Prime Minister Ito’s entire cabinet was seated around the table in supple white leather chairs, while their assistants and secretaries stood anxiously behind them, clutching file folders, tablets, and smartphones.
Myers sat to Ito’s right, a position of high honor. She wore an earpiece linked to an official government interpreter in an adjoining room. Lane had informed her about the Chinese fleet setting sail and the latest Chinese demands. The crisis was escalating, yet Lane’s calm voice reassured her. For a president on the verge of war, he was amazingly composed. Another advantage of having a commander in chief with combat experience.
Lane asked her to attend Ito’s emergency cabinet meeting. She agreed, of course. Anything to help. They discussed his agenda. Under no circumstances could she allow the Japanese to undertake unilateral action. She concurred, silently wondering how in the world she could possibly prevent them from doing so. Lane wished her luck.
Ito called the meeting to order.
“Today’s session will be recorded for posterity, but the information discussed is top secret. Under no conditions are any of the matters we discuss in this room today to be released to the general public.”
Heads nodded around the table.
“What is she doing here?” Tanaka asked, glowering at Myers.
The translator’s voice echoed with Tanaka’s anger. The emphasis was hardly necessary, Myers thought. His eyes were enough.
Ito stiffened. “President Myers is here today as my guest and as a personal envoy of President Lane. As many of you know, President Myers and I have been friends for many years. I trust her as I trust my own sister. She also enjoys the complete confidence of President Lane. We may speak freely and candidly in front of her, and I encourage her to speak frankly as well. Her role is to convey the substance of today’s meeting to President Lane and his cabinet, which will be meeting shortly as well. Does anybody object?”
As both the prime minister and party leader, Ito’s authority in the room was unquestioned. But anti-American sentiments were escalating around the country — it appeared as if the United States were abandoning the Japanese to their fate. The elected officials and representatives seated in the room reflected those public sentiments.
Several shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but no one objected publicly. Tanaka already had by inference.
Ito nodded at his minister of defense. The MOD reported that the Chinese fleet was twenty-two hours away from breaching the territorial waters around the Senkakus. He briefed everyone on the extent of the Chinese ship, aircraft, and troop complement, as well as Japanese and American forces in the area.
The foreign minister then read the letter hand delivered to her office personally by Ambassador Pang and signed by Vice Chairman Feng. The letter began with a virulent protest against the “war-era suicide assault” on the Tiger II oil-drilling ship before launching into a reassertion of China’s historical and legal claims to the disputed islands. Feng’s letter then announced the arrival of Chinese PLAN marines who would occupy the two largest islands in the chain “in order to protect Chinese lives and property in Chinese territorial waters against future Japanese aggression.”
The letter also demanded unobstructed passage of their ships to Mao Island and no armed resistance to Chinese landing forces, and ordered the Japanese government to turn over all of the islands in question to Chinese authority and further demanded immediate recognition of the them as sovereign Chinese territory in perpetuity.
The letter concluded ominously. “Failure to comply with our demands or violating the terms set forth herein shall constitute an act of war against the People’s Republic of China.” The foreign minister practically hissed as she read the last sentence. So did the translator.
“So there we have it,” Ito said. “The Chinese fleet is on its way to seize the Senkakus, daring us to oppose them. We’ve discussed our options at length. Do nothing, wait for the Americans to dispatch the Sixth Fleet, or dispatch our own fleet to fight them.”
“If we do nothing, we’ll only encourage the Chinese to seize other disputed territories throughout the region,” the defense minister said. “Our inaction puts several of our regional allies at risk.”
The foreign minister nodded vigorously. “If we do nothing, we declare ourselves to be vassals of both the Chinese and the Americans.” She waved a hand for emphasis. “Completely unacceptable for a sovereign nation.”
“Our conference with President Lane yesterday made it clear that he will not dispatch the Sixth Fleet to block the Chinese,” Tanaka said. He turned to Myers, switched to English. “Do you agree with my assessment?”
Myers shook her head. “Not necessarily. President Lane has personally contacted President Sun, strongly opposing the current Chinese actions. He reaffirmed our treaty commitments to Japan and reminded him that any attack on Japan was tantamount to an attack on the United States.”
The aides of the few cabinet members who didn’t speak English whispered translations into their bosses’ ears.
“And what was President Sun’s response?” Ito asked.
Myers sighed. “He thanked the president for his concerns and promised to look further into the matter.”
The room exploded in a flurry of outrage. The translator did her best to keep up, but it was impossible to translate everything. It didn’t matter. Myers got the gist of it. They were mad as hornets, both at China and the U.S. She would be, too, if she were in their seats. She folded her hands politely in front of her and tried to calm the room with her disarming smile. “What matters is that President Sun has been formally warned about the consequences. I promise you those consequences were heard. President Lane also reminded President Sun that the George Washington carrier battle group was deployed to Okinawa two days ago for a training exercise.”
“President Sun is a liar if he is saying he has no idea about what’s going on,” Tanaka insisted.
“What would you expect him to do? Immediately apologize and promise to withdraw his fleet? If he’s behind all of this, he’s not going to back down with a phone call. But if other forces are at play, he might be helpless to act immediately,” Myers said.
“Other forces at play? It’s Communist China. He’s a dictator!” one of the ministers shouted.
The foreign minister leaned forward on her elbows. “But President Myers makes an interesting point. The letter was signed by Minister Feng, not President Sun.”
“He’s only covering himself in case something goes wrong,” Tanaka said. “Feng will suffer the consequences of failure, but Sun can seize the credit if they succeed.”
“That suggests some kind of schism within the leadership. A gap that perhaps we can exploit,” Myers said.
The room buzzed again as heads leaned in close for private conferences among themselves. That was a good sign, Myers thought. They’re thinking about the possibilities.
Everyone except Tanaka, who only glared at her. “Politburo politics are irrelevant. A fleet of Chinese ships loaded with missiles and marines is the reality we must address. Doing nothing is out of the question, in my opinion, and I still believe the Americans are hoping the Chinese will change their minds without the U.S. deploying the Sixth Fleet. Prime Minister Ito, I ask for a vote right now. I believe in the third option. I believe that Japan must act on its own. We should send our fleet now and dispatch our air force. We have a long and glorious history of defeating the Chinese dragon.”