`Comrade,' Zhang began, `we have extinguished the antirevolutionary so-called New Communists. These people have been like thorns in our side. Yet in our coordinated police action we were able to arrest more than 500. We have released some, but they remain under close observation, and 203 were officially charged and they will be given gaol terms ranging from seven to twenty years. Our interrogation so far has led us to estimate that eight of the ringleaders have managed to elude us. We think they have made for the Vietnamese border, but I'm confident they will be apprehended. Think of our victory, Comrade, a dissident group which had taken years to create was crushed in less than an hour. This is an impressive achievement which no one can take away from you.'
`Yes, that is particularly sweet. So what of you, Comrade?' he said, turning to Song.
`I'm afraid I have nothing but good news for you,' he said, chancing an ironic smile in response to the President's improving spirits. `We have been transformed from a regional power into a global force capable of challenging America. The world has not witnessed such rapid change in power alignments since the Soviet Union collapsed under Gorbachev's reign leaving only the Americans to dominate the world stage. China has arrived. Our preparedness to risk nuclear exchange has bought us a seat at the top table. We have changed the world.
`We have won an important victory in that we have the active acquiescence of most South-East Asian nations to our claim over the South China Sea. The West's agreement will follow after a suitable face-saving interval. The way is open for us to move on Taiwan. Japan is a problem, but not an insurmountable one. After all, like America, Japan has commercial interests to protect in China. We should sleep more soundly, not less so.'
Wang sat back, rolling a pencil between his fingers, nodding as Song talked. Then he said, `But what about the Vietnamese. How did they do it?' as his fist came crashing down on the table.
In Tiananmen Square, dusted with freshly fallen snow, a soldier raised the national flag. Soon afterwards children arrived in bright red uniforms each carrying a flag bearing a portrait of President Wang. A line of kites flew at each end of the square with the symbol of the Dragonstrike War printed onto the cloth. Outside the Museum of History and Development film of the battles and the destruction was projected onto a large screen. Soldiers, aircrew, and sailors who had fought lined up squadron by squadron, battalion by battalion and ship by ship to file through the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong and pay their respects to the founder of modern China. They then took their positions, beginning at the south end of the Square, filling it up line by line. The JL2 and DF32 intercontinental ballistic missiles were driven down the Avenue of Heavenly Peace and drew to a halt as the procession had done less than a month earlier, facing the Gate of Heavenly Peace. The whole Square was filled with a mist of sleet and pollution. It was impossible to make out figures and buildings from one side to the other, but the hazy, dim atmosphere made the music and speeches of the Communist leaders even more distinctive. Cheers erupted from swirls of fog. The nation was told that lost territory in northern Vietnam would be recovered by the glorious bravery of troops from the Kunming and Guangzhou war zones; that men from the East Sea Fleet, the PLA Air Force, Marines, and troops from the Nanjing war zone would valiantly drive out the occupying nationalist forces of Taiwan and reunite it with the motherland; that the governments of Japan, Britain, France, and America had apologized to President Wang for atrocities carried out during colonial times, when China was a weak and corrupt nation; the sovereign rights over the South Sea by the motherland had been acknowledged by all nations. President Wang Feng was a great and glorious leader for the whole of China.
`Never again will China be disgraced and humiliated by foreign powers,' the People's Daily said, in a front-page editorial. `The motherland is now the strongest nation on Earth.'
The Chinese President appeared above the gate of the Forbidden City. He was flanked by the generals who had directed the Dragonstrike War. General Zhao and Jamie Song were there with other members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo; among the international guests were the President of Iran, the Prime Minister of Russia, and the leaders of the Central Asian Republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. The Japanese Ambassador found it convenient to be in Tokyo for consultations. In protests reminiscent of the Cold War, Western diplomats boycotted the ceremonies.
The attack came at first light. Twelve Su-27s came in low over the north-east coast of Taiwan; behind them six A-7 light attack bombers. They met no resistance as they made their first pass over Tan-shui, a coastal town at the mouth of the Tan-shui River. The A-7s carried C-802 anti-ship missiles. As they began their first run, sailors aboard ran for cover on board the Taiwanese Cheng Kung class frigate Pan Chao and the La Fayette class frigate Wu Chang. But it was too late. Within seconds the missiles had struck the ships, sending superheated shrapnel and exploding ordnance in all directions. Debris burnt all around the waters of the Tan-shui. Thick black smoke billowed into the air; the howls of the injured and dying were finally drowned out by an air raid warning siren. It sounded as the A-7s turned to make their second approach. Their target was a second La Fayette class frigate, Kun Ming. But the crew had had the vital seconds to react and defend themselves. Through an octuple launcher, they fired a salvo of surface-to-air missiles, destroying three aircraft. At the same time, the Chinese pilots found themselves flying into a blanket of depleted-uranium shells from the American-made close-in Phalanx weapons system on the bow. Firing up to 4,000 shells a minute, it hit two A-7s and blew up their air-to-surface missiles before they were able to hit the frigate.
There was a knock on the door and Prime Minister Hyashi's Private Secretary entered the room. Hyashi was eating breakfast — fermented soya beans (natoh) mixed with strips of raw squid, and rice — and reviewing the morning's press. He looked up. `Yes?' he said.
`Excuse me, sir, for interrupting you but Defence Minister Ishihara said you would want to see this.'
Hyashi read the two-page document impassively. It described how a Japanese listening post on the Senkaku Islands had intercepted Chinese military communications at 0700 that morning. The Senkaku Islands which Beijing claimed and called Taioyu-tai Islands d been upgraded by Japan to a fully staffed and equipped military base in the fortnight following Dragonstrike. The provisioning of the islands had not been completed.
The signals that were intercepted were the orders to PLA Air Force and naval units participating in the invasion of northern Taiwan. Hyashi finished reading and sat in silent thought. He turned to his Private Secretary and told him to convene a meeting of the cabinet's Defence Subcommittee for 0900. `Also call Ambassador Monroe and tell him that I want to talk to the President after the cabinet meeting. That is all.'
The Xinhua News Agency carried a report of the invasion, which it dubbed the `liberation' of Taiwan. It said the Chinese people had an historic yearning for reunification and called on the Taiwanese military to come over to the Communists' side. It said that those who joined forces with the PLA would retain the rank they held in the Taiwan Army. `The government of China does not seek retribution, only reunification,' it said. `All outstanding issues can be settled. Taiwan's people can continue to govern Taiwan. Taiwan's status as a member of international organizations will be preserved. The Central People's government seeks only peace and one China,' Xinhua said.