[War] US/PRC: Meeting of the Poles, Part I

[John Penta]

"Meeting of the Poles"
President  Xia  Hong
The People's Republic of China
President   John   Williams
The United States of America
August 1, 2014
================================================
(San Francisco)

Home sweet home... well not really, but for Xia it 'was' where she was
technically born, in a hospital near a Chinese  consulate several  miles
from  the  airport. She remembered  the streets well, although so much
had changed  since the 70's and  80's  when she was a child. There was a
lot more people for starters, far fewer green spaces, and a lot of the
character of the 'old city' was now hidden under a gilded edge of
modernity.

San  Francisco was always, and would likely always, be a city looking
forward. If Los Angeles was the  New  York  of  the west (New York being
her favorite city other than San Fran to visit) than San Francisco
was the west's equivalent  of  Boston The  'other' city.

The American Secret Service and the Chinese Executive Security
Service traded places  at this point. The Americans had a level of
credibility. you could trust them to insure the President's well
being. If something happened to Xia after all, the next leader would
be  far  from  forgiving and  neither   country  wanted  that. Likewise,
any of the few ESS agents  allowed  to operate under USSS authority  would
gladly take a bullet for President Williams...nobody wanted
President Stevens launching a reprisal  strike against Beijing after all.

That might have been  taking  the     potential  penalties a little far,  but
it  highlighted the  seriousness  of   the    situation.  The SS and ESS  were
both  equally  fanatical  with   protecting  'all'   people under  their
custody,  regardless of whom   it   was.   Between  powers,   assassinations
were never good    policy.   Say what  you would  like  about Hong   or
Williams...  they  'did' talk at  the end  of the   day.    Something  you
couldn't necessarily say    about   their mutual   successors.

The meeting  was    understandably  important.  So much  so in   fact  that
the
Chinese Ministry of State  and the  American   Department  of  State  had
spent literally  'months'  in    preparation.   The language that   would  be
spoken would  be  English,  as both    President Hong and President   Williams
spoke the    language   natively.  Each leader  would be allowed  a   group
of
10  immediate  staffers, 2   guards in the  'immediate'   vacinity.    Either
side  would   be permitted confidentiality   in  consulting their
particular
experts on   issues, the  places for the   different  meetings had   been
selected, as had   the  'recreational'    encounters.  Xia even got a  free
New  York  Mets   hat...  made  in China naturally... which was  all  right
by
her.   They'd  gotten into the  nit and  gritty  about   everything...

And     somehow had time to map  out an agenda  to   boot.

The  Americans  wanted  to  talk Iran which  was  obviously a  mutual  concern
and  should   be  addressed.    China wanted to talk about  America's
recent
arms deal   with  the  Taiwanese, and about  cross-pacific   partnership    in
fields  'other' than  making each other  mutually   wealthy.   There     were
environmental  concerns, mutual security   concerns, the    Koreas...   and
then there would be a 'closed'    door   session which would literally   be
just Xia  and  John,  mano a  mano,  no cameras, no other ears,  to  air   out
whatever   concerns they  so   desired.  A chance for the leaders    of   a
newly  minted  bi-polar world to state their  positions,   and    hopefully
between  them  reach a ground on  key  issues to help lead   the     world
forward.  Even  time with the  media was  heavily  scripted  on     'both'
sides... a not-too  understood  fact of American  politics   was    that
access was everything,   and the White House  almost   exclusively had     the
access.

"That was  the  school I went  to."   Xia  whispered  to  herself,   unaware
that she'd  prompted  one of  her guards to peer  out   the  tinted  window of
their armored    SUV.  Xia  smiled  and waved at  the school kids...    even
if
they couldn't  see, she couldn't help but get   a  little   excited.    It
wasn't 'too' long ago  that  Chan himself  was   starting his  first  day   of
classes in an  elementary      school.
***

Across the city, John Williams  was   at   the   Distinguished Visitors'
Quarters at Travis  AFB,   getting  ready for  the   hell to  come.

They'd been  here  for  a week before Xia's   arrival,  prepping   like
nervous  kids  dreading a  test. No kids, no  families,  just   the
involved
staffers and  Williams.

The  language of   the   conference  was  English - which was  helpful,   even
if Williams   had  figured his  Mandarin was  good enough  to show   off.
His
staffers didn't  really want the risk it   really   wasn't,   which is why he
didn't push on     it.

Everything would be   tightly  scripted, and   Williams  had  authorized the
tightest   security   measures of his   administration to make  sure    things
went  off as planned.  This included meeting    privately  with   protest
leaders  - to warn them of  the  importance of the  summit  and  how    dimly
the  White House would view the cause  of anyone  who    disrupted   things.

Fortunately, too,  he'd  met  with   Congressional leaders while    preparing
-  anything  that  happened  here would be  enforced by the  whips  on    both
sides of the  aisle in  the Senate,  and the independents  in    the  House
would be   outmaneuvered by bipartisan  action  if need be.  John  did   enjoy
the  instability  the  independents had brought  to  things, but   now   was
not  the time for them to be  blocking   actions.

Everything    assured   domestically,  his mind  turned to the hub of the
matter   -    the  Chinese.

He  had no doubt that they  were  going  to bargain  hard.  Hard as   hell.
But  he  couldn't  help himself - he would force  them to   earn   every
gain
with an equal  concession.

First  up,  of  course,   had to be  the  issue of the prisoners  the
Chinese
still  held  - it had  only been a fear  of  starting   World  War III  that
had stopped him  from  authorizing a  raid to   rescue   them.

In  return, he'd stop  the most   -advanced-  parts of the sales   to   the
Taiwanese. But only if  they  hadn't  been    tortured.

Next, obviously,  came  Iran -  American  forces  were   still fighting in
Azerbaijan,  but  that    hardly stopped people from   thinking  about   the
post-war.  Mostly.

After  that, it  would   be   China's  ball.
***

The caravan  of vehicles pulled  into  Travis  Air  Force  Base  at
approximately
11:45 am  local  time... a full 15    minutes ahead of  schedule.   Xia had  a
penitent for  being  early,  which is something  that  the  Secret  Service,
with a   heads
up   from their ESS   counterparts,  took into account when   making
security
arrangements.

The line of SUVs  and  Secret   Service  Limos  came to a halt.  An ESS
agent got out  of   the SUV that held  the  President  and opened the
door once  the  USSS
perimeter   security  agents  gave the okay.  One  would have   sworn  an
American stepped out of the  car...  although  Xia  was undoubtedly
Asian, her    American
mother gave her  a  slightly fairer complexion, a good  deal   of
height  over, and
a better... ahem...  'endowment' than one  would   have  acquainted  with a
full-blooded Chinese  woman.   There were  any  number  of  reasons...
the food she  ate as
a child was  different  than  what she  would've  eaten  in China,  her mixed
heritage, unique   genetic     factors...

In either case, she fixed her gaze on    President   Williams, who  was even
taller than she  was...  something  the  lithe  President Hong -  whom
seemed about 10 years  younger  than her  stated  age - was
completely  unaccustomed   to.
Still, she handled it   gracefully, had  anticipated  it, and  offered
 a smile as
she outstretched  her  hand.    "President Williams,   I'm glad to meet  you
under better circumstances  than  we   normally  meet."

Williams  couldn't help but chuckle  at  that as  he   shook the
outstretched hand with a smile.  "I  hadn't thought of it   quite  that
way, Madam  President,   but that's not a bad  descriptor  for   everything
that's  happened. It's  good to  finally meet  you  when, barring   Iran,
there *isn't* an   immediate  crisis   underway."

"See, we're capable of  common  ground."  She  joked,   they both  shared
obligatory smiles for  the allowed  cameras, though  the  more  honest
chuckle was a far more promising event in Xia's  mind.   "Shall we
make  our   way to the
office, so to  speak?"

"Of   course."   Williams turned and returned the salutes of  the  Air  Force
sentries,  then  opened the door, gesturing for  Hong to   enter first.

Soon  enough, they  were  seated in a small  conference  room with  their
staffs, flags  helpfully  marking  each side's   position.

"Before  we begin, would anyone  like  anything to    drink?"

"Ice water would be  lovely." Xia replied while  their   respective aides
went about the task of setting up the  table for  their   meeting.
Folders   here,
documents there, glasses over   there...  they were  fortunate it was a  large
table with all  the  items that  had to  be splayed before it. Since
they   hadn't
started  the 'formal' meeting  yet, Xia figured now was  the  perfect
opportunity to offer her gift.   An aide  handed  her a duffle bag per
her  request, and
after
digging  around  only  momentarily she produced a  jade-green,  crocheted
blanket
with the   imprint in gold of a snake,  with  some fine bordering in navy
blue.
Crocheting  was a neat  and useful  little art form she  picked  up  while
pregnant.
"I  hope you will  be willing to  accept  this gift.  My understanding is
Luke
was born  in   2013?  The year of the snake in  Chinese    symbolism...
indicating
one who will be clever, of tremendous  wisdom,  favored  with  wealth, laden
with
determination,  engulfed in  romanticism and, as they   say, a born  'lady
killer'." She smiled  as she handed it over to    him.

"That last is something I won't  mention to his  mom,"   Williams
responded with a grin as the  staffers poured  the water.   "But,"
Williams appraised the gift  quickly to  mentally check if he had   to
turn it over to the  National  Archives, then decided he didn't,   "thank
you for the   blanket. I'm sure he'll enjoy it, even if he never    figures
out  the significance." It'd distract him from the media,  who  was   his
current target for attention. For a few  minutes   anyway.

Finally  the staffers indicated  everything was set up,  and  they were ready
to proceed. "Since our  aides have gone through the  diligent  work of
preparing
us for  this conversation, shall we begin  by  addressing the most   immediate
issue?"  She knew he  would  understand that as  being Iran.

"I've considered it. Obviously  with combat   operations still underway,
I'm hesitant to plan too far  ahead, but I  can  speak to what I've
already sent to contributing   nations.

"As it is,  I'm considering  not moving into Iran  at  all - just holding
short at the  internarional border  and  letting  the fact that the
Islamic Republic has  now engaged in  *two* wars   they haven't won sink
in.

"However, if  I  do, this is the plan I  am  recommending:

"One, an Allied  Control  Council, upon which  I would be willing to seat
the PRC,  would set out general  plans. Below  them would be   Allied
military governors at the provincial  level.  Other than  that, the
Iranians already *have* the rudiments of  democracy  -  you can just
unplug the clerics, re-elect a new Majlis without   the  vetting of the
Guardian Council, and I think you would have a  decent   structure.So I
see no need to go as deep as was done in  Iraq - Allied  forces  would be
there to clean out the hardliners,  help write a new  constitution,  and
help with reconstruction of  infrastructure,  nothing  more.

"Two,  there would be a  dis-establishment of the  IRGC and the  Ministry
of Virtue,   but we would leave the regular  Iranian military in  place,
along  with the  civil police, while  gently retraining them   to
first-world standards of  decorum and  professionalism.  The  civil
service would be similar in many    ways.

"Three: Contracts  would be open bidding, period.    Preferably
fixed-price. Initially, I  suspect I'll be using the US  Army  Corps  of
Engineers, simply because  they have the  experience, but  later I  intend
for the Iranians to take   over contract management,  with any  Allied
assistance simply  being  technical.

"Are  there any Chinese  concerns with  such a plan? I know  it's  not
detailed - that's still being   worked out."

"China   desires to see the Iranian people bear  full responsibility for
their own  liberation."  Xia  recognized the change in approach on  the first
issue, and was  more than willing to reciprocate with a bit of
information  even
the CIA and DoD likely could not verify for  certain.   "Chinese
Special Forces have
networked several  democratic  movements together, and are  in the process of
providing  advanced  military training and technical  support.  It's our
hope these independent Iranian groups, many of which  have some
popular  support,
can unite under the common goal of bringing  about  a  counter-revolution which
would result in the ending of  religious  oriented  tyranny in Iran.
The role of
Islam in  their culture and  society is  undeniable, but I see in Iran a  true
opportunity to bring  about much needed  social reform in the  Middle
East. China has long been a partner, if a  tepid one,  with Tehran...
it is time Beijing
took a more defined stand  in my  opinion."

"While we're happy to  see Beijing take such a  defined  stand, I'm not
sure the methodology you  have set out  necessarily is  workable,"
Williams replied. "You're proposing a coup,  if I'm reading you  right;
Personally and  professionally, that  strikes me as a bad idea.  One,
it'll be bloody,  and while that  isn't a concern in and of itself,  the
first time someone  dies is  when outsiders lose all control of  a
movement like that. I'd   rather we didn't lurch from the Islamic
Republic  to something  possibly  a lot worse." It felt weird to be the
guy arguing for   moderation, but  politics did that sometimes.

"We can afford  patience. It  may take a  while, but the Iranians will
collapse  under the weight of their  own  system. You can already tell
the  discontent of the younger generation  if  you listen closely  enough.
If we speed up the process as you  suggest, it  could  become something
much like what produced the current  regime - except  in  the opposite
direction. I think you're moving in the  right  direction, but I  think
you're trying to go far faster than the   situation can sustain."

"I understand your concerns Mister  President,  however I also  disagree.
We're keeping close tabs on  those we ally  ourselves with... the  vast
majority are not the  vengeful maurauders  seeking to avenge lost
loved ones  killed by
the government, as is the  common revolutionary stereotype.   Most  of those we
are assisting  are thoughtful, civilized,  educated Iranians.   Specifically the
mid 20's to early 40's,  all of whom have records of peacefully
trying  to bring
about the  democratization of Iran.  We are not suggesting  a  'coup', but  I
fear that fate has made that much inevitable.  My  worst   nightmare
is to wake up
one day, to find that the Iranian  Government  has  annihilated the democratic
movements that are homegrown  by  brandishing the title  of 'traitor' upon all
whom seek democracy   because of the actions already taken  in Azerbaijan and
Tehran   respectively."  She took a sip of water before  continuing.   "In
this instance, we're merely assuring that they're capable   of  defending
thir freedoms should an inevitable  post-hostilities  government
sponsored crackdown
occur."

Williams sipped at his  water. It was...interesting was  probably not
the right word for how close  that sounded to militia  groups in the US.
No, it was downright  creepy.

"Or possibly  unintentionally inciting just such a bloodbath. If  the
Iranians were to  find the weapons *before* you're ready to move,  you'd
give them just  the ammo to prove to the guy on the street that  the
democracy movements  are nothing more than foreign pawns at best  or
complete liars at worst.  Which would set us all back about 10 years.
If not more."

"What ammunition, President Williams?  Disguised foreign fighters,
certainly not a phenomena in the middle east, training like minded
individuals  with
Soviet era small arms, providing laptops, basic  computer and communications
instruction, and small unit tactics?"  She  shrugged as she folded her  hands.
"Nothing concrete.  And at the  same time these groups, composed of the same
people you're worried about  disenfranchising, are garnering  political and
ideological  support?  After it becomes public that the  Iranian invasion  of
Azerbaijan was a thinly veiled grab for international attention and  petroleum
producing supremacy, that tens of thousands of Iran's sons died  fighting a
phony war, the current government will have no power. With  respect, NATO has
already set the forces for a revolution in motion by devastating the
forces tasked
with repressing it. Our best hope now is to influence the outcome. China is
determined to see a democratic Iran. We are at the point of no return as it
is...we either succeed or  fail here, now."

"They've mostly been surrendering, not getting destroyed," Williams
said. "But regardless. We're not likely to reach agreement on much
here - just from my own experience, it feels like you're  moving too
fast. You probably think I'm being too cautious - well, I am. Let's
set this topic aside and agree that the future evolution of Iran is
for Iranians to decide? The most any outsider *should* be doing is
helping them reach the decisive point at which changes can actually
manifest themselves, and help prevent any possibility of state
failure."

"I can most certainly agree to that."  Xia gave a polite smile and nod of
her head. As she looked down at the itinerary her face soured. "I  see you
wish to discuss your spies we're holding."
---
Actions:
1. Agree on a basic plan for Iran
2. General chatter
3. Now on to the hard part.