NationStates Jolt Archive

On orders from Tsar Wingert, the Russian First Minister, Armand, would be landing in Beijing shortly. He was flying in a wonderfully appointed AN-124, the Moskva Tsarista. This massive aircraft, it’s production run was the largest aircraft in the world to be mass produced, was painted on its side with the Flag of the Divine Russian Empire, and the personal crests of both First Minister Armand and Tsar Wingert himself, the Tsar. Inside, it was magnificently appointed, but a careful eye would reveal that it had also been fitted for electronic warfare and countermeasures, along with extra armour should it come under attack, though diplomatically it had no armaments. It was gleaming white with red striping and it streaked across the vast Russian wilderness on its way to its destination.

The plan’s route would take it slightly across the topmost portion of Kazakhstan and then over it would hug the northern border of Mongolia until it turned south into China. In one of the more magnificent feats of Ukrainian Cold War engineering, the fully modern airliner would be able to do the entire, almost 10,000 kms flight without refuelling until it got to the airport at its destination. This immense trip covering two of the largest empires on Earth would take 12 and half hours at the cruising speed of 800 kph, but Armand was quite content to leave in the late evening, enjoy a full night’s rest, and wake up fully connected via satellite to the world to begin his workday. He was amused to think that only in Russia could it take you this long to see your next-door neighbour.

At every stage, he was escorted by armed 6 MiG-31s who changed the honour guard at every jurisdictional border, one set for the Western Defensive District, a set for the Central Defensive District, then that set accompanied by 6 MiG-29s through the brief portion of Kazak airspace, that was insisted upon by Premier Borat as professional courtesy. Then, the Far East Defensive District would take over for the last portion of the flight, with no Russian fighter capable of coming close to the range that would be required for this journey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-124

Of course, it was expected that the armed fighters of the East District, the same ones who had been eyeing their counter-parts in the ROCAF across this border for years, would give their charge over to the ROCAF Honour Guard at the border of the air space.

In Chinese that did carry a bad accent, but was passable a radio request came over the air, “This is Col. Mikhal Bruchevski requesting permission to move First Minister of Russia Armand aboard the Moskva Tsarista into Chinese airspace. Do you copy?”

OOC-I think that I will just post this and you can take it from here to the landing. WE can go from there, how about it?

Tsar Wingert the Great.

The Quinntonian government will watch this with both interest and trepidation.

WWJD
Amen.

After a brief chuckle at Bruchevski's expense, the chinese radio control tower reports back, clearing a lane at Beijing airport.

Meeting him on the ground would be President Hu Jin Tao, Vice President James Chang, and Minister of Welfare Edmund Hui. Prime Minister Armand would have met all of them except the newcomer to the Chinese government, Edmund Hui. As President Hu shook hands with PM Armand, Chang quietly sized up the giant Russian aircraft. Could it be concievable that the ROCAF might one day fly them?

President Hu presented a gift of artwork from a Taiwanese artist to Armand and shook hands with him for the cameras, a timely gesture that the Sino-Russian standoff was now well and truly over.

A fleet of limosines was waiting to take them to Parliament where the talks would actually take place.

OOC-Just so we are clear, I am going to say that since you didn’t mention
turning away my honour guard, that they escorted me in, and were met by a
Russian mid-air refueler on the way back out.

IC-Armand looked around the gold and marble opulence of his state plane as it
taxied down the runway. A bathroom of pure gold, marble floors throughout, even
gas fireplaces and antique furniture that all served to make the interior look
like a replica of the Winter Palace. Of course, except for the lap-tops and
42”screen flat-screen TVs that were mounted in strategic places. Armand never
missed a Moscow CSKA game when he could make it, and wondered if he would have
the opportunity to do so gain. Perhaps a Tsarist games would be fun? Well,
never mind.

He got up, his tall, lean figure with his flowing black hair against the black
and red satin and silk of his wardrobe making him a rather striking figure,
even if he was sometimes accused of dressing “goth.” He put on his cloak, a jet
black affair and tied his hair back with a blood red velvet ribbon before he put
on the gold sash of office that he wore for occasions such as this, riddled as
it was with gold and gems and medals of all kinds. He then strapped on his
sword, a perfectly crafted long sword with a gold inlaid handle and a giant
ruby in its pommel. That followed by his ceremonial bracers that were of
shining silver made him ready. He picked up the remote control to his gift, and
stepped forward.

The door to the plane opened, and the Russian KGB officers and soldiers that
were his personal guard looked outside first. 14 Russian soldiers in full dress
uniform, but with very real sub-machineguns marched down the stairs and scanned
the crowd. After they were satisfied, they formed up a line leading to the
waiting limo and their commander; the 15th soldier brought them to attention.
Then, the 5 KGB Agents in black suits stepped out, with shoulder holsters,
Kevlar and sub-machineguns as well, stepped out and took positions scanning the
crowd as another group of 5 encircling First Minister Armand as he finally
stepped, out in perfect time to have the MiGs that escorted them in leave the
area at high speed.

He seemed completely at ease with the paranoid security that was going on, and
smiled and waved at the people that were gathered there, as his staff walked
out behind him. In all, his entourage was about 50 people, including everything
from a hairdresser to personal cook to something called a ”wardrobe assistant.”
That, and 10 KGB and 15 soldiers. He walked at a leisurely pace to the
dignitaries waiting for him, and stopped to kiss each of them on both cheeks as
his very large security men glared at the dignitaries through black sunglasses.
He thanked them for their kind gift, and after giving it to his assistant,
turned and hit the button on the remote control he held. The back of the plane
opened up and some of the piloting staff moved a large box draped in red silk
down the ramp. Then, at his nod, it was opened; it was giant cage with a
breeding pair of Polar Bears for the Chinese zoo!

He then got into the limousines and sped away to start the conference, talking
comfortably all the way. Neither side had anything to prove; they were both
gaining something and losing nothing.

Of course, the piloting staff would stay with the airplane, in order to monitor
it, but accommodations would be needed for the rest, and the baggage for this
group weighed in the tons.

Tsar Wingert the Great.

Very impressive! The polar bears would make a great addition to China's zoo.

Armand was fairly open, Hu Jin Tao found. Like most executives in the private industry, Hu had the ability to separate work and life very well. Often heated debates in parliament would be followed by dim sum with his opponent, where work was not even mentioned. The two of them talked about other things, sport, the weather, food...

Vice President Chang was hard at work however, briefing the staff at Parliament and making all sorts of other preparations. He was in contact with other Russian diplomatic staff about those Antonovs which caught his eye.

Armand smiled as he choked down the Dim Sum, he was not much of an exotic when it came to food, he was afraid, but produced a fine bottle of Russian vodka from Tsar Wingert’s private cellar and proceeded to reinforce every Russian stereotype about their capacity for the stuff. He would of course offer his host some first, but would not be in the least offended if he declined. Over the course of the evening, he found that he really liked the man with whom he was speaking, and was more and more happy that the diplomatic channels had opened up somewhat since he had first become First Minister of Russia. He thought it was the measure of class that his host did not wish to speak about business whilst getting to know who he would be working with, and with that in mind, he proceeded to determinedly work on the bottle throughout the night. Though, he really did wish to ask if Hu Jin Tao had any idea how the Tsarists could do the same for their relations with Lyong. But the subject was left for another time.

The next day, he awoke in what must be lavish appointings provided to he and his entourage and seemed to shake off the effects of the previous evenings festivities as though they didn’t occur.

He worked over the massive documents outlining the plan for opening the borders to trade as he ate his breakfast of sausage and fermented cabbage, and then did a few hours of work via the internet, both managing Russian affairs of state and his own vast personal fortune before being called to go to the first of the meetings at 9AM the next day. He was an extremely early riser, needing only a few hours of sleep each night.

When the meeting finally occurred, and the pleasantries and introductions were finally done, he began, with the help of Chinese translations of the documents that he had brought, to map out his ideas for the future of the two nations.

1. Nothing could change while we are so scared of each other, so I would ask that a Mutual Defence Pact be signed in addition to the Non-Aggression Pact that was previously agreed upon. This Mutual Defence would only cover events within the Far East, so that if either nation were to come under attack by outside forces, and not the result of their own invasions, the other would be obligated to come to their rescue. This kind of agreement would protect both of them in this region, twinning their vast military might together and still allow them the freedom of action that great nations require.
2. A trade agreement that would include the free movement of goods across the border, as China represents a business opportunity that it is impossible for the Tsarists to ignore, and the 400 million Tsarist subjects on three continents offer a boost to the Chinese economy unparalleled to anything that China has been offered economically in a century. Of course, the Tsarists rule over some of the richest natural resources in the world, and have the industrial capacity, expertise and drive to see them exploited to their fullest potential. And the insatiable thirst of the Chinese industrialised economy is without measure, though the Tsarists would love to take the challenge and try and feed the Dragon.
3. We would also propose an exchange/supply agreement for military technologies, specifically, but not limited to, naval technology and your JSF line. The tsar has indicated that it is his desire to see the military of Russia be modernised far beyond its present capacity to be a match for nations such as Quinntonia, whose presence across the Bering Straight is enough to make the Duma Military Sub-Committee very nervous should thy get any ideas of “righteousness” into their heads. Of course, these technologies would be in no way shared with other Holy League members without permission from the original licensee.

The documents that he brought forth were hundreds of pages of techno-speak and jargon, and all either overseen by, or written by, Armand himself. Of course, companies that he owned were very much poised to take advantage of this kind of agreement.

There were a few questions, seeing as the Tsar does desire peace with all of his neighbours, but is unsure how to handle nations like Spyr and Dra-pol. And in a more unofficial way, he brings up the situation of the Soviets privately with his host; “Though I have no string preference, the Tsar does have some misgivings about one particular group with which there has been a warming of relations with your administration. That is, of course, the Soviets. The Tsar spent most of his life fighting the Soviets, as your nation heavily guarded its borders against their unreasoning aggression. With that kind of history, and the tragedies and atrocities that they visited upon the Russian people and the Tsar himself, he finds it difficult that we are preparing to be in business with someone who is going to be in business with them. Now, it is no longer a matter of ideology, I am no Quinntonian idealist, and I have convinced the Tsar of the value of a relationship with Sithin, but there is just too much bad blood for him to be reasoned with in this matter. He is so desirous of friendship with your people that he is wiling to overlook the matter, at my request, but he does wonder what the nature of your relationship with the Soviets is. Please do not take this as disrespect, I am merely speaking to you as plainly as I would expect that you speak to me.”

Tsar Wingert the Great.

A very interesting and well thought question, Hu Jin Tao thought.

"The reasons are largely economic." Hu said. "With relations between the Combine and the Soviets on the up and the rather vibrant Combine economy as of late, we believe that within the next decade the Progressive Bloc will surpass NATO as an economic power."

"I personally do not believe the Soviet model will function in China or anywhere else. However I do believe that Zhang's administration benefited the rich at the expense of the less wealthy and I believe that there are some aspects of the Soviet model which would work well in China to reduce the gaps in income."

"As for the Soviet foreign policy - they have been less expansionist and have always been more willing to compromise to meet the requirements of Beijing compared to other powers, say NATO."

On the question of relations with Spyr and the PRS, Hu is equally direct.

"Spyr's economic policies are fairly moderate in my eyes, Chinese private corporations conduct a great deal of trade with the country. However several businesses have complained in the past that the difficulty in investing in Spyr directly is a form of protectionism. Also, Spyr takes Beijing's interests into account on many issues which makes it worthwhile for us to support them."

"As for Dra-pol, We think a diplomatic approach will be best here - perhaps a series of trade inducements designed to wean them off socialism."

As for the mutual defensive agreement and the sharing of military technologies :

"I'm afraid that will not be possible at all given current political climate. Many in parliament still consider the Holy League a threat. The Christian Socialist Party is already unhappy with this meeting has threatened to withdraw from the coalition and force an early election. So you see, it will be nearly impossible to sign."

"Also, such treaties are slow moving and inflexible. I believe you understand what I am saying, such as the Tsar's....personality clash with the King of Spain and my annoyance at having to put up with constant anti-Chinese rants from my counterparts in Tokyo."

"Even our closest allies do not have any access to the JSF/J-14 programme, but our military forces can still work together on other less controversial programmes. Our army would be interested in your nation's T-90 series for example, while the avionics from the J-12S will still provide a huge boost for Russian aviation."

On trade :

"Part of the reason of Zhang's defeat was a politically induced economic depression in Northern China, in part caused by his move to barr trade with Russia."

"We would like to reverse this and will support a fast-track free trade agreement."

Armand was understanding, in regards to the treaty, he the backtracked:

1. We will the just sign the Non-Aggression Pact that we previously agreed upon.
2. A Free Trade Agreement will also be signed at the same ceremony. That will doubtless bring a boom to both of our economies that will not soon die out.
3. The technology trade will take place on a case-by-case basis, and we are quite happy to make the first move by seeling some of our tank technology and even providing pilot training and technicians for our T-90s, in exchange for similar programs for your J-12 avionics.


In addendum, not part of the treaty above, Armand did ask if Beijing would see fit to set up a meeting with Sithin for him, to attempt to come to some kind of understanding. The Lyong border continues to be militarized, and we desire nothing but peace in the Far East.

OOC-This should pretty much do it, I think we have a deal, if you just want to post the signing ceremony, with all of the Chinese pomp and ceremony that you can muster, we can probably wind this down.

Tsar Wingert the Great.