`Foreign Minister. The BBC. Why is Brunei not included?'
`We wanted to follow the aspirations of the 1970 Declaration on the Zone of Peace Freedom and Neutrality, as laid down in the 1972 ZOPFAN guidelines. Numbers five and ten refer to foreign military presence in the region. Brunei retains a British military base on its soil. There are British warships there at present. This is not a major issue and as soon as the British leave, we will welcome Brunei with open arms. The French presence in Vietnam, of course, constrains the membership of Hanoi. We hope that, too, is temporary. We are in discussions with Singapore and Malaysia to bring to an end the facilities they offer to Western military powers. Those of you familiar with the ZOPFAN document may want to quote back at me guideline eleven which prohibits the use, storage, passage, and testing of nuclear weapons. I can reveal that President Wang assured the Ambassadors that China's long-term plan was to abandon its nuclear programme. But as you know these things take time.'
`CNN, Foreign Minister. What about Laos and Cambodia?'
`When Vietnam returns, so will they. Two more questions.'
`Straits Times, Singapore. Why has Indonesia not signed?'
`Indonesia is the largest country by far in South-East Asia. It is generally in agreement, but we need more time to work out the details.' `New York Times. Will commercial shipping now be able to travel unimpeded and if that is the case will you now be returning the Shell New World to its rightful owners and releasing the crew from captivity?'
Jamie Song looked at his watch, then answered: `The Shell New World incident is being investigated. The People's Liberation Army was not involved. Now, there are press kits on the table on the side. The enlarged map behind me sets out the new Friendship and Cooperation Zone of East Asia.' As the Foreign Minister left the stage, red lights illuminated the countries which had signed the MOU, so that they were indistinguishable from China itself. Chris Bronowski, commenting live into the CNN coverage of the news conference, said: `We are seeing the first map of China's twenty-first-century empire.'
`Can you be more specific?' prompted the anchor.
`Yes. There is a swath of areas which historically came under the control of the Chinese emperors d which China still claims. Burma or Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos were dominated by the Manchus. China claimed suzerainty over Korea. It claims and controls Tibet. It also has claims on the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, where it doesn't recognize Bhutanese sovereignty, and on the Indian state of Sikkim, whose annexation by the Indian government it also refuses to recognize. It may want to revive a claim on Mongolia which came under Moscow's control when the Manchus collapsed in 1911. My guess is that President Wang wants to reassemble China in its former glory under the more acceptable Friendship and Cooperation Zone of East Asia.'
Colonel Etienne Gerbet was shown into the President Nguyen's office. The President was on the telephone and Colonel Gerbet surveyed the room cautiously. The presidential office was dignified, but not overly stuffy. Pictures of the President's family were displayed on a sideboard along with a multitude of other photographs of world leaders and regional politicians Nguyen had met during his rise to power.
`Welcome to Hanoi, Colonel. I trust your flight was uneventful,' Nguyen said.
`Quite uneventful, thank you, sir,' the Colonel replied.
`Well, shall we get down to business? I understand from the conversation I had with President Dargaud on Sunday that he would be sending me something special. Are you it?'
`In a manner of speaking, sir. If I may be permitted…' The President nodded his assent; Gerbet opened an attache case and removed some papers and computer floppy disks. `What I have here, sir, is a suggestion for how we might be able to help you… level the battlefield, as it were. How familiar are you with the term "information warfare"?'
`Not at all. Go on.'
`Your forces have since Sunday been engaged in operations in southern China. Groups of up to ten men have penetrated deep into Chinese territory and sowed confusion among the local townspeople. The attack on Monday at Xiatong when the local Party Secretary and Head of Public Security were killed in their beds was particularly effective. We have reason to believe that the Chinese have had about as much as they are going to take of this sort of harassment of their border towns. They are, in fact, preparing a force, lightly armoured, and of about 50,000 troops, to stage a retaliatory strike across the border. We have reason to believe that they plan to raze Lang Son in revenge.'
`I am impressed with your knowledge not only of our operations but also of the intentions of the Chinese. But what has this to do with… information warfare?' Nguyen asked.
`I was coming to that. President Dargaud has authorized me and my men to assist your army in defeating the Chinese attack. We expect it will come quite soon.'
`We have had experience in beating the Chinese before, Colonel. Why do we need your help?'
`I have the utmost respect for the Vietnamese soldiers, sir, and I have no doubt that they could, as in 1979, deliver a bloody nose to the Chinese. However, what we are offering you is a way of preserving your army and delivering a knock-out blow to the Chinese at the same time.'
`Go on.'
`We have the capability to see the battlefield in its entirety and assist your army with target selection. In real time we can pinpoint the position of Chinese tanks and troop deployments. With this information your heavy artillery, rockets, and mortars ought to be able to do the rest. How can we do this? I am not authorized to go into details but we, like the Americans, and the Chinese for that matter, have satellites in the sky. We've positioned one of our best over the Chinese-Vietnamese border since the war began on Sunday. It is able to communicate with our embassy here in Hanoi and from there by microwave link to Lang Son. We can do the rest. But I am also authorized to make one more offer of assistance. The Chinese army has bought many, though not all, of its battlefield information systems from us. Indeed, they widely use a Thomson-CSF Star Burst battlefield information manager. Although I cannot go into details we are able to ensure that the system fails at a time that would be helpful to your forces.'
President Wang remained an elusive figure. In keeping with Chinese political tradition he cultivated an image of omnipotence through his skilful behind-the-scenes manipulation of events. His people saw pictures of him on their television sets and in the newspapers meeting foreign dignitaries and chairing important meetings. But unlike his predecessors he rarely left the high red walls surrounding Zhongnanhai to venture outside the capital and only marginally more often travelled within it. Throughout the day Chinese Central Television and local radio stations had been broadcasting that he would address the nation at 10.15 p.m. in a special TV news bulletin. A studio in Zhongnanhai had been fitted out especially for the broadcast. The President was to sit at a table. Behind him would be a deep red screen supporting a crane in full flight. The crane is north Asia's most prized bird — revered in China, as well as Korea and Japan. At 10 p.m. he entered the studio, chatted with the young female make-up artist and the crew. He sat down and waited for the signal to begin recording his message to the nation.