Empire of the Ring

While busy preparing for the resource diplomacy trip, the Uyghur refugee issue had caused a war of nerves with the Chinese government.

Youngho's head hurt to think about the complicated situation.

He could not afford to do as he wanted to do because Kazakhstan might suffer a great national loss if he did. After agonizing over it for a while, Youngho decided to persuade the Chinese government politely.

He called the Chinese ambassador in Kazakhstan and asked to take care of the Uyghur refugee problem. The ambassador replied that he would do so in front of Youngho, but he did not look so pleased to hear it.

"Ambassador, I'm not in a position to tell you about what the Chinese government decides to do, but Kazakh Uyghurs are finally returning their home now. They say they suffer from frostbite as they walk to the border in the heavy snow and cold. Please take good care of them."

"How can I not pay attention to your earnest request? But Chinese people don't have a good feeling toward Uyghurs because they're abandoning China."

"Most of the refugees are Kazakh descents, and native Uyghurs are still living well in China. So I hope the Chinese government will pay more attention to their leaving."

Although Chinese authorities locked Uyghurs in concentration camps and secured their biometric information under the pretext of a medical check-up, Youngho encouraged him by saying that the rest of the Uyghurs were living well in Xinjiang Uyghur. It was to convince him and keep Uyghur refugees as healthy as possible until they arrived at the Kazakh border.

"I'll take your message to the president and try to let Uyghurs leave as conveniently as possible."

"Thank you, ambassador. I'll count on you."

"Your Highness, can I ask you a favor as well?"

"I'd like you to ease some restrictions on Chinese companies."

The Chinese ambassador listened to Youngho's request carefully and tried to make a deal.

He meant that the Kazakh government should release its heavy sanctions on Chinese companies in Kazakhstan.

"The environmental impact of not only Chinese companies but also multinationals is serious. Kazakhstan will be a place where no one can live at this rate. I didn't impose sanctions aiming only at Chinese companies."

"Chinese companies only made mistakes because they have not much experience in doing business abroad. Shouldn't you give them a chance to recover their mistake?"

"You'd know well that the royal family can't interfere with what the government does. However, I'll deliver the message to Prime Minister Kasim."

"Please keep in mind the position of the Chinese government that is overlooking the Uyghurs leaving the border and providing them some comfort."

The ambassador said it as if the Chinese side was a victim when the Uyghurs were true victims in Xinjiang Uyghur. It was upsetting to hear such words, but Youngho had to let it go to think about Uyghur refugees' health.

***

"You did a great job of being patient. There's nothing good about colliding with the Chinese government now. If we achieve overwhelming military power, China will be more cautious to us."

Eriksson was consoling Youngho, who just sighed after sending out the Chinese ambassador from his office.

"I'm upset that I'm going to live with that for many years."

"It's the reality of a small country. I don't know how long China will be so strong-headed, but it will crawl to us."

"Are you speaking of China's economic crisis?"

"That's what I mean. The bubble in the Chinese economy will be cleared within a few years."

Eriksson said as if he was certain about it.

"I hope there's a way to advance the timing."

"Economists believe that even if China overcomes the economic crisis, the Chinese economy will lag behind for at least ten years. If that happens to a country with a huge population like China, it is the same as the end of the communist system."

"Wouldn't it be even scarier if China became a democratic country?"

"I don't think so. If various suppressed classes of China express their demands and complaints, it will also slow down economic growth. In addition, the huge population of 1.3 billion can also be a stumbling block to economic development."

It was a relief to hear that the enormous population could be an obstacle to China when it had been China's main power throughout history.

"Your Highness, may I call Prime Minister Kasim? We can't ignore what the ambassador has asked about lifting sanctions on Chinese companies. From now on, we have to come up with measures."

"Do you mean to accept the proposal to make a deal as they hold Uyghur people hostage?"

"Your Highness, the Chinese government is not a terrorist group. It's just suppressing minority groups."

"To me they are. China made it so difficult for Uyghurs to live and made them choose to leave Xinjiang Uyghur, but now it wants to make a deal on taking advantage of Uyghur refugees. Do you think this is normal?"

"Since the royal family has stepped in, we can't cut off the conversation here. Think about the forest rather than focusing on a tree."

At Eriksson's words, Youngho was unable to insist further, so he called in Prime Minister Kasim and Cabinet ministers.

The meeting went on for a long time as the measures for China's demands, resource sales, and technician imports were discussed.

This was because of the fundamental reason for China's request was to get resources from Kazakhstan.

"Sir Eriksson says we're too lax about our national resources but negotiations are not as easy as it sounds."

The Secretary of Energy complained to Eriksson,

"European countries hire private companies to negotiate for resources. They are quite tactful that even those who majored in psychology are mobilized to achieve what they want. Keep in mind that if you don't wake up, you'll just have a huge outflow of resources."

"Then we should mobilize a group of negotiation experts too."

"Is there a group of negotiation experts who have negotiated with foreign countries in Kazakhstan? Most of the time, we just leave negotiations up to officials. Why don't we hire foreign negotiators this time?"

"Is there a group that can handle this as its own work?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but there are so many consulting companies that are going to do much better than our best efforts. It's going to cost you, but I suggest contracting with a global consulting firm specializing in negotiation at the government level."

All the Cabinet members nodded to Eriksson's idea as they agreed to have been neglectful about rich national resources.

"After hearing from you, I realize that all resource negotiations have been done in an old-fashioned way. Let's train negotiators in Kazakhstan from now on and hire consulting firms for complicated negotiations. I think it would be reasonable to leave both matters to Sir Eriksson."

As the meeting was dragged on, Prime Minister Kasim stepped up and hurried to reach the conclusion because there remained a more important discussion than resource sales.

"I can't allow the Chinese side trying to negotiate with our royal family while holding Uyghurs as a hostage."

Prime Minister Kasim was furious about China's behavior.

"So you're just going leave the Uyghurs alone? The royal family just gave an announced statement to the public under the name of the Queen. If we neglect them, only the royal family's prestige will be damaged. We can delay our answer to China, but it's not ideal to refuse it immediately."

"It's like the robbers are holding the hostage and asking us to give them the money. Should we be dragged around by this? You know how the international community treats a country that negotiated with such a group."

As the Prime Minister raised his voice, Youngho interrupted to calm him down.

"The authority of the royal family is not very important, because we exist for our people not for China. But we need to give hope and trust to the Uyghurs who are crossing the border. The only way is to negotiate for their safe transfer with the Chinese government."

"Your Highness, we'd have to think about Kazakhstan's national interest. We can't yield too much to China for Uyghurs."

Kasim replied to Youngho's argument.

"As you said, Prime Minister, we can't give in unconditionally to China. I'm thinking that we should suggest the right amount of benefit and wait for China's reaction. And we will present our environmental standards and apply them rigorously."

"How about allowing offshore oil fields that China recently acquired from foreign companies first? Due to the freezing of water, the operation period will be limited and the sea pollution prevention standards are quite strict. Chinese companies won't be able to last long."

"If we are playing along with the Chinese government's plan one by one, the situation will go back to the way it was soon. Why don't we tell the world about how China is taking Uyghurs as a hostage and stop China? If we listen to China's demands, we will continue to be dragged around."

"And then you'll have to give up Uyghur refugees. If we don't help Uyghurs, we'll lose our position as the leader of Central Asia."

"Let's show them we're still the head of Central Asia. Our military is ready to deal with China at any time on the border."

The defense minister kept insisting to exercise force in China. It seemed he gained confidence in the national military strength as Swedish and American air defense networks were placed all around the country and high-tech fighter jets were brought in to Kazakhstan.

"What? Kazakhstan is now on track for economic growth, do you mean we should go to war?"

"I'm not asking for war, but we need to show our strength. China is trying to negotiate with us because it's looking down on us."

"China does that with Russia and the U.S. frequently."

"As soon as we accept the deal, China will misjudge that we are powerless. So I'm trying to keep the tension at the border to warn China."

The defense minister had a point.

If Kazakhstan had an overwhelming force, China would not have used Uyghurs to make a deal with it. In the end, what China was after was Kazakhstan's resources.

After a long meeting, they decided to open several offshore oil fields to Chinese companies.

And instead, if they violated a single environmental law, they would be expelled right away. This was notified to the Chinese government soon.

Of course, the offshore oil fields that would be developed by China would be under close monitoring by environmental groups.

Not long after that, China also promised to provide transportation to the Uyghurs.