In Saint-Paulé-Durandz, France, there was a light rain in the sky.

This southern town, which is usually undisturbed by the outside world, is now attracting attention from all over the world.

Soon, the ITER Board of Directors will meet at the ITER headquarters at the end of the month.

At this meeting, the U.S. side will issue a final question on whether China will fulfill the ITER contract technology sharing agreement.

If the meeting still does not reach a satisfactory outcome for all parties, the ITER Board of Directors will call for a vote at the meeting and make a final decision on whether China will remain in the organization.

Over the past month or so, many speculations have been made about the choice of the Chinese representatives.

However, no matter what the speculation is, it seems that the two sides are not optimistic about reaching a consensus on this issue.

Now, this rainy weather seems to have foreshadowed this meeting from the beginning, and it is not destined to be smooth sailing to the end.

Sitting at the table of the Chinese delegates, Deputy Director Hu Zhanyuan, who was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be in charge of the meeting, looked at the following table.

It's 9:30 a.m.

There are still thirty minutes to go.

Not far away, the US representative Adam Cohen was happily exchanging views with the EU representatives, and from time to time his eyes glanced at this side with bad intentions.

Obviously, they have reached a consensus somewhere outside the meeting.

The expression on his face was still the same light and breezy appearance, but in his heart he sighed silently.

Able to drag on until now......

He's done his best.

Half an hour passed quickly, and the ITER President announced the opening of the meeting, as well as the agenda for the day's meeting.

In addition to the question of whether China has fulfilled the ITER agreement, the meeting will also discuss the specific details of the change of the technical route of the giant controlled fusion device.

That is, with regard to the various components that countries undertake to build in giant tokamak installations.

While the chairman of the board of directors finished reading out the agenda of the meeting, Adam Cohen, the representative of the US side, took the lead in speaking.

"With regard to the principle of sharing controlled nuclear fusion technology in the ITER agreement, we will reiterate our position here."

"We believe that while accepting ITER technology, China has not fulfilled its international obligations under the ITER organization."

"We've been arguing about this for long enough that today is probably our last meeting to discuss it. If you continue to refuse to comply with this obligation, we will apply to the Board of Directors to initiate an arbitration vote on the withdrawal of the Chinese personnel from ITER......"

The moment Cohen's words fell, there was a commotion in the conference room.

Although most of the participants had already guessed this scene before this, the participants here did not expect that the US representative would show such a clear intention of the threat at the very beginning of the agenda.

If you don't accept it, then I'll vote to kick you out.

This does not seem to leave any room for negotiation between the Chinese representatives at all.

Director General Osamu Motoshima, who was sitting at the meeting, said thoughtfully.

"It seems that my previous inference is still wrong."

Keiichi Ishida, the representative of the Japanese side sitting next to him, looked sideways slightly, "What speculation?" ”

"I always thought that the U.S. side wanted to put pressure on China through intellectual property issues to force them to disclose a series of undisclosed technologies, including superconducting magnets, plasma control schemes, and so on, but I didn't expect them to make up their minds from the beginning and just wanted to let the Chinese people out."

Keiichi Ishida frowned: "But what good is this for the Americans?" ”

Nakajima Shu glanced at him and said seriously: "Ishida-kun, the so-called benefits are not necessarily what you get, but what you can't get from your opponent. ”

"Yes......"

A thoughtful expression appeared on Keiichi Ishida's face.

That doesn't seem to be a problem......

But will it really be that smooth? Just kicking Hua out would leave them behind the world in controlled fusion research.

He always felt that it was not so simple......

After all, he had heard of the chief designer of the Huaguo stellar simulator project, but Lu Zhou, who had already created countless miracles......

Listening to the voices in his ears, Hu Zhanyuan, who was sitting on the conference table with his arms crossed, responded to Adam Cohen's aggressive gaze with an expressionless face.

When the ITER organizers signaled that he could start speaking, he reached for the microphone.

However, at this moment, the satellite phone in his pocket vibrated very inappropriately.

Feeling the vibration in his pocket, Hu Zhanyuan frowned slightly, but without any hesitation, he reached out and took out the phone.

After all, there were only a few people who could call him at this time......

"Hello?"

"......" listened silently to the narration on the other end of the phone, and the moment he heard a certain sentence, Hu Zhanyuan's eyebrows suddenly jumped.

Taking a deep breath, he whispered.

“…… Okay, I got it. ”

Another representative, who was sitting next to him, glanced sideways at him.

Although it was only a two-sentence exchange, I always felt that the tone of Director Hu's two sentences was completely different.

Patiently waiting for the call to end, Adam Cohen looked at Hu Zhanyuan, who put the phone down, with a playful expression.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

Stuffing the hung up phone back into the inner pocket of his suit, Hu Zhanyuan looked at him expressionlessly.

When he saw his expression of victory, Hu Zhanyuan suddenly couldn't hold back and laughed.

Seeing the uncontrollable smile on the face of the representative of the Chinese side, Cohen was slightly stunned and frowned slightly.

Helms, who was sitting in the US delegation, also frowned, wondering why the Chinese was still laughing.

"It's rude," he cleared his throat, Hu Zhanyuan restrained his slightly undignified smile, propped up the table with both hands, and slowly stood up, "There is an old saying in Huaguo, if you want to add to the crime, there is no excuse." We, we don't have much to say......"

An unexpected answer, but Cohen wasn't surprised.

Originally, he expected that the Chinese representative might make some justifications on this issue, and his side would also fight back one by one, but no matter how fierce the debate is, the final result will not change.

cleared his throat, and just as Cohen was about to enter the next process and initiate a vote, Hu Zhanyuan, who had not yet sat down, continued to speak, and blocked back his words that had crawled to his lips.

“…… Since a month ago, we have been disclosing the necessary data in an open and responsible manner in accordance with the ITER agreement, but we are very disappointed by your vexatious demands and unreasonable behavior on this issue. ”

"Under the conditions of equality and mutual trust, we have the willingness to open up and cooperate. But for unreasonable requests, no matter how many times, our answer is still no. ”

"In that case, we won't waste your time."

Speaking of this, Hu Zhanyuan straightened his collar, exchanged glances with several other Chinese representatives, and then faced the venue again, and said unhurriedly.

"I declare on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"From now on, Huaguo officially withdraws from the ITER agreement!"

As the loud sound fell, the whole venue was silent, and the silence was terrifying.

After looking around the venue, Hu Zhanyuan's gaze finally stopped on Adam Cohen's face and said meaningfully.

"Well, leave it to yourself."

"Farewell."

With that, he cleaned up his things on the table and turned and walked to the door of the conference room.

Looking at the Chinese representatives who got up and left the venue, the chairman of ITER had a stunned expression, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.

Adam Cohen was the same, the whole person was stunned, and there were probably only three question marks to tell the expression on his face at this moment.

Originally, according to the process, they should have invited the Chinese representatives out of the meeting through voting, but they didn't expect that the voting session had not yet arrived, but they left by themselves.

The commotion spread through the conference room.

Not only the chairman of the board of directors and the US representatives, but almost all of them had stunned expressions written on their faces.

Looking at the empty seats, for some reason, Helms, who was sitting in the US delegation, was inexplicably panicked.

He should be happy at the moment.

After all, kicking Hua Guo out of the ITER organization is exactly what the White House and the CIA expect to see, and what he expects to see.

Don't......

Has Huaguo completed the key technology of controlled fusion?

A terrible possibility suddenly occurred to him, but soon he shook his head and drove the unrealistic thought out of his mind.

No, it can't be......

Anyway, it's a little too fast.

At the same time, looking at the chaotic meeting scene, the meeting secretary sitting next to the chairman of ITER lowered his voice and asked in a low voice.

"Mr. Chairman...... Will this continue? ”

The chairman was silent for a long time, and then spoke.

“…… Let's move on to the next agenda. ”

In any case, the work that needs to be done must continue.

On the next agenda, they will also discuss the issue of a giant controlled fusion device.

It's a more exciting topic to be on.

But for some reason, he couldn't get excited at all......