan Villa to meet with the President of the Republic of China Zhao Bei.

Perhaps because he understood the reason for Stade's low profile, Zhao Bei also met with this foreign "friend" in a very low-key manner

Zhao Bei met Si Dai in the living room of Xishan Villa, accompanied by only two interpreters, although Si Taide had been in China for many years. I also learned a lot of Chinese, but I am not very proficient, so I can't do without it.

"Mr. President, I have taken the liberty to disturb me this time, mainly for the sake of the situation in the South Seas region. According to reliable information received by the United States Government, the British Government has decided to reinforce the Straits Settlements from India in order to stabilize the situation there. In the eyes of the U.S. government, the British government's decision shows that the British government is determined to defend Britain's colonial order and defend Britain's interests in the Far East by force, although now that the war in Europe has broken out, the British Army will soon go on an expedition to the European mainland. The Navy will also go all out to meet the challenge of the German Navy, but this does not mean that the British Government has been helpless against the chaos in the South Seas, in fact, the British Government has requested the US Government to assist when necessary through diplomatic channels, although the US Government has always pursued the principle of neutrality, but when it comes to the interests of the United States in the Far East, the US Government will not hesitate to use all necessary means, including force. On this point, the U.S. government shares the U.K. government's firm stance.

In this context, the United States Government has authorized me to maintain close contact with the central Government of your country and to maintain contact with Mr. President at all times, and to seek Mr. President's understanding through me before taking action in the event of a drastic change in the situation. The U.S. government is aware that there are a large number of Chinese nationals in the Nanyang region, although many of them are no longer legally classified as Chinese citizens. But taking into account the sentimental problems of the nation. The U.S. government fully understands the Chinese government's proactive position on these issues, but it also hopes that Mr. President will be cautious. There is no need to complicate simple issues. ”

Optimistically, the US Government does not oppose China taking necessary measures to protect overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, and from a pessimistic point of view, the US Government obviously does not want to see China take advantage of the chaotic situation in Southeast Asia to fish in troubled waters. Zhao Bei tried his best to find a balance between optimistic and pessimistic views, so he remained silent for a long time, and did not raise his head until Stade had finished speaking all the views of the Meiran government. Look at Stade.

"Thank you, Mr. Minister, for the reminder. On the issue of the South Seas region, China and the United States have many common interests. We can intervene in the same year. However, in the official reach of the salute Ya! The former Dingzhen should first solve the problem between China and Japan.

According to the latest information, there was a civilian uprising on the island of Taiwan under Japanese colonial control, and the nature of this uprising was completely consistent with the nature of the uprising in Cuba and the Philippines, which was caused by the inability of local civilians to endure the cruel oppression of the colonial authorities. After all, the island of Taiwan is China's inherent territory, and it was only because of the incompetence of the decaying Manchu Dynasty that this treasure island was seized by Japan, but no matter what the current situation on the island is, most of the residents living on that island are Chinese, and I believe that the US Government will understand the concerns of our Government about this. The United States Government understands the position of our Government on the issue of national feelings.

I heard that the U.S. government is encouraging private capital to participate in Japan's post-war construction, and now Japan. The domestic economy is in shambles, and without the help of American capital, Japan is likely to collapse, in that sense. Now that the US Government has come out to exert pressure on the Japanese Government, the Japanese Government will certainly follow the US Government's advice, so I hope that we can first work closely with the US Government on the Taiwan Island issue to ensure the stability of the situation on the Taiwan Island; I do not want to see the results of the Manila talks exclude the issue of the return of Taiwan Island, still less do I want the Japanese Government to wantonly kill the Chinese on the island

Zhao Bei decided to bring the topic to the island of Taiwan first. This question seems to have nothing to do with the situation in the South Seas, but in fact it has far-reaching significance, even if the Americans do not help, Zhao Bei will act alone.

Zhao Bei's words made Stade firm in the idea that the Chinese would use this war against Japan to solve the issue of the return of the island of Taiwan, which is probably the most difficult issue in the Manila talks.

Stade was also able to understand why Zhao Bei said this to him, the intention of this "mad president" was very clear, he wanted to exert diplomatic pressure on the Japanese government through the US government to force Japan to accept China's conditions and return the island of Taiwan.

But will the Japanese government succumb to the pressure of the U.S. government? This question is difficult to answer.

The Japanese government has the possibility of giving in, just as Zhao Bei just said, now Japan wants to strengthen industrial construction in order to restore its economy to a normal level, and then plunge into the competition for the world market in order to finally restore its national strength. However, due to the impact of the war, Japan was extremely short of funds, coupled with the financial war waged by the Chinese financial circles against Japan, which further aggravated the shortage of funds in Japan. Either there is not enough funding. Either the industrial strength is weak, and it will not help much for the economic recovery of the Japanese government, in this case. If the United States uses this as a threat, the Japanese government may not make concessions, after all, the colonies can be recaptured if they are lost, but if the mainland falls, then Japan will never have any hope of rising.

On the other hand, however, due to the crushing defeat in the war against China, there is a lot of anger in Japan, and the island of Taiwan has important strategic and economic value for Japan. It is difficult to say how much the Japanese government is determined to ignore the will of the people, so. The U.S. government's diplomatic pressure on the Japanese government is likely to further stimulate radical sentiment within the Japanese government and among the people, and the Japanese government is likely to refuse to compromise and back down, and relations with the U.S. will be further degraded, or even confronted.

Therefore, Stade can't give Zhao Bei an answer at all now, which needs to consult the U.S. government, and Stade must also be very courageous to raise this topic to the U.S. government, after all, with China's defeat of Japan, the U.S. government has noticed the potential threat from China, although at present, this idea may be a bit unfounded, but the U.S. government will not take risks, and it is precisely because of this that the U.S. government will encourage private capital to invest in Japanese industry, which is of course for the pursuit of profits. and control the lifeblood of Japan's industry, but on the other hand, it also has the intention of pulling Japan along, using Japan and China to contain each other. Do not allow any one side to dominate and ultimately threaten the interests of the United States in the Far East.

"Mr. President, I will convey this proposal to the U.S. government, but I can't guarantee anything, after all, the U.S. government is still focusing on the situation in Europe and is unlikely to invest too much in the Far East." Stade responded to Zhao's suggestion with standard diplomatic rhetoric.

"I understand the position of the US government, in fact, on the Nanyang issue. The position of China and the U.S. government is basically the same, that is, to maintain the stability of the South China Sea region as a whole

Zhao Bei nodded, with a reasonable posture, but in fact, he never took the US position as a guide for his actions, and whether the United States opposed it or not, the current Nanyang strategy must be implemented. It is said that the book is full of umbrellas